Mediarun Search Marketing News

Website marketing: As online video consumption grows, so will online video ads

January 12th 2010

Search Engine Optimisation News

Video content is an excellent way for businesses to boost their search engine optimisation (SEO) performance.

However, as online video consumption grows so too will online video ads.

Just this week IPC Media announced it had re-assigned Web TV Enterprise as its exclusive online video advertising agency.

Web TV Enterprise - the UK's largest premium online video advertising network - reported in October 2009 that it had seen a four-fold increase in demand for online video advertising over the past year.

According to Jamie Estrin, Web TV Enterprise managing director, the growth of online video advertising is being driven by the growth of online video content.

When video first became popular it was mostly user generated content (UGC) such as library video from production companies and broadcasters, explains Mr Esrtrin.

However, these days he says there is an influx of fresh, professionally produced content being added every day.

"With so much being added and so much being consumed, naturally advertisers want to communicate with the people engaging with this content," he said.

The benefit of integrating professional quality video into Website Marketing has been highlighted by eMarketer senior analyst David Hallerman, who says the use of such media will help to "improve acceptance" among internet users.

Mr Hallerman, the author of the 2009 report Marketing to the Online Video Audience, also underlines the importance of video being targeted at the appropriate audience.

Commenting on the eMarketer website, he states the importance of being aware of the differences between particular audiences.

"The internet audience does not necessarily respond to the same ads in the same way they would after viewing them on TV," he explained.

Elemental, a UK company that advises brands on their media communications, has said that video content can help businesses boost their search engine optimisation (SEO) performance. Rachel Hawkes, account director at Elemental, said that video content should feature throughout a website but should stem from a centralised source to facilitate easier back-to-back viewing.

"Any business looking to adopt video into their marketing portfolio should make it standard practice to show text descriptions next to the videos," she said.

"Text and video will seed well into search engines, providing businesses with really effective content to help drive search engine optimisation."

Recent research from Nielsen shows that 50 per cent of global online consumers have paid or would consider paying for professionally produced video content.