How to improve local business visibility using video SEO

A Uscreen Guest Blog – Everyone knows that local marketing is a critical component of business growth. Travel, hospitality, and tour operators know exactly how important that act of promoting their services is, especially online. As more travelers resort to the web to learn more about destinations, using video marketing tactics is one way to capture your customer’s attention.

As the world leans into video and digital media in a big way, your brand and local marketing must too. It’s an effective way to capitalize on the opportunity to meet travelers by utilizing SEO and video marketing tactics. 

If you feel like you don’t know enough about SEO and video marketing, this blog post is just for you. I’ll show you how to use SEO and video marketing strategies to boost your local marketing and rankings on Google’s local search result pages and elevate your brand online. 

But first, let’s cover why local marketing, SEO, and videos are important to your business today.

Why videos are a big deal for local SEO

Video consumption is growing and it’s a major form of online media. It’s become an important form of marketing that you can’t ignore. For example, on YouTube, users watch one billion hours of video a day, and there are over two billion users worldwide. 

On social media, it’s no different. Facebook generates over eight billion video views a day, and Twitter gets two billion. – This is proof that people love video and is one of the main reasons why video marketing is vital in improving your local SEO.

Video consumption aside, Google’s also doing its bit to position video as a valuable source of information for its users. Today, Google shows videos on more than 20% of all search engine results pages. That’s a big deal for your brand. If you’re able to optimize your videos, you could win one of these high-value spots and get more traffic to your videos and brand.

With more traffic and views, you’ll be able to generate more leads and sales. 

Types of videos you can create

Coming up with great video ideas may seem like a stretch, but it’s not. Your videos should be designed to answer very basic questions about what you offer. When it comes to answering those questions, people want clarity and value, and to know that choosing your brand will be worth it. 

Your videos should be designed to accentuate your service(s) and position your brand as the best choice out there. 

Here are four video examples to help get your creative juices flowing. 

Showcase your venue

Villaggio Hotel Lido San Giuseppe is located in Briatico. Italy. In this video, you get to see what makes this hotel shine. From beach views with beautiful and clear water to friendly staff, an inviting pool, and spacious rooms. 

Villaggio Hotel Lido San Giuseppe has sold their hotel and the experience of visiting it ﹣ everything that travelers want to see when considering where to stay.

Places to visit

Visiting Rome and need to know which places to see? This example from Vidtur covers the top 10 places you must see. It’s a smart, easy, and fun way to showcase your brand’s knowledge and expertise, and how you can create a memorable experience for travelers.

Tips on local gems and neighborhoods

Most travelers set out for a more authentic experience. This means discovering neighborhoods and local gems that fewer tourists are exposed to. The Tour Guy understands this. In their video, viewers get to learn how to decide exactly where to stay based on budget, accommodation options, and activities they want to experience when visiting Rome.  

Testimonials

Nothing sells like a glowing review from a customer. Social proof is powerful because it edifies your brand’s ability to deliver on its promises. Eternal City is a cultural tour operator. In this video, they share stunning views of Rome along with customer testimonials that show why you should see Rome with them. 

How to rank videos on YouTube and Google for local search queries

Ranking video isn’t just about gaming Google, it’s about building a strong and competitive brand. The way to create a brand that people trust and want to work with is by producing quality content and strategizing effective local marketing tactics. In order to do so, you’ve got to think about long-term brand growth. By thinking of the bigger picture, you are able to plan ahead. This could include planning the topics you’re going to cover, the type of content you’re going to produce (video or photo), the SEO keywords/terms used, and many more.

Google ranks your videos and all content according to what’s best for its users. It wants to serve up content that answers questions and solves problems. Content that satisfies people’s search intentions are what ranks high in search results. 

How do you create the best content to rank? Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Step one: establish what your customers want

Businesses that know what customers want and understand how to deliver will always win. Chances are good that you’ve heard customers ask questions or raise topics of interest. Think about all of those and jot them down. 

Ranking in search engines is all about knowing what people are searching for, and how to give them what they want. With your list in hand, you can begin to search for terms that align with customer questions. There are many tools available to help you establish which terms people are searching for. For example, TubeBuddy is a research and planning tool for YouTube. It can help you tell how many searches certain terms receive and how competitive each term is. 

Understanding how many searches a term gets, along with how competitive it will be to rank for on YouTube is valuable. You can find low competition terms and create optimized videos to rank in search results.

Other tools you can check out include, Ahrefs, Keywordtool.io, vidIQ, and Morning Fame.

Create engaging content

Wondering how to make a great YouTube video? Focus on producing content that is helpful and sets your brand apart from the rest. The Tour Guy is a great example. Their videos are well-edited and filled with valuable information and get hundreds of thousands of views.

