As a link builder I’m not enamoured with YouTube and do not recommend using it as a primary way to build links or as an integral part of your SEO program.
Why?
- Videos on YouTube are on YouTube so any optimization effort you implement helps YouTube and not your website/pages.
- YouTube contributes to the pinking of the ‘Net/Web (uses nofollow) so any link you insert to guide people back to your site passes no link popularity.
- While traffic from YouTube can be beneficial, you have to optimize the content on YouTube like any other in order for people to find it. This is time better spent elsewhere.
- Efforts to make a video go viral begin with the webmaster, not YouTube
- It’s doubtful you’ll build a brand following on YouTube unless the public is already aware of your brand.
- By-n-large people look for information on a search engine first, they don’t search on YT for a place to buy baseball cards. There is a reason Google has become a verb and YouTube a pastime.
But the number one reason?
- YouTube results bump web pages down in the general search results and web pages make sales , videos don’t!
Want to see what I mean? Look here, here, and here and notice how the videos are all ranking in the top five but the sites they represent – don’t. Yes the exposure is nice but where is there opportunity to make a sale?? Throw in local search results and images showing up and it can take a while to get to a static search result. If your goal is to make your website an authority in your industry/niche, you should house and promote the videos on your site, not YouTube. This will help with algorithmic authority, branding and traffic.
So is using YouTube to build SEO links a wasted effort? Pretty much which is why I don’t recommend using it to increase your link popularity but I wouldn’t totally discount using the number two search engine on the Net to build awareness. Consider doing this:
- Make shorter versions of your video’s and insert on YouTube, longer vid stays on your site
- Create those shorter versions as teasers and as a lead-in to promotions/information on your site
- Be sure the start and ending frame of the vid include the URL to your website
- Optimize your YouTube listing with your keywords
- Be the first one to leave a comment/review under your vid, include the URL to your website and explain a longer more detailed version of the vid exists on your website
- Encourage everyone you know to drop a comment/review on the video (re/views help push your vid to the top for your keywords)
- Create a video area on your site just as you would a media room and promote it to the media, your customers, vendors etc.
- Make the vid’s on your website available through Creative Commons, make full descriptions embedded with kw rich links part of your attribution.
You need to decide what’s best for your site and if having YouTube video’s come up in the serps for your keywords is your goal, power to you. But if you’re in business to make a profit and plan to use video to attract links, know the links you point at YouTube will have little to no effect on your overall rankings.
Use YouTube or any image/audio hosting site wisely and they can be your greatest ally and not a ranking enemy.
(photo taken from Zazzle. Buy a tee shirt!)
Wouldn’t it be easier to simply not include keywords or useful titles in videos? That should push your youtube video down on google, and your site up.
Like you said, users don’t search on youtube…so why bother using youtube keywords?
if we cant do anything with youtube then how should improve our wesites then
Hi, Im relativley new to link building. After reading your article, it really made me think twice about using YouTube. Guess I’d better spend my time and effort elsewhere.
Thank you for the wonderful insight.
This is great information, I have spent the last five months teaching myself how to create and upload a website, learning about custom script, embedding etc. I now have my site uploaded, and I was going to implement youtube as a suggetion from a friend. Now after reading this, I have attached a couple of the videos on my website instead. I have paid for godaddy’s search engine-traffic blazer but it has taken me forever to figure it out. I still dont think I have it done right because even if you type in my actual business name it doesnt even come up. I will take your advice and begin submitting press releases etc. thanks again for the great information. Dianna
YouTube might drive some traffic, but what sort of traffic? I don’t imagine that conversions from YouTube are particularly high. That, combined with the fact that a YouTube channel can outrank you, suggests that it’s best to stay away.
Good point here. The issue is similar to content syndication. If you are not really an authority yet or as much of an authority. often times the content with the higher PR or authority outranks the original source in SERPs. This is not a good thing.
I disagree. Like you said, you tube results move regular listings down. SO…if we can’t control that, why not join in the exposure?
Plus, recently the youtube user channels pages now DO NOT have nofollow on your profile link. Check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/user/galaxybricks
You’ll see in the profile section that my url IS followed! I believe this is a new change.
Thanks Jason. If you can’t get a page to rank and your YT video is all that will, by all means. But be sure that vid is doing everything it can to send ppl back to your site. And yes we’ve noticed some channel pages have clean links on them, we’re watching to see if they have an impact (if we can tell).
I may have misunderstood what you were saying when you wrote, “YouTube results bump web pages down in the general search results.”
Did you just mean that if your listing is already below the YT video it would be pushed down farther? But a listing below any YT video would be pushed down lower.
Or were the examples supposed to show videos that don’t sell?
That part, which you bolded for emphasis and then inlcuded examples, has thrown me.
Sorry.
@seodoctor As long as my webpage result ranks above my YT result I would be fine with world domination
@Ryan Not sure I understand how YT will help a site rank for “keywords your site might not be able to as quick” if you can elaborate that would help