Video in linkbuilding strategy

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

Incorporating video into your link building strategy

Phil Nottingham

Central School of Speech and Drama

Freelance Film & Theatre Practitioner

NDS

Distilled

SEO Analyst– [email protected]@philnottingham

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

A Number of Clients.

We’d love to do video. The problem is budget. We don’t have the time, money or skills to do it properly. It’s just not something we’re able to do at the moment.

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Phil Nottingham, 2012

Bullshit.

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So.. Maybe you can’t be Evian

It doesn’t need to be technologically revolutionary to get links

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57 Unique videos in a day

Camera £600

Tripod £30

Software £300

All In £930

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDCBEEAFF5571810B

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Sourcing freelancers with limited budget

http://www.castingcallpro.com/uk/ http://www.lfs.org.uk/http://www.mandy.com/

http://www.fivesquids.co.uk/ http://www.cssd.ac.uk/http://www.spotlight.com/

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So…how can you build links with

Video?

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How and when do people link to video?• Embed Content

• Rarely• Only when it’s directly relevant and valuable

• Link to video files• Specific and targeted content• Creatively interesting

• General site links• When there is a wealth of good content

Make no mistake, getting links to videos is tough. In and of itself – not a tactic.

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People link to content with videos

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/what-makes-a-link-worthy-post-part-1

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Casey Henry, SEOmoz

Having a video compared to just text will almost triple the average number of linking domains

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Zappos – Product videos done right

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50000 Product Videos

Pages with high quality videos get natural links

7830 Linksfrom 1497 Domains

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Distilled Linkbait guide

http://www.distilled.net/linkbait-guide/

3rd most linked to page

on Distilled.net (after

the homepage and

blog )

826 linking root

domains

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Dentsu London – Making Future Magic

http://www.dentsulondon.com/blog/2010/09/14/light-painting/

892 Links from

253 Root domains

WiredHuffington postGizmodo

File on Vimeo.com

2108 from 704 domains

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The same is true across the board

http://www.homestarrunner.com/

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/

http://www.collegehumor.com/

http://www.starwarsuncut.com/

http://jibjab.com/

Video aggregation sites do particularly well

87,531 from 4275

77,060 from 2445

758,000 from 9728

3,323 from 789

53,732 from 2961

http://www.homestarrunner.com/

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/

http://www.collegehumor.com/

http://www.starwarsuncut.com/

http://sendables.jibjab.com/



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Integration within wider content strategy

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CEO of client X

We should be doing video. Our competitors are doing really well with video and it’s something that we need in order to compete. Lets create some viral videos.

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Video = ContentVideo = Form

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Common Practice (this sucks)

Form Gap Analysis – “we need to do video”

Form Idea Development – “what can we do a video about?”

Content Creation – “make video”

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Good Practice

Content Gap Analysis – “we need more tutorial content”

Form Idea Development – “what’s the best format for that?”

Content Creation – “make tutorial video”

The content should

define the form

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When is Video the Appropriate form?

Would this content lose something if it were just text and

image?

Use video, but know what to use it for.

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Good – Will it Blend?

Can you imagine this content working as just text and images?

8364 Links 2230 DomainsFilming & Studio costs

£1000

Production £300

iPad £400

Blender £100

All In £1800

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Shit – GAIQ videos (Sorry Google)

This content feels cumbersome and difficult to digest as a video

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How do people

experience video?

Text

Perception

Appraisal of Meaning

Evaluation of Meaning

Emotional Response

Video

Perception

Emotional Response

Appraisal of Meaning

Evaluation of Meaning

1 second

5 seconds

10 seconds

15 seconds

Buy in Point

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Why do I need to know this?Good Content

Integration of form elements towards specific goal

Audience Become Active

Shit Content

Form elements are mismatched or disintegrated

Audience Remain Passive

You must actively engage an audience on both a perceptual and a conceptual level

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What can video do for

you?

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Three Distinct Focusses

1. Notoriety2. Traffic and Conversions3. Links

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Provide Value – Aesthetic, Creative, Educational

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Content that won’t get links.

