What comes after the site map
After the site map, the next step to increasing the visibility of online video content is metadata. Essentially, metadata is the contextual information that is associated with or contained in the video file itself.
Metadata information for a video file can include such information as the names of the video's producers or directors, the location where the video was shot or even a transcript of the audio. In the world of online video, metadata refers to information that describes the subject matter, contents and images appearing in the video.
The challenge with metadata for most online video creators is the lack of standards for the information fields and formats. Therefore a metadata information field in a .wmv file might not have an exact counterpart in an .avi file.
Additionally, varying degrees of importance will be assigned to different metadata fields depending on the search engine crawling the video file. This limits the number of informational fields within video metadata that can be optimized and places the burden on the content creator to be as thorough and accurate with their metadata information as possible.
Despite the challenges, there are some very fundamental best practices for using metadata to increase content visibility. For example, the file name should be specific to the content of the online video file, not an internal naming convention. If the video is about Hurricane Katrina, use those two keywords in the title, not a nondescript title such as "050809_katrina_430pm.wmv."
It's critical that metadata files such as "title" tags, "comments," "keywords," "description" and "thumbnail" fields, which allow for additional contextual data, include information and keywords that are relevant to the images, content and subject matter of the online video. It is also important to consider terms that consumers will use when searching for the video and replicate those within metadata files if possible.
While each search engine has different rules that determine whether it looks at only web page and site map information, only video metadata information, or both, by implementing these two practices you will be covering the primary means by which today's top search engines as well as specific video search engines crawl for content. Google Video, for example, hosts video files on its own servers. Google Video acquires video content from people who elect to upload their videos onto the servers, and during the upload process users will enter in their own metadata for the video file.
Specific video search engines such as BlinkX or SingingFish provide users with either links to the websites on which the videos are located -- and therefore may use both the web page context of the embedded video and the video metadata file to sort and rank search results -- or a combination of the two.
If 2006 marked the year for online video content explosion, 2007 will mark the year that video search becomes a crucial tool for the marketers of online content to reach consumers.
Over the next 12 to 18 months, new face and speech recognition technology, frame tagging capabilities and visual analysis tools will come to market and aid in the ability of search engines to yield more accurate results for users. Until that time and even beyond, video search engines will continue to rely on textual data -- derived from site maps and metadata -- to supply search results.
As the universe of online video content becomes even more complex and competitive, marketers can be sure their videos have the best chance of being found by consumers by following the best practices for video search. It's crucial to design a comprehensive site map and pay close attention to metadata today, in order to be prepared for the limitless possibilities for video search tomorrow.
Stuart Larkins is the vice president of search for Performics. Read full bio.