Youtube & Google. Sitting in a tree.

[almighty monkey]

So. Let's talk Youtube.

I was doing a bit of competitor analysis for a new video production company the other day. First time I've ever looked into this particular niche.

I noticed amongst the competitors backlinks, Youtube popping up time and time again. Not unexpected, of course given the market, but not something I've ever encountered before. That got me thinking about the value of Video in SEO.

Now, Youtube's links out are nofollow for starters. So, I figured, I guess there's no point putting some linkbait video out there and to get a decent link back.

Buuuuttttttt.....

If I was in charge of google, I would think Youtube (amongst other sources) represents a big source of information as to trends that could be fed back into Serps.

If I search for 'Video Podcast', and the entire internet aside from two video podcasts had vanished, (Lets just say, for arguments sake, that everyone else similtaniously decided that this internet thing is a 'silly idea') would Google prefer the one that has 200 viewers on youtube over the one that has 20?

Just wondering if this is something anyone else has ever considered or researched? Has anyone ever found the nofollow link from youtube to be of any value anyway?

[cangoou]

I thought the same of wikipedia: It's nofollow, but why shouldn't a link there count somehow? I wrote some high-quality content and got a link from wikipeda - It's been 6 month since then and it's just worth nothing for my position in the SERPs so far.

Might be different with youtube of course.

[Rugles]

Didn't we discover that nofollow links have a tiny bit of help with ranking. I remember something about them being part of the algo, but it was a very, very small benefit. Just like a non-hyperlinked URL has a tiny benefit.

Am I wrong?

[piatkow]

It's been 6 month since then and it's just worth nothing for my position in the SERPs so far.

but has it been worth anything for click through traffic?

[brickmarketing]

Yes, some no follow links still show up in Google Webmaster Tools which means that there is a benefit to having a link there. Plus user experience, if a potential customer finds a video wouldn't it be wise to have a link for them to navigate to your website?

[aakk9999]

Now, Youtube's links out are nofollow for starters.

Whilst YouTube links from videos are nofollow, the link on the user Profile --> Website is do-follow.

[CainIV]

Yes, some no follow links still show up in Google Webmaster Tools which means that there is a benefit to having a link there

This is inaccurate. Although the links show, and Matt Cutts stated that they sometimes will, they are completely removed from the link graph in calculations.

Matt and the Google team never felt as though filtering those off for you to view follow or nofollow in WMT was a priority which is why you can still see both at times

[martinibuster]

If I was in charge of google, I would think Youtube (amongst other sources) represents a big source of information as to trends that could be fed back into Serps.

Yes, I posted about this almost a year ago.
New Search Paradigm - Shifting from Text to Video
[webmasterworld.com...]

For at least the past year SEARCH has stopped being about text and images. YouTube is the second most popular destination for SEARCH, surpassing even Yahoo Search.

From there you might consider thinking outside of the link box and by taking a look at monetizing from a YouTube partnership because Google is Handing Out Six Figure Paychecks to Basement Auteurs [webmasterworld.com] (January 2009).

While no-follow links have no value in terms of ranking, there is still plenty of value for branding, awareness that your site exists, and raw traffic.

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 7:27 pm (utc) on Dec. 17, 2009]
[edit reason] fixed link [/edit]

[Robert Charlton]

If you're using a YouTube video to drive traffic to your site, you might consider superimposing your domain name as a subtitle throughout the video.

While it's not clickable, it does tell viewers how to find you... and it will travel with the video if it's embedded elsewhere. So in that sense, if the video goes viral, your domain name goes viral.

Aesthetically, for some kinds of videos, it's not an ideal choice... but a good designer should be able to come up with an attractive graphic.