• Promotional Trailers• Company Testimonials• Salesy Content

Don’t try to sell your product and get links with the same content.

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Types of Video Content

• Promotional Trailer• Screencast tutorial• Product Demonstration• Informational Tip• Aesthetic Imagery• Interviews• Creative viral focussed content• Live event Recording• Infographic• Advert

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Types of Video Form

• Animated Content• Performed Content• Recorded events

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Production

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Filming

• Always film in 1080p25 or 1080p30 PAL• Film in a well lit environment• High quality audio is more important than

high quality video

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Editing

Doesn’t actually need to be flashy – keep it simple, but high quality

Best Editing Apps:

• Final Cut Pro – with Motion and Compressor (Mac only)• Avid Media Studio (PC and Mac)• Adobe Premier (PC and Mac)• Adobe Aftereffects (PC and Mac)

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Export settings for YouTube

You can lower the bitrate if you want for YouTube, but it’s normally not necessary

Setting Value

Codec h.264

Frame Size 1920x1080

Key Frames Automatic

Pixel Aspect Square

Bit Rate Unrestricted

Audio ACC/MP3 at 256kbps

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Export Settings for Vimeo

Always upload in HD for Vimeo, even if you have a free account

Setting Value

Codec h.264

Frame Size 1280x 720


Pixel Aspect Square

Bit Rate 5000kbps


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Export settings for self hosted

If you’re self hosting, be wary of file size!

Setting Value

Codec h.264

Frame Size 1280x 720


Pixel Aspect Square

Bit Rate 2014kbps


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Technical Implementati

on

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Hosting – For Blended Results & Links

Third Party

To build links effectively, the content needs to be exclusive to your site.

Self Hosted

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Hosting – For Social Shares

Never seed promotional or non-creative content on these sites

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Hosting – For Links & Social Shares

Month 1:

Once the links dry up, put the content everywhere. Keep the version on your site secure and you should still rank 1st for your own video.

Month 2:

(Enable Community Pass)

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Embedding on Your Domain

• HTML5 video player with flash fallback • Don’t use iFrames – Google probably wont crawl

them• Include social buttons• Set playback to auto HD• Don’t set to Autoplay – It annoys everybody• YouTube embed parameters• Indexable transcripts! – *cough*keyword

stuffed*cough*

http://code.google.com/apis/youtube/player_parameters.html

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Embed codes for link building

• Don’t use standard embed codes within third party players – no links

• Place custom codes underneath video embed codes • Use iFrames• Partial Anchor Text

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/VIDEOID?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" frameborder="0" width="640" height="360"></iframe><br><span style="font-size: 12px;">Linkbuilding protips from <a href="http://www.yourdomain.net/">Brand and partial anchor text</a>

Ensure your embed code will build links back to your site, not the video hosting company

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Wistia Superembeds – completely customisable display options

http://wistia.com/product/superembeds

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Vimeo Pro Settings for Link Building

Privacy Embedding

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Video Schema Markup – get ahead of the game

• Help get the stuff indexed• provide rich metadata to the

engines• Rel=“Actor”? – Who knows.• Appropriate attribution

http://schema.org/Movie

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Lexi Mills, PR Consultant, Distilled

Many high authority news sites are creating video only sections, and are crying out for content.

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Video News Releases• Big media sites love accompanying video content• It’s easier for an editor to watch a short video than read through a

load of text• There is less direct competition• Doesn’t need to be “BBC quality”• Ensure you send an MP4 – Not WMV or Quicktime.• Don’t put any branding, effects or lower thirds on the file

http://www.media-attention.co.uk/VNR.htm

”Communicate your key messages in such a way that it's newsworthy, the points are made quickly,

and there is a slight punch to it”

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

Video as Infographic

9494 linksFrom 248 Domains

Content on Vimeo.com4,879 links from 515 domains

http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/stuxnet-anatomy-computer-virus

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“Phil...I think I’ve also made that mistake.

I've done loads of videos on YouTube & people have embedded them, but I have no links as they all link back to YouTube….”

