In 2024 business owners know they need search engine optimization, but there’s a key component of your marketing strategy you may be neglecting.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of approaches to organizing your website and improving performance so it is more useful both to people and to search engines. Over time, search engine optimization principles will literally cause search engines to pay more attention to your website.

That comes together in two ways:

• Search engines read your website pages more frequently so they display the most up-to-date versions.
• Search engines are more likely to select your pages for prominent positions in relevant search results.

Both of those are valuable, since they mean you’re more likely to capture traffic from potential customers who just expressed a need for your products or services. But search engine optimization doesn’t work in a vacuum.

It requires the rest of your marketing to be on point.

In the past, the biggest piece of that puzzle was your website. It’s not enough to just have “a website.” It needs to be built from the ground up to connect with your audience, solve their problems, and create business value.

Modern search engine optimization is even more demanding:

If you don’t have video storytelling in your marketing arsenal, you are falling behind.

Google Made a Big Bet on YouTube – and So Should Your Business

Google bought YouTube back in 2006 at a time when its value wasn’t obvious to anyone else.

It was burning through millions of dollars a day for video storage, yet had no clear monetization.

Google connected YouTube to its existing online advertising network and created one of the most powerful media platforms in the world practically overnight. During Q3 2022, YouTube’s ad revenue topped $7 billion.

What most people couldn’t see back then – but Google execs certainly did – has come to pass: YouTube is the #2 biggest search engine in the world, right behind Google itself. In recent years, the two have become a dynamic duo, with relevant videos getting top priority in search results.

Consider the following facts:

• When a video hits YouTube, it is indexed in Google almost immediately – hours, not days or weeks.
• Relevant videos can go above text results, beating out other websites that already have good SEO.
• Videos can show up in that spot even if the YouTube channel they come from is new and untested.

Even if you’ve never used video content in your marketing mix before, it’s never too late to start. And if you’re not where you want to be in search engine results relevant to your business, video is the first place you should look. It’s where businesses that are new to digital marketing can compete and make a difference fast.

And it’s not just about search engine optimization. Video content is good for humans, too.

Video Content Is Integral to SEO (and It Will Only Get More Important from Here)

Studies show video content is more memorable, more enjoyable, and more likely to prompt action than text alone. And no matter what industry you’re in, odds are good that your target customers are awash in a sea of pointless, AI-generated drivel intended to do nothing more than clog search engine results with text.

AI-generated text content is diluting the informational content of search engine results at an amazing rate. It’s more important than ever to have digital marketing by humans, for humans. And one of the ways that you can set yourself apart from the pack is by publishing video content – content that robots can’t duplicate.

When video content is anchored by the authoritative voice of a business leader, framed with a powerful and positive message that’s relevant and resonant for your audience, it builds trust like nothing else can. It’s the next best thing to meeting in person, ensuring people know, like, and trust you enough to buy from you.

The more sophisticated your offerings are, the more crucial that is. Your leads and prospects aren’t simply going to walk through your door – you need to build and nurture a relationship first. Today, for the Millennials and for those who follow them, that’s done through online content that speaks directly to their pains.

One of those pains is “not enough time to research products,” and video is the answer to that, too.

Plenty of business owners avoid video content because it looks complicated – or simply because they think they aren’t cut out for it. New York Ave makes it easy by providing all the tools, support, and expert advice you’ll need. Contact us to learn more or get started.