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Have you been wondering how to use SEO and videos for your online Store?
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Great! Learning how to use SEO and videos can be a real game-changer for online store owners.
“How can I help shoppers find my online store?” is a question I’ve been asked more than a few times over the past few years
I often receive emails and phone calls from online store owners, tearing out their hair and wondering how they can help shoppers find their products online.
Some of these Store owners know a little bit about:
- search engine optimisation (SEO)
- and/or a little bit about needing to add “content” (images, videos, audio/podcasts etc)
- and/or possibly a little bit about using social media to find customers.
“Should I use videos for an online store?”
Some others are starting to hear more about using videos, and wonder how on earth they can incorporate them into their business, store and website.
“I’m overwhelmed – I can’t think straight!”
When I hear the panic and overwhelm in some of these folks, I suggest they make a cup of tea or coffee and sit down while we chat for a bit.
Let’s go through some of the questions I’m asked and make some sense of them, starting with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which is a technique to help all the search engines understand clearly what each web page, post or product page is about.
“What is on-page SEO and how can I use it for my store products?”
- first step, write a great Product Title of at least 5 juicy words with adjectives to describe the product, for example “Walking shoes with velcro straps for women” – this becomes the main “keyword phrase” for this product
- the “keyword phrase” becomes part of the link to this product, for example: myonlinestore.com/walking-shoes-with-velcro-straps-for-women/
- write a thorough Description to give the search engine robots something to search for when people are looking for a product like yours – make sure the keyword phrase is included, with more detail for example, sizes, colours, features and benefits (comfortable, easy to walk in all day long)
- if you know of any questions asked about a product like this, add those as well, with the sub-heading “Frequently Asked Questions” so the search engine robots can search for that as well
“What is Image SEO and how should I use it for my store products?”
- after you’ve created a great Product Title of at least 5 words, you can use the exact same words in several other places
- name the image with the exact same keyword phrase as the Product Title name, separating the words with hyphens (dashes)
- for example: walking-shoes-with-velcro-straps-for-women.jpg
- if there are several images, name each one the same, with a couple of extra words to show their difference, for example: walking-shoes-with-velcro-straps-for-women-red.jpg and walking-shoes-with-velcro-straps-for-women-blue.jpg
- add an Alt Tag for each image which is similar to the jpg name – this is essential as robots LOVE Alt Tags – it gives them more proof of what this product is about.
“Can product photos help my store products?”
In one word, yes! Absolutley essential!
Many folks with an online store think a product photo (possibly a couple of photos) will do a great job of bringing people to their store — and there are some key things which need to be done to help your website further.
- many images are named a series of letters and numbers like IMG359230@.jpg — this makes NO SENSE to the search engine robots, so let’s change that name to tell them this image MATCHES the product page
- change the image “name” before upload if it does NOT match the keyword phrase
- if your images have already been uploaded but need to be fixed – don’t worry – if you have those images on your computer, go ahead and change the names on the computer images (as recommended above and below), and RE-UPLOAD them to their product pages
- for example an image name looks like this: walking-shoes-with-velcro-straps-for-women.jpg
- this one change alone will increase the page’s visibility and credibility very quickly.
Image theft can be avoided
If there is any chance your product images might be downloaded from your site, copied, stolen, shared without your knowledge etc (which is pretty much all photos on a store or website), it’s important to add “branding” or a watermark.
By adding the website link for the store onto the image (also known as a watermark), any thief will need to edit or crop photos before using them, which makes it harder work for them. There is no need to put https:// or www on the images (in fact, there’s no need to us “www.” any more).
Notice my image at the top of this page — in the bottom right corner is my logo “Teena.video” – I like to “brand” my images which I use on this website.
This also helps when people are looking for “free” images on search engines like Google.
If someone searches IMAGES for “Walking shoes with velcro straps for women”, and they are presented with a screen full of images, they won’t bother stealing the one with the website link on it (because they’ll have to download and EDIT it), and this is a very good thing.
The watermark doesn’t have to be huge or bold, it just has to be visible and act as a deterrent.
“How can I use videos to help people find my store products?”
