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YouTube Ranking in Google Case Study (well sort of....)

by shockwave
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hello All You Money Hungry IMers!

Today, I'm going to share with you some feedback on YT video ranking in Google.

Back in March, I was able to rank a video for a local client who provides landscaping services to home owners. So overall, in the whole scheme of things it wouldn't be considered a competitive niche as compared to verticals like insurance, weightloss, etc..etc.

I came in on page #5 of Google and took about two weeks of GSA + some high retention views and eventually landed on page #1 - above organic listings and above the maps (only thing above it were adwords).

Anywho, up until about a week and a half ago, it was holding that position strong for many keyword phrases related to the niche and the city. As of today, it has over 100k backlinks to it (according to GSA verified links, MajesticSEO, and aHrefs). I also put 3-4 direct links from my own PBN to it (PR4 and PR5).

From a signals standpoint, it "should" be killing the competition as I've analyzed the competition too (sometimes 2-3 link levels deep). I have better quality links and more of them, but yet....my video has slipped from #1 over the past 1.5 weeks to page #2.

Obviously, I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I do believe Google has de-valued video (at least for the time being).

(...and yes Yukon, I know you do not agree with ranking videos..."rank pages!")
#case #google #ranking #sort #study #youtube
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    You think you have better links than the competitors, but you blasted it with GSA? The low quality links could be the reason you saw it drop. Pretty common with that kind of backlink profile.

    Also the "high retention views" could be an issue. If Google detects you are using fake visitors, they will drop a video or even go as far as deleting it entirely off of YouTube.
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    • Profile picture of the author shockwave
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      You think you have better links than the competitors, but you blasted it with GSA? The low quality links could be the reason you saw it drop. Pretty common with that kind of backlink profile.

      Also the "high retention views" could be an issue. If Google detects you are using fake visitors, they will drop a video or even go as far as deleting it entirely off of YouTube.
      Yeah, I have better links as in more high PR links overall. I'm sure you know, you can find high PR links and get very granular with GSA - it's not all about blasting away with crappy links. That being said, I'm sure that I likely overdid it with far more spammy links too, so maybe it's all just a wash.

      My high retention views were spread out over several months (only about 3000), all U.S. based and 87%-95% retention.

      But yes, you could be right about both points.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
    Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

    As of today, it has over 100k backlinks to it (according to GSA verified links, MajesticSEO, and aHrefs). I also put 3-4 direct links from my own PBN to it (PR4 and PR5).
    You must hate your PBN and the money you put into it. Putting PBN sites in the midst of your link spamfest sends all kinds of signals

    (...and yes Yukon, I know you do not agree with ranking videos..."rank pages!")
    Yukon has that right then. Every time I go to Youtube I watch more than the linked to video so a lot of that traffic is going elsewhere.
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    • Profile picture of the author shockwave
      Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

      You must hate your PBN and the money you put into it. Putting PBN sites in the midst of your link spamfest sends all kinds of signals

      Yukon has that right then. Every time I go to Youtube I watch more than the linked to video so a lot of that traffic is going elsewhere.
      Hate my PBN? Not really, but then again I didn't put that much money into it to begin with ($400-$500) and there's only 7-8 (all PR4-PR5 sites)...so maybe I shouldn't refer to it as a PBN.

      As for looking at other videos, the one I'm referencing, I don't think that is a major issue. Even if it were, it would be easy to get around:

      1. You don't even need to actually click on the video in the SERPS to know who to call as I have the phone number as the video thumbnail.

      2. If you did actually click through and start watching the video (within YouTube) there are no other local businesses in the YouTube results for landscaping. If there were, I would just spam the same video in YouTube and all you would see on the side bar would be the same video as well.