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

If you have done this…

Find people who linked to you on Vimeo/YouTube and get them to add a link to the relevant page on your

site

Same works for anyone who has embedded the video

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Mozilla Popcorn = EPIC

http://mozillapopcorn.org/

http://mozillapopcorn.org/

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Video XML sitemaps

• Allow Google to read your video metadata

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=80472

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Video Sitemap Template - Vimeo

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9” xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1">

<url> <loc>http://www.yourdomain.com/page-containing-video</loc>

<video:video><video:thumbnail_loc>http://www.yourdomain.com/thumbnail-image</

video:thumbnail_loc>

<video:title>Video Title</video:title>

<video:description>Video Meta Description</video:description>

<video:player_loc allow_embed="yes" autoplay="ap=1">http://player.vimeo.com/video/videoidnumber</video:player_loc>

<video:duration>Length of video in seconds</video:duration>

<video:publication_date>2012-02-29T18:30:15+00:00</video:publication_date>

<video:family_friendly>yes</video:family_friendly>

<video:tag>Target Keyword 1</video:tag>

<video:uploader info="https://plus.google.com/userid">Name</video:uploader>

<video:live>no</video:live>

</video:video>

</url>

</urlset>

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

Video Sitemap Template - YouTube<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9” xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1">






<video:content_loc>http://www.youtube.com/v/VIDEOID</video:content_loc>







</video:video>

</url>

</urlset>

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Video Sitemap Template – Self Hosted<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9” xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1">






<video:content_loc>http://yourdomainc.com/videofile.mp4</video:content_loc>







</video:video>

</url>

</urlset>

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Outreach

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Video directories & Resource Sites

• They are out there.• followed links, but you need good,

creative content

http://blip.tv/http://www.videojug.com/http://www.wonderhowto.com/http://www.imbroadcast.com/http://bizuns.com/videoshttp://www.dailymotion.com/en

Simple screencast tutorials can get tons of links if solving a problem

http://blip.tv/

http://blip.tv/

http://www.videojug.com/



http://www.wonderhowto.com/



http://www.imbroadcast.com/

http://www.imbroadcast.com/

http://bizuns.com/videos

http://bizuns.com/videos

http://www.dailymotion.com/en

http://www.dailymotion.com/en

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Viral Videos – influence the influencers

http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_allocca_why_videos_go_viral.htmlhttp://www.slideshare.net/katemorris/brainstorming-and-designing-viral-content

Videos go viral when key influencers provide a context for engagement

Friday, Friday…AAARRRRGGHHHHH

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

Using YouTube to build links

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WARNING – A LITTLE BIT GREY HAT

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Hijack videos without “as seen on” attribution

http://www.youtube.com/social/blog/distilled

• Find highly viewed videos without “as seen on”• Embed on your HQ Blog – with surrounding text content• Get tons of referring links through a 303 redirect

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Embedding custom YouTube Playlists• Curate the playlist on your site, rather than on

YouTube• Have accompanying text and resource

content

<iframe width="560" height="315" src=http://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO1ID?playlist=VIDEO2ID, VIDEO3ID, VIDEO4ID, VIDEO5ID" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://code.google.com/apis/youtube/player_parameters.html

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YouTube 3d

http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=157640

Over a million views

The content isn’t even that good.

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Checklist – Content Creation

1. Content should define form2. Integration of Audio, Visual and Concept – do they all

complement each other?3. Unique Ideas – scale the production elements4. Do the videos grab attention in the first few seconds?5. Correct export settings (see appendices)6. Submit Video XML sitemap7. Use Schema.org movie mark-up

Questions? Send them to @philnottingham

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

Checklist – Getting Links

1. Choose third party hosting solution2. Ensure it’s embedded in HTML5 player with flash fallback3. Add social buttons to your player4. Custom Embed Code for link building with partial anchor

text5. Ensure the content has supporting text and images6. Video Press release7. Outreach to key influencers8. Seed on YouTube and Vimeo after the links dry up9. Resource Directories10.YouTube “as seen on” attribution

Questions? Send them to @philnottingham

Thank You!

Questions?

PHIL NOTTINGHAM

Technology

Video in linkbuilding strategy