Video SEO is the art and science of ensuring that your video content attracts as much traffic as possible.
Video SEO occurs in context of the larger online video industry and market. To assist our own understanding of this market, the key players involved and the types of services and products each provides, we at blinkx have built a topographical view of the key players, broken down by how each interfaces with others. We're very happy to share that topography and the spaces we've identified within it here. Following the diagrams themselves, the article provides a brief commentary on each of the roles played by the companies that inhabit each identified space, including a few examples of competing services in each.
The diagram shows that the Content Delivery Networks ultimately underpin most services in the Online Video industry, but Online Creating and Editing tools are generally found only within hosted services and usually are not associated with live streaming services. It is interesting to note that just as with the Text Web, search is an overarching influence on the Video Web. Whatever the content, whatever delivery or hosting mechanism you choose to use for it, it is likely that it will be discovered, indexed and ultimately delivered through some form of search. This, of course, further highlights the importance of getting Video SEO right.
The increased ubiquity of broadband and the growth of available content on the Internet have caused a similar fl ux of traffi c towards online video. The explosive growth of user-generated content sites such as YouTube and MySpace Video combined with the steady growth of traditional media content sites like CNN and the BBC have collectively redirected a slice of the online consumer’s attention toward the search for and consumption of video content. This shift in attention is generating new traffic, and the SEO industry will be quick to follow suit.
The flip-side of SEO is, of course, monetization. Video can be monetized in many ways: it can contain high value video ads that are played before, during or after the content; it can be a teaser that compels viewers to purchase a product or further video or, if it is a piece of marketing or advertising masquerading obliquely, it may contain value in itself. Though online video monetization is a fascinating and still-evolving topic, it deserves an extensive write-up of its own.
Findings from a recent eMarketer3 survey support these observations:
• 123 million Americans will view online video at least once a month in 2007
• 27% of online video viewers watch news at least once a week
• 26% watch funny videos at least once a week
• 66% of video viewers have watched online video ads and 44% have taken an action on
what they had seen
• 76% users tell a friend about a video they have seen
It is clear that online video is an evolving and burgeoning space with a number of players vying to provide
various services within the overall industry.
whitepaper:blinkx.com
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