4 (and a half) Reasons Video Is Your SEO Wingman

“If you’re still pumping out keyword-stuffed oatmeal and calling it ‘thought leadership,’ congratulations on impressing exactly no one. Point a camera at something useful, make humans care, then give Google the transcript so it doesn’t panic.” — Michael McDougald, Lead SEO Expert at Right Thing SEO

Let’s be honest. Most “content strategies” look like someone duct-taped ChatGPT to a calendar and yelled, “Publish!” Meanwhile, the brands quietly filming scrappy TikToks, slicing them into Reels, and embedding the best bits on their site are watching their branded search and rankings climb. Coincidence? Sure. I only eat kale for the flavor.

Here’s the reality check: video grabs attention, sparks brand recall, creates sticky sessions, and still feeds the crawlers when you wrap it in good old-fashioned HTML. Let’s walk through the actual reasons this works, not the fairy tales your plug‑in promised.

1) Video Fuels Brand Searches, and Brand Searches Move Mountains

Google keeps telling us to “be helpful.” What they did not say out loud is “be a brand people actively look for.” When updates like the Helpful Content Update rolled out, a lot of SEOs acted like Google just wanted prettier paragraphs. Tom Capper argued on Moz that it was really about rewarding brands and branded search, not just word count or author bios. Translation: if people type your name + “pricing” or “reviews,” your site sends stronger “we’re legit” signals. Video is gasoline for that engine. TikTok explainer goes viral? Now your DMs and branded queries spike. Instagram Reel of your team solving the exact pain point your audience whines about? Boom. People remember you exist and search for your brand.

“According to” every correlation study under the sun, branded traffic tends to show up near the top-performing sites. Backlinko’s massive dataset found that longer engagement and stronger brand signals correlate with better rankings.

Do not misread that as “post one video, rank #1 tomorrow.” Read it as “brand strength acts like a multiplier on your entire SEO program.” Video just happens to be the fastest way to lodge your brand in a human brain without sedating them.

How to weaponize it:

• TikTok: Film fast, hook in 2 seconds, drop your brand name verbally and on-screen, and use actual keywords in captions. TikTok now surfaces search results natively, so act like it.
  

• Instagram Reels: Educate or entertain, then pin a top comment answering the #1 follow-up question, referencing your brand. No one reads your bio link, but they will click the one in the caption if you earned it.
  

• YouTube: Second-largest search engine. Title like a human, describe like a librarian. Mention your brand naturally. People will Google you later.
  

• Facebook: Native upload or bust. Drop chapter markers and ask a question at the 45-second mark to juice comments that later translate into, you guessed it, brand recall.
  

2) People Prefer Video… But Google Still Needs Text (Sorry)

Humans keep telling surveys they want more video from brands. Wyzowl’s 2024 “State of Video Marketing” reports that 89% of people want to see more videos from the brands they support and 52% share videos with others.

Great. Users are happy. Now keep the search bots happy. They cannot “watch” your clever cutaway gag. They read. That means captions, on-page transcripts, structured summaries, and FAQs under the embed. If the idea lives only in pixels and sound waves, Google shrugs and moves on.

Michael’s favorite passive-aggressive reminder: “If it isn’t in HTML, it didn’t happen.” He’s said that in more meetings than he wishes, usually right after someone tries to rank with a one-sentence blog and a Vimeo link from 2016.

Do this every time:

• Upload closed captions to YouTube (clean ones, not auto-generated gibberish).

• Paste the cleaned transcript below the embed on your site, trimmed to what matters.

• Add schema (VideoObject, FAQ) so search engines get rich metadata, not mystery meat.

Now your video serves two audiences: humans who watch and bots who parse.

3) The YouTube Embed Rumor: Not Magic, But Far From Useless

For years, SEOs have whispered that embedding YouTube videos boosts rankings. John Mueller has fielded this enough times to develop a twitch, flatly saying “embeds aren’t a ranking factor,” as reported by Search Engine Journal. But do we believe him when the DOJ leaks contradict several statements known by google? 

So no, pasting a random cat montage on your About page will not unlock page-one paradise. There’s probably a basic relevance check between the transcript and your content. Here’s what it does for sure:

• Increases perceived depth: a relevant, well-produced clip signals effort and quality to users.
  

