Over the last few years, video content has become more popular within businesses. It’s now easier than ever for your home services business to create high-quality video content using simply your iPhone or Android cellphone camera without having any videography experience. 

With this influx in video content, Google has now identified that ranking your HVAC, plumbing, roofing, or electrical website is not only about the content and links on your website. It’s about creating other forms of content, such as videos, to help drive traffic to your website.  

If you create and use videos in the right form, this media can be a beneficial tool for your home services business to move up the SEO ranks. 

We’re going to walk you through a few specific ways videos can help boost your SEO, leading to more clients for your home services business. 

What Is Video SEO?

The process of planning, organizing and creating a video can be a large task on its own, but why do all of this work without seeing some level of return on it? Without proper video SEO, all of your hard work will unfortunately never be seen by users' eyes.

In short, video SEO refers to optimizing the content around your video so people can find it when they make searches on Google and other search engines. 

Effectiveness of Video

Not only is video a great tool to use from an overall marketing and SEO perspective, but it’s also becoming a staple of how people consume content. The constant rise of digital devices makes it that much easier for people to access information about the home services you offer. In 2019, video viewership in Canada reached 67.2%.

Not only that, but marketers have had great success with using video content as part of their efforts. According to Invisa, a website is over 50 times more likely to appear on Google’s first page if it comes with a video. Creating video content does not require any magical powers either. All you need is a camera and your choice of editing tool to get started.

Can Videos Help Organic Visibility?

Think back to the last time you searched for “Why is my sink clogged” or ``Why did my furnace stop working.” How many videos appeared on the result page? Probably at least one. This is because our eyes are becoming trained to immediately look for videos to better describe plumbing, heating, or other related issues. To ensure you stay ahead of the pack, here are the different ways video can help with your website’s organic visibility:

Google Always Tries To Display Videos

For whatever search query someone may have about HVAC systems, air conditioning or plumbing, Google always tries to display videos when possible due to 2013’s hummingbird update. 

Since then, Google tries to understand the user’s true intent behind the search query rather than relying on just keywords. Now that most users prefer watching videos, Google will adapt, providing them with more videos moving forward to answer their search query better.

Video Increases Dwell Times & Lowers Bounce Rate

We all hate to admit; video content is typically more engaging than the traditional way of reading content. This does two things to your website. First, it holds your users' attention for a longer period of time, and secondly, it lowers the bounce rate. 

A high Bounce rate is something all websites want to avoid as it means a user didn't go to another page on your website.

Link Building

Some might not realize that videos are the perfect opportunity to build your links, which actually boosts your SEO performance. For example, if you were to create a video on which type of water heater is the best and you shared it on Youtube, including your URL in the video's description, that would boost your SEO. It can be as easy as that because putting your URL below qualifies as a referral link and will propel your SEO ranking.

Puts a Face to the Name

Creating videos about your home services brand brings life to your brand that words couldn’t replicate. This also opens the door for organic users to share your content if they enjoy it, building brand familiarity. If they see your videos before and enjoyed them, they will likely come back for more in the future, impacting your click-through and conversions. 

Ideas To Get You Started

Now that you’ve learned the basics of what video can do for your SEO performance, now what in the world should you film? Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered! Here are some simple ways you can get the camera rolling.

• Company overview or about us videos
• Product videos
• Educational videos
• Testimonials

Given that your main goal is to continue acquiring customers consistently, these are great ways to reach your target consumers. Whether that be sharing tips to save money on your water bill or the benefits of installing an air filter. It’s always a good idea to think back to the common FAQS your customers have as their likely, not the only ones seeking information on that topic.

Ways To Enhance Your Video for SEO

There are many ways to optimize your videos from an SEO standpoint effectively. For starters, focus on these key points to get your content moving in the right direction.

• Carefully chose the title and description
• Be as calculated as possible when selecting the video’s thumbnail
• Ensure Metadata is engaging and inspires action
• Insert a video transcript  - captions so Google can better understand the video content
• Embed the video you want to appear first on your page but avoid doing so in multiple places on your website
• Create a sitemap on your website, assisting a search engine in locating it
• Share your video on various channels apart from your website

We’re Here To Help

Creating content can be no easy task, especially videos, but you’re not alone. Now that you have a foundation, we can help you build on that as there are, of course, many other tips and tricks to enhance your SEO performance. At ADHOME, we can help you hit these goals and get your brand going in the right direction.