Ahh, this is an excellent question, and one I love to answer. :-)
- when someone lands on any Store’s product page, they might be doing some research
- imagine they’re going to look at 2 to 3 or even more website stores with the same or similar product as on your store
- they’ll no doubt see a product image, and a few extra photos taken from different angles
- but WHY would they choose to stay on YOUR STORE’s product page, rather than one of the others?
Videos.
That’s right, videos.
Videos and SEO can boost store products!
In our fast-paced world, people want to be entertained or to watch something animated which is DIFFERENT than the other competitor stores they have visited.
- Making a short 60 second video about a product (using video or photos) can keep the viewer interested.
- Making another short video to answer questions asked about this video is another great way to keep people on the page.
- Showing how to set up or use the product on video is another excellent way to bring folks to your product page.
If a store owner can make a couple of short videos like these about each product, and have them on the specific product page in the online store, the visitor will click – will watch – and will start to feel a connection to the store.
The more little videos with SEO for each product, the better.
If these videos are also posted on sites like YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest etc, they are hard-working little video adverts getting eyes on them 24 hours per day.
Want to know HOW to create these short videos quickly for your business? Grab a ticket to my short 1-hour online Training Course to “Turn Products Into Marketing Videos – Fast!”, which reopens on Wed 25th August 2021. Click here >>
Which type of videos could be useful?
There are many types of video which could work great for product pages:
- demonstration videos
- how to use the product
- solving common issues (troubleshooting)
- using face-on-camera (“talking head”) videos
- using slideshow or screencast videos (no face)
- tips and FAQ videos
- 3, 4, 5-step videos to achieve an outcome, etc.
If the store owner does have access to the product
They can create videos:
- holding the product
- which are how-to videos on how to set up and / or use the product
- explaining all about the product
- troubleshooting the product.
Here is an example of a product I sell – a coffee mug with my own hand-painted designs on it.
- I held the coffee mug with one hand and used my iPhone to record a video
- it’s only 30 seconds long
- I’ve added copyright-free music
- added a Call To Action at the end
- I have not added a voiceover on this video, but I did on other versions of this video
- for video editing, I used Screenflow for Mac
- let me know what you think – did you enjoy this little video?
If a store owner does NOT have access to the product they sell
If a store owner is using drop-shipping or print-on-demand products, they may not have that product as stock in their home or office.
They can still create videos such as:
- a slideshow or screencast of photos of the product
- how-to videos on how to set up and / or use the product
- explaining all about the product
- troubleshooting the product.
Here is a sample video created from photos.
In my video editing software:
- I used the client’s photos
- screenshots of their website
- added copyright-free music
- added a Call To Action at the end.
Using Animation on Images in Videos
In video editing software, the images can:
- zoom in and out
- pan left and right
- pan up and down
- rotate (depending on the product).
Each of these movements give the feeling of “video” and animation, which keeps the viewer watching.
Free hosting for the videos
Once videos are created, they need to be hosted online somewhere:
- never host them on the Store or website (they will slow down the pages and cause potential website issues which will make potential customers click away)
- upload the videos to sites like YouTube and Vimeo for free hosting, then add the video link on the specific product pages on the onine site or store.
Why do these videos help the Online Store?
When a store owner starts adding a video to each product page:
- the little Google bot check out the new videos, follow their links to the Store and find the new vides there too — and they LOVE this!
- when people search online, they now have the possibility of (1) seeing the Store product page, AND (2) the relevant video page where the video is hosted online
- this increases the chances of more potential customers finding the two links in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
- if the SEO has also been done for the video, images AND the product page, the little search robots are filled with glee and happiness!
- if the videos are also posted on social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc), that’s extra bonus points from the little search robots
- if Video Press Releases about each product are posted online, that will increase the possibility of the products being found too. Don’t know about these? I love them – get in touch and I’ll tell you all about them :-)
Have I answered your question on How to Use SEO and Videos?
Let me know — I’d love to hear from you – here are a few ways we can connect:
- post a Comment below
- call or text me in Australia on 0408-801-808 (from outside Australia, add +61 for the country code)
- send me an email >>
- pop over to Facebook >>
- watch some of my videos >>
Let’s talk soon and if you have any suggestions for store owners about using videos and SEO, I’d love to hear from you and share your tips and ideas here.
Ciao ciao for now, have a spectacular day!
Teena Hughes