      Overall, if I had to focus on a particular signal, I would say it's the links. But I still think they de-valued video rankings. As I've mentioned before in other posts, video thumbnails tend to attract eyeballs...and sometimes clicks. And when this happens, that means less adwords clicks. So, it would be in Google's interest to keep the clicks flowing on their ads rather than someone going to a video that might not be monetized through the YT partner program.
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

        Yeah, I have better links as in more high PR links overall. I'm sure you know, you can find high PR links and get very granular with GSA - it's not all about blasting away with crappy links.
        Sure, but...

        Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

        As of today, it has over 100k backlinks to it (according to GSA verified links, MajesticSEO, and aHrefs).
        You are not building 100k links with any tool and have them be good links. PR alone also does not determine the quality of a link.

        What you are doing is much more similar to what the churn and burners do. Nothing wrong with that, except it is probably not what a client is looking for.
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

      Every time I go to Youtube I watch more than the linked to video so a lot of that traffic is going elsewhere.
      Which is exactly what everyone else does, nobody is going to land on YouTube to watch a single video & then leave. That right sidebar on YT is loaded with competition & where traffic goes after watching a video.









      Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

      (...and yes Yukon, I know you do not agree with ranking videos..."rank pages!")
      For the record I don't have a problem with YT, I know it's loaded with traffic.

      What I think is silly is ranking a YT page in Google SERPs & then trying to coach traffic into clicking a link on a YT page to only end up going back to a self hosted page. The traffic flow doesn't make any sense by adding unnecessary steps to find a money page.

      Simply rank a self hosted page in Google SERPs & be done with it, no competition once traffic lands on your own page.

      The more hoops you force traffic to jump through the more traffic falls off along the way.
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      • Profile picture of the author shockwave
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        Which is exactly what everyone else does, nobody is going to land on YouTube to watch a single video & then leave. That right sidebar on YT is loaded with competition & where traffic goes after watching a video.

        For the record I don't have a problem with YT, I know it's loaded with traffic.

        What I think is silly is ranking a YT page in Google SERPs & then trying to coach traffic into clicking a link on a YT page to only end up going back to a self hosted page. The traffic flow doesn't make any sense by adding unnecessary steps to find a money page.

        Simply rank a self hosted page in Google SERPs & be done with it, no competition once traffic lands on your own page.

        The more hoops you force traffic to jump through the more traffic falls off along the way.
        I hear you guys loud and clear. But, in this case, there are no other local businesses in the YT results offering this service, so it makes the argument about looking at other videos irrelevant. If you are looking for a landscaper in boondocks, AL - why would you click on a completely unrelated video just because it's in the side bar? - You wouldn't....unless you really weren't searching for a landscaper to begin with.

        Also, I'm not using the video with the intent of driving traffic to their website. What I really want them to do is call for a quote - which is why I make it so the phone number is the video thumbnail in the SERPS.

        Anyway, certainly there is something going on. And I really think it has a lot more to do with a change in the algorithm rather than the links. I've tested a few other videos in other cities (similar niche) but without backlinks...and I'm getting similar results. The problem with that test is the amount of time the video has been posted and the competition (these variables make it really difficult to compare apples-to-apples to the video in question).

        Oh well, just though I would throw it out for discussion to see if anyone had any similar experiences.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
          Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

          I hear you guys loud and clear. But, in this case, there are no other local businesses in the YT results offering this service, so it makes the argument about looking at other videos irrelevant.
          You are living in denial. Potential customers being distracted is never irrelevant. In all my life I have never seen a youtube video landing page that did not have other videos in the right hand column and there are lots of landscaping videos on you tube. Doesn't really matter if theres anyone locally. There are videos showing people how to do it themselves or even unrelated that distract and take traffic.

          I'm not saying it has no use but for most serps the claim of ranking in Google because you get a youtube video showing isn't anywhere near the traffic/conversion you are going to get if you did good keyword research and ranked your own page for longtail
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  • Profile picture of the author Effortless
    Its better to manual posting rather than a bot or a software. For Youtube ranking you should write a very good & keyword focusing Head line, then a very good descriptive description & spread it all over the social network. If your channel or video is good then within a short period of time you get a lots of traffic.
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