Contact us to learn more or book a demo.

SEO or search engine optimization enhances your online content to increase your website's visibility through a search engine. SEO means changing and formatting small things that will help boost your website's performance. Search engines are run by algorithms that take certain factors into account when ranking sites for specific keywords. Optimizing your digital platform to work with these algorithms will make a massive difference in bringing more traffic to your website. 

Search engines (Google, BING, Yahoo!) change their algorithms regularly to optimize results for their users. The more users enjoy the engine, the more they will use it. There are SEO tactics that worked a year ago that may be less and less effective as algorithm updates are released. It's important to spend your time optimizing your website for the factors users and in turn, Google will always prefer on your website. Here is a list of a few factors that Google will always favour.

Content Marketing

In most companies, their content marketing and SEO efforts are two different strategies, but they must go hand in hand. Creating content is the best way of marketing and building a brand that people feel they can trust. Through YouTube videos and blog posts, viewers get a better understanding of the brand. With these platforms bringing such success, content marketing will always be the foundation in which Google will consider your relevancy to the keywords your customers are searching. 

Having social media as a driving force in your marketing is extremely useful, with around 3.6 billion people using social media today, over 40% of the world’s population is on a platform. This number is only going to exponentially increase as time goes on; establishing a strong social media presence through content marketing is crucial. Using videos for install guides or Q&As will help your clients feel more confident with your service and it will land you more hits with search engines. Social media is also a great way to create strong backlinks to optimize your platform further.

Blog’s are another great form of content that is an excellent SEO tactic; not only can you focus your writing to have specific keywords for search engines, but guest blogging and backlinking is a surefire way to push your website to the next level. Blogging gives you an advantage for SEO, provides information to your customers, and gives your brand personality.

Pro Tip: Ensure you post your content on your website first.  It’s important that Google recognizes the content’s primary source was your website.  Then share the link to your social media platforms.  This helps build the authority of your website.

Site Speed

Your website speed is essential. Speed is a direct factor in Google's ranking process, which means you need your website to be fast. Google has reported that 53% of users will click off a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Increasing speed will reduce the bounce rate on your website while improving your ranking with search engines. If you want to check your speed, you can go to Google's site speed analysis tool here. 

 How can you increase the speed of your website? Quite a few factors contribute to website speed; our top picks are server response time and image compression. Server response time is not something you can control; whoever you use to host your website will determine the server's speed based on their technology. The more space your pictures take up, the longer it takes to load them. You want to make sure your images load as fast as possible while still maintaining the look. Image compression is decreasing the size images take up while retaining the image quality. Several image compression tools are accessible with a quick search. 

Backlinks

High-quality backlinks are the backbone of an SEO campaign. According to a survey of SEO professionals, backlinks are the most significant part of SEO. Backlinks are a way to garner reputation and rankings within a search engine. When Google released its Penguin algorithm, the quality of backlinks became much more critical. Ensuring that your backlinks are from reputable and secure sources is crucial to improving your ranking within search engines. While we are seeing more evidence that Google is devaluing backlinks overtime due to agencies "gaming the system", we still see benefits when we deploy a targeted backlink strategy.

 Titles & Meta Descriptions

Page titles and meta descriptions are the links and descriptions that are displayed when you search on Google. It's your first chance to entice someone to click through to your website, but they are also integral to your SEO. You want to make sure is that your title and description relate to your service. Search engines look for keywords in both the title and description to match a user's search. Each page on your website should incorporate unique keywords based on the content of the page. The goal is to have each page rank for different keywords pertaining to a specific service. This will ensure that your website is visible when users search for terms related to your business.

Aside from the SEO benefits of titles and meta descriptions, they also matter to the people seeing them. When a user searches ’ roofing company’ they want to make sure that what they are clicking on is a good fit for them. Your page title and the description give an immediate impression to a viewer. Being concise while remaining appealing is very important here.

