I have been writing and speaking about video search for the last 14 months now, but over the past six months I have seen an increase in the number of articles and the amount of visibility video search has received. It seems once something becomes the ‘hot topic’ all sorts of experts weigh in on the subject. The problem is many of those experts provide inaccurate information to their audience. The saying, “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” sure seems to be the case with some of the articles about this topic.
The Internet is like a vacuum; it sucks up pretty much anything that you put out there. Some folks advise dealers to just upload videos to YouTube and similar sites and call it leveraging video search. That is about as accurate as saying all politicians have your best interest at heart.
In case you don’t already know this, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and the other search engines are not stupid. They employ sophisticated and ever evolving algorithms to analyze Websites, content, images, and videos. Their goal is to present relevant content to users of their search engines, so employing tricks and bulk uploads will not get you the long term results you want.
Five bogus video search strategies
Here are five ideas that are being held up by many of these so-called video experts as valid video search strategies. I will share the real rundown on each of them.
1)    Uploading videos to YouTube or using video distribution software to put videos on the Web is video search engine optimization (VSEO).
Posting a few videos on sites that have thousands or hundreds of thousands of videos is not a solid VSEO strategy. In all likelihood, most consumers will never find your videos and they will add little value to your overall advertising plan. This idea is like standing behind a vehicle in the very far back corner of your parking lot, way behind your building, and holding up a sign that says, ‘Employee Pricing.’ Very few people will notice.
2)    Flood the video sites with the same videos and just change the tags on some of them. This will put you all over the search engines.
This statement just isn’t true. In their video analysis process search engines employ software for pixel recognition, facial recognition, and even speech recognition. They use these processes to insure that there is a correlation between what is shown and what is said. It also filters out duplicate materials and recognizes unethical tactics.
That means you can’t upload a video of Britney Spears with a voice over from one of your tent sale commercials or your dealership jingle and expect the search engines to show it when someone searches for your company. No process is perfect and some things do slip through, but once you get caught and flagged as using ‘black-hat’ tactics, you run the risk of being punished in the rankings going forward.
3)    It doesn’t make any difference what tags you use, just so long as you upload some good videos.
Search engines look at numerous components to ensure that the labeling of the video matches the content of the video. Make sure there is a correlation between what is shown in your video, what is said in your video, and the meta-tags, keywords, and category tags that are tied to your video and its message.
4)    Uploading the same video is ok as long as you cut and paste different tags into each one.
Again this is not the case and you will have issues with your videos if there is no real correlation between the various components that make up the video, audio, and text aspects of the file.
5)    Uploading just one or two videos each month is all you need to get noticed online.
Anyone in advertising will tell you the key to success is repetition. Have you ever seen those annoying commercials for HeadOn? How many times do they say the name of the product? So much that it really gets to me and I have to change the channel, but I remember the product. It is the same with videos. You need to have a plan to continually upload quality videos each week to gain the visibility that is available to you. Keep them unique and target different messages in each one.
Video search engine optimization (VSEO) is a very sophisticated marketing initiative that involves video production, scripting, and content relevant to your audience. Each video needs to be properly tagged and categorized to ensure maximum visibility on the Web and in the search engines. Companies who specialize in this area provide the production, the optimization of each video file, and the maintenance required to keep things fresh.
While you can choose to do this in-house, most dealerships I visit don’t have the time or the resources to produce the level of videos that are required to make a big impact on Web visitors. Companies who specialize in VSEO have the tools, resources, and software to accomplish in half an hour, what might take dealerships weeks to complete. Whichever course you choose be sure to develop a long-term plan and make the commitment to stay the course. This is a marketing strategy that can pay big dividends for you and your dealership.
Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy Inc. Dealer Synergy, an international automotive training, consulting, and technology company that specializes in full business development, CRM, Internet sales, owner retention, phone sales, special finance, and advertising/marketing. For more information please call 800-676-6155.