• Boosts on-page engagement: people click play, stay, maybe scroll, maybe read. That “time on site” and interaction pattern is a strong indirect quality signal.
  

• Drives internal linking opportunities: you can reference that same video in related FAQs, buyer’s guides, and product pages, creating a web of useful content.

Jonathan Bowman, founder here at JBC tells our clients, “Embeds are seasoning, not the steak. But if your steak is bland, good seasoning saves dinner.” He is right. Use embeds to make good pages excellent, not to prop up trash.

4) Sticky Sessions: Video Buys You Time to Prove Relevance

Let’s talk dwell time, session duration, pogo-sticking, all the spooky UX metrics Google claims not to use “directly.” Funny how the pages that hold people’s attention tend to climb, right? Backlinko’s study found that pages with higher average time on site correlated with better rankings. Same study, same link you saw earlier. See? Still only four links.

Correlation is not causation, but in SEO, correlation often pays the bills. A compelling video near the top of a page can stop the instant back-button tap. That pause and those extra seconds or minutes gives your carefully structured headings, internal links, and CTAs a chance to work.

Tactics that actually move the needle:

• Place video at moments of friction. Got a gnarly concept halfway down the page? Drop a 60-second explainer right before the brain melt.
  

• Use chapter markers. Let users jump to “The part I actually care about,” which keeps them inside your experience, not back to the SERP.
  

• Pair video with interactive elements. A quick poll, a downloadable checklist under the embed, or a calculator keeps fingers moving and brains engaged.

When users linger, click deeper, and do not bounce back to Google for twelve more answers, you look “satisfying.” That is the word Google uses in its documentation. Be that.

4.5) Multi-Platform Video = Multiple SERP Entries and Link Bait

One clip can get atomized into different shapes:

• TikTok: 15–60 seconds, fast cuts, trending sounds, keyword captions. TikTok’s internal search means you can rank inside the app, then embed or link out.
  

• Instagram Reels: Use the Reel to tease the longer YouTube video. Add a “Want the full breakdown? Search ‘YourBrand + Topic’” nudge to seed branded queries.
  

• YouTube: The full version lives here, optimized like a real asset: title with intent, description with timestamps, links back to relevant site pages, cards to other videos.
  

• Facebook: Native upload for the algorithm boost. Add a pinned comment that links to your blog post or product page for traffic recapture.
  

This spiderweb creates more touchpoints, more searches for you, and more potential embeds from other sites citing your clip. That last one is link building you did not have to beg for.

Implementation Blueprint (Because “Make More Video” Is Vague)

Step 1: Pick 3 consistent pain points. The ones that the sales keep answering on repeat. Film those first. Step 2: Script like a human. “Here is what you’re probably confused about…” beats “Welcome to our comprehensive solution overview.” Step 3: Batch record. One afternoon, five outfits, seven clips. You can survive. Step 4: Edit once, export many. Square for IG, vertical for TikTok, horizontal for YouTube, native for Facebook. Step 5: Publish site-first. Embed on the most relevant page with transcript, schema, and internal links. Then syndicate to social with platform-specific captions. Step 6: Measure the right stuff. Track branded search volume, average session duration, assisted conversions, and referral links from social/video platforms. CTR and view count are ego metrics. Watch what feeds revenue.

FAQ (Because You’ll Ask Anyway)

“Can I just auto-generate transcripts?” Yes, then clean them. Raw AI transcripts look like your mic was in a blender.

“Do I need a pro camera?” No. Good lighting, decent audio, and a phone beat a $5,000 rig in a dim cave.

“What if no one watches?” Then your hook is boring or your topic is wrong. Rework the first five seconds and the title. This is copywriting, not cinematography.

“Will Google punish me for too many videos?” Only if you melt Core Web Vitals with 1080p autoplay everywhere. Lazy-load, compress, be civilized.

Quick Debrief (a.k.a. The Parting Shot)

Video makes people remember you, not just “best whatever,” and those branded searches push everything up. Humans would rather watch than read, but Google still needs words, so pair every clip with real text. YouTube embeds aren’t magic, yet they keep users around long enough to prove your page actually helps. Multi-platform clips (TikTok, Reels, YouTube, Facebook) give you more surfaces, more shares, and sneaky link opportunities. Do it right and you don’t just “make content,” you wind up building a brand people actually look for.