By creating engaging and well-produced content, viewers will be drawn to repeatedly watch your videos. You can create engaging content by keeping the following points in mind:

• Talk to your audience – by understanding your audience, you will be able to talk to them effectively by communicating in their “language” and communication style.
• Tell a story – the best way in keeping viewers engaged are by sharing authentic and real stories. Be genuine and honest.
• Create content with intent – in order to create engaging content, you want to ask yourself “why are you creating it?”. Are you trying to provide answers to questions? Showcase a place? or simply educate your viewers on a topic? Once you have figured the intention, it’ll be easier to structure your videos. 

How to create quality video content

Creating quality videos is all about value. The great thing about delivery value is that it always comes down to sharing information that customers would not readily find or would have to pay a premium for. Using this rule of thumb, think about answering questions by sharing the best information you can offer. 

Here are questions you can ask yourself to determine if your video offers value: 

• Could my viewer easily find the answers I’m offering online?
• Does my video offer more valuable information than any other competitor video out there?
• Is the information I’m sharing relevant and complete enough to be useful?

Elevate website pages with video

Google loves rich media. While you could create a video website, embedding videos is a quicker way to get Google’s attention. By embedding your YouTube videos on your website pages, Google is able to show the video on the search results pages. This helps you to rank on YouTube as well as Google which will ultimately help you appear higher in the search results.. 

And don’t stop on product or service pages. Add videos to landing pages and blog posts, too. Embedding an optimized video on a local SEO optimized landing page or blog post will supercharge your content’s impact and open you up to a wider pool of viewers. 

Optimize your video marketing tactics for local search

Google relies on metadata to find the best content to serve up to its users. To help Google find your local SEO videos, you must optimize them for search. Here’s how: 

Add local search terms to titles

Include location-based search terms in your titles. Using them tells Google that your video is especially relevant to people looking for content about a specific place. It also stands out in search results for people wanting to see content about a location.

Add local search terms to descriptions

YouTube pays attention to content that appears in YouTube video titles and descriptions. As metadata, Google uses keywords in descriptions to rank content. 

Note how The Tour Guy has used the terms “Florence in a day” and “day trip to Florence” on YouTube to make this video relevant for related searches.

Use Location Tags on YouTube

Location Tags are a powerful way of telling YouTube and Google which location your content is related to. 

Take The Tour Guy’s video on experiencing Florence in a day. It includes a location tag for Florence and this indicates to YouTube and Google that this video is especially relevant to searches for Florence-related content.

Use location terms in videos

Include location keyword terms in your videos. YouTube automatically creates transcripts and can then use that information as metadata for search queries and to rank videos on Google. Add local marketing keyword terms in your video scripts for Google to find.

Leverage videos on your Google My Business listing

Google My Business is a free tool Google offers companies to manage their online presence. It’s perfect for adding important information about your products, services, operating hours, and directions to your premises (through Google Maps). 

It’s also linked to Google Reviews, a tool that helps you engage customers and shows how well your business performs. You can now also create your own Google Review QR code which makes it easier for your customers to leave their testimonials.

Google My Business is low-hanging fruit the many hotels, tour guides, and tour operators use but don’t optimize with video. A fast way to rise to the top of Google is by adding rich media (video and images) and getting testimonials to show how great your brand is. Find out more about how to ask for a customer testimonial.

When adding your videos, make sure they meet Google’s guidelines:

• Duration: Up to 30 seconds long
• File size: Up to 100 MB
• Resolution: 720p or higher

Tips for maintaining your ranking

Achieving a top local marketing SEO ranking on Google is an accomplishment. Don’t let your efforts go to waste. As much as your content can reach the top spot, Google favors relevance and fresh material. Here’s how to give Google what it needs to maintain your rankings.

Be consistent with video creation

Google uses unique content as a ranking factor. It also sees updates to pages as unique content. The more videos you add to pages on your site and your Google My Business listing, the more Google will see your brand as a source of fresh quality content and the best choice, ranking your content higher. 

Always offer value and keep viewers engaged

While you’re creating content to rank, remember that you’re creating it for people. Often, brands get caught up in the technicalities of SEO. They lose sight of creating content that appeals to people. Produce helpful and informative content that’s engaging and designed to move people closer to becoming a customer.

Play the long game

Local marketing isn’t done in a day. Create a strategy for getting your brand out there and think long-term. Plan around events in your location, seasons, and any other special occasion that you can capture on video and share with your audience. You can also leverage live streaming video, giving viewers a reason to tune in and learn why your brand is the best choice.

Wrapping this up…

Videos are a powerful tool for positioning and elevating brands and for SEO. It’s all about creating content that serves people and shows Google that you care about quality. To rank in search results, create great content, and optimize your videos to make it easy for Google to find and present them to users.