Search Engine Optimisation, otherwise known as SEO is integral to building brand awareness and your online presence. Although SEO is commonly associated with websites, it can, in fact, be just as beneficial when applied to your web-based OTT service and apps. Making your content and service visible to search engines like Google, either organically or through paid activities, really is vital if you want viewers to find you and subscribe.

If you’re currently planning, curating or even updating your video service, now is the time to optimize and improve your SEO. Some of the key benefits of an effective SEO strategy include:

• Increased and higher quality traffic
• Better visibility online
• Creates credibility and trust
• Cost effective marketing
• Gives you a better insight into your audience and traffic

Here are a few of our top tips to help you get started:

Identify your keywords

Keywords are an extremely important part of your SEO strategy. To research short and long-tail keywords successfully, you’ll need to get into the mindset of your audience and consider how they may search online for your content or service. It’s also a good idea to check out what words your competitors are optimizing. That doesn’t mean you should optimize the same words though (it will cost more to do so, particularly if they’re already well established).
To research keywords, check out some helpful online tools, including Google Keyword Planner and Keyword Tool. Once you’ve identified your keywords, position them within the copy on your service and web page. Don’t overdo it though, Google, in particular, is great at sussing out keyword overuse and it will penalize you for it.

Use keywords effectively

Thoughtfully position keywords within the copy of your service and/or website. Scattering keywords all over the place really won’t be effective.

Of course, there are obvious places you should use keywords, such as in movie, series or program titles etc. However, you can also utilize keywords in filenames before uploading new content to your service. Simply ensure video filenames match that of the film title or TV program. This will make it much easier for search engines like Google to locate your video content when it’s being searched for online.

Be meticulous with metadata

Metadata will not only help your users locate great content within your service, but can also impact online search results. Metadata effectively tells search engines like Google, what the video is about and helps them to determine where it should appear in results.

Always use keywords in content tiles, descriptions, and tags. But, as we mentioned earlier, try not to overdo it. Keyword stuffing is frowned upon by Search Engines and can result in lower rankings. It can also be off-putting to your users. When it comes to writing video descriptions or general web copy, make sure sentences flow and read naturally. You should also experiment with keyword variations, including synonyms as well as singular and plural keywords.  

Promote, Promote, Promote!

Social media is one of the best ways to reach out to your target audience and promote your OTT service. Although it’s important to note that social media won’t have a direct effect on your Google ranking, it can still aid your SEO efforts.

Building a strong social community is one of the best ways to promote your service and content organically. Loyal followers will help build buzz by sharing the links you post on your social channels. These links should take followers directly to your service, new content, relevant web pages etc.  In turn, this will drive more traffic to your website/service, which Search Engine’s like Google actually recognize. Links on social media that have been shared hundreds of times (if not more) have been known to improve web page rankings for keywords/phrases that are very competitive. In short, don’t overlook the importance of digital marketing and your social presence.

How can we help?

At Magine Pro we appreciate how important SEO is to launching your own OTT service. And in particular the impact it can have on building your subscriber numbers. Because of this, we provide all our partners with the advice and the tools they need to effectively optimize their service for launch and in future. This not only includes digital marketing guidance but also access to the Magine Pro Console, our web-based management tool.

Using the Magine Pro Console, our partners can independently curate and manage their Pioneer or Premium video services. The Console enables them to edit their service’s start page, content categories and assets metadata with immediate effect. This gives them full control over where and how keywords appear in their service. Want to find out more about our global OTT solutions and services, or have an SEO related question? Get in touch with the team today.