Video seo question

Placement of the video on a site

[moonlander]

I have an ordianry html/css site with a page link to a wordpress blog as part of the site

I want to create video tutorials and gain seo benefits from them but I'm not clear about where the videos should be placed. The blog section seems an obvious choice but i want to get a seo benefit for a particular (small set) of key phrases which the home page is optimised for.

So, do i put the video on the home page or the blog section?

[travelin cat]

I believe each of your video tutorial videos should have its own page. This way you can write copy that supports each video. I also recommend placing a text transcript of each video on its page so that all of that rich content can be spidered by the search engines.

You should link to each video page off of your home page and make sure the each video page has quality title and description tags.

[moonlander]

My main concern is achieving seo benefit for my home page, so does the "link" from the home page achieve this for the home page or only benefit the page where the video is?

[travelin cat]

Well, the home page would benefit by making your site seem more of an authority on your subject. Is there some reason that you care specifically about the home page as opposed to your site as a whole?

[MadeWillis]

The page the video is on would benefit. However, linking back up to your homepage from all the video pages will help support your homepage. On most websites, this is a natural flow.

[moonlander]

travelin cat
...the home page has the main (optimized) key phrase, because its the main term people use when searching for my service.

[travelin cat]

How many tutorials will you have? By putting them on the home page you may have an issue with loading times, something that the search engines have been looking closely at lately.

I still think giving them their own fully optimized pages (with links to the home page as MadeWillis suggested) is your best bet. I would think that you would want your site to be considered an authority, not just your home page.

[moonlander]

I want to create 1 or 2 minute tutorials, tips, features all in a visual form. This will be ongoing really so my thinking is adapting the blog to this so they can be in a library form.

But I was initially thinking in terms of giving my home page a little boost from #3 to #2 position and i thought a good way to do this might be a video?

[travelin cat]

Well, videos are a good way to validate your site as an authority, I'm not sure putting some videos on your home page will move you up a position, and if it did, how long would it last in that position?

Content is everything. It does not all have to be on your home page. Create an authoritative site and the rankings and visitors will come.

[rocknbil]

My main concern is achieving seo benefit for my home page,....

Think about why you want this to happen.

You go into a grocery store for bread. You know right where the bread aisle is. On your way, a clerk stops you and says, "Sorry sir, first you have to pass through our specials section that gives an overview of our store before we can allow you to buy the bread."

Ridiculous comparison, but this is the line of your thinking. Web sites don't rank in serps, web PAGES do. In many cases, getting the main page to rank first for given keywords is the least important thing, what's important is they get to the info they are looking for, which will compel them to explore the rest of the site.

Let's say you have a page, "widget tutorial video," but you move forward and try to optimize the main page for "Widget tutorial video" and succeed. You've effectively divided the "strength" of any indexing between the two. See where that's going?

Let your "home page" be what it is, an index. Let your specific pages outshine it, they don't always have to enter via the main page.

I have one site that buries the first two pages of results for [geo area] [topic]. The main page is in there, but it's not on top . . . the pages that are most relevant are. As it should be. :-)

[fintancostello]

Regardless of where you put the video, don't forget to submit a video sitemap :)