Tagging Headers

One of the least recognized SEO tactics is correctly formatting your headers into h1’s, h2’s, and h3’s. These headers are ranked hierarchically with h1’s being the most important for SEO. When a search engine combs your website, it factors in headers; if your headers don't reflect the order in which you intend your information to be presented, you will appear much less often for search queries.

Your H1 should contain the keywords that are most important to your business, as the algorithm will prioritize those keywords. Your h2 is a subheading to your h1 and should contain similar keywords, with the h3 serving the same purpose for the h2. Although it may seem quite minor, it has a significant impact on search results. Tagging these properly is crucial for showing up regularly in searches, as well as your SEO ranking.

Conclusion

Some aspects of SEO shift through time due to the constant updates within search engines. I can tell you that content marketing, site speed, backlinks, titles and meta descriptions, and headers are going nowhere anytime soon, and will continue to be invaluable in driving traffic to your website and bringing you more sales.

As you know, having information easily accessible online for your customers is essential. Most companies will optimize their website and set up a social media presence, but often skip the fundamental step of setting up your Google My Business profile.  

Google is the most prevalent and used search engine globally; according to Global Stats, Google currently has 92% of the world's search engine market share, meaning when people need to find a company’s information quickly, it's going to be on Google. Ensuring you are fully optimizing your platform to align with the way Google works is a definite way to drive more traffic to your website. 

Google My Business allows you to verify your business with Google, which gives you two key features. It establishes your business's physical address that can be found both through search and through maps. Plus, it provides viewers with essential information about your service that may convince them to book with you and not your competitor. 

How Do I Set It Up?

Starting is relatively straightforward; head to google.com/business, and start the process. The actual sign up is quite simple, but the devil is in the details here. It's vital to set up your business correctly to maximize the service's potential. 

There’s a reason why so many people use Google My Business; it does a fantastic job of quickly providing relevant information—finding the most suitable businesses for the search terms provided. If you are an HVAC company, make sure you tag yourself as an HVAC service to come up when people need you. Use as many of the tags related to your service as possible; you want to appear for relevant searches as often as you can.

Tip: Make sure you have put in an address that can receive mail as google will send a postcard as the last step in the verification process.  If you are creating satellite offices for the purpose of appearing for hyper-local Google searches, ensure that the address you use is one you have access to.

Images

Along with the information on your Google My Business listing, you need to provide images. You want to make sure the photos you choose makes your business look stable and trustworthy. If someone is looking for a new air conditioning system, they want to ensure they are working with a reputable company. Suppose they type in the keyword “ Furnace Repair Toronto” into Google and see two results. One has a single exterior photo from google maps with no other information; the other is branded with a logo, pictures of their staff, photos of their fleet of wrapped vehicles and the office. The person will likely pick the branded company only because it looks more established, so they trust it more. They have no idea what type of service each company provides, but they have already decided which company has earned their business. 

Reputation

What's the best way to build credibility with both Google and prospective customers? Reviews. By gaining positive reviews on your Google My Business Profile, people will be more likely to contact you, and Google will also rank you higher; therefore, you will appear more often and higher on searches. Ask your customers to leave reviews if they were satisfied with the work you have done. This simple step can have a significant impact on your business in the long run. 

Tip: If you are running Local Service Ads (Google Guaranteed) your ad placement is determined by the number of reviews on your Google My Business account. Ensure you are always prompting your customers to leave their feedback. Don't stress as much about bad reviews lowering your ranking. Low star rating reviews provide you with a great opportunity to respond and show others how you will handle a poor customer experience.

How Does This Help My SEO Performance?

Google is continuously updating its software to ensure users get the best quality search results. Doing everything you can to optimize your content is the name of the game. Having your information available on Google My Business will boost your website traffic. Instead of a search engine having to scan your website for information, it already has a verified source through your Listing. Google My Business also provides optimization for all of Google's platforms, like maps. By making it easier for someone to find your company, you are significantly boosting your SEO score, getting you more booked jobs.

Final Thought

Make sure to continue updating your profile as your business changes and grows, because the last thing you want is ten negative reviews because your hours are wrong. As you continue to build your online platform taking advantage of Google My Business is the next step. The more effort you put into your listing, the more it will give back to you, so make sure to take your time when you fill it out. Make your presence known and reap the benefits.