Video SEO: How to get 4 Times as Popular as Michael Jackson
Ever since the emergence of Universal Search video SEO has been in the focus of forward looking online marketers. Videos can potentially get millions of views and spread virally with ease.
YouTube videos often show on the first page of Google results. More often than any other Universal Search results, be it images, maps or news for instance.
All of this is nothing really new. This month though a private video reached almost 18 millions views that was different. It’s not one of the most popular videos of all time yet. There mostly music videos rule. Nonetheless it’s by far the most popular one this month. The next contender, Michael Jackson follows suit with “just” approx. 4 million views.
Of course I’m speaking about the “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” filmed at Jill and Kevin’s Wedding. Make sure to watch it in case you haven’t yet, it’s really lovely:
The video shows at
#1 for wedding dance
#1 for wedding entrance
#4 for wedding
in Google.com
The YouTube URL has been actually tweeted 24,363 times and counting. Just the bit.ly link got almost 500k clicks from Twitter. Now these impressive numbers are basically news enough but something else is striking.
Not only the Washington Post writes about the freshly married couple. They were on TV as well of course. Moreover the Official Google Blog writes about the video. Not just to congratulate the newly married couple but to highlight the monetization of this video. It made the featured song “Forever” by Chris Brown sell like hot cakes.
Additionally the wedding dance video was published to support a cause and to raise money for the Sheila Wellstone Institute, a non profit organization committed to end domestic violence in the US and elsewhere.
The Official Google Blog uses this video to advertise their service by convincing filmmakers and musicians to earn money by publishing videos on YouTube. From a SEO point of view I’d rather focus on why this videos got that popular and why people were eager to buy the “soundtrack”. I don’t know how much money has been collected for the NGO but I assume it was a substantial amount even without the “donate” link being too prominent on the actual home page of the wedding.
The 5 key elements I’d identify as the reasons for the success can be best summarized using adjectives, the video was
- authentic
- positive
- emotional
- featuring real, recognizable people
- short
I other words, this video does not look staged, it looks like the documentary it is. It has a highly positive message which isn’t spelled out but implicit in the whole setting. It’s not just the wedding it’s the sheer joy and excitement that makes people want to see and share it.
Nowadays we get bombarded with bad news. Old media assume that the worse the message the easier it will spread. They try to scare people. Be it
- terrorism
- swine flu
- the economy
the media is exaggerating the negative aspects and capitalizing on the already gloomy time we live in. People are sick and tired of that doom and gloom. That’s also why not Michael Jackson’s funeral got that popular but a wedding of a previously completely unknown couple from Minnesota. That’s another reason of their success, they are just normal people like we are, not far off larger than life superstars.
Last but not least the movie is short enough to fit in a break but long enough to forget your surroundings while watching. After watching you feel like after taking a shower, refreshed and happy.
There is also twist to the story: As the Washington Post point out Brown, the musician who wrote the song used in the video has been found guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend singer Rihanna. So the message here obviously is: Fight domestic violence with the assistance of those who are already guilty of it.
“Where is the actual video SEO advice in here” you might ask? There is none strictly technical one like “add tags here or keywords there”. SEO nowadays isn’t that simple. It’s about how to become naturally popular in the first place.
August 9th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
I also clicked a tweeted link to see the video. but I don’t get how these things get popular anyway what is the critical mass really? it has to start somewhere.
but sad about the sexist cause. No gender equality there :(.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Hey Andreas, can you rephrase your question? I’m not sure what your point here. Things like that get popular virally. There is no critical mass like with Digg or something. Also I don’t get where you found something “sexist” here.
August 12th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
The funny things that many of the videos that really make it big on YouTube don’t have the initial intention of getting big. They where uploaded because they where comedic in nature and then the power of social networking takes over.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I am sorry, but this is not SEO. It is Social Media Marketing.
I will come across as an ass here because I think it is time that Social Media Marketing gets recognition.
SEO is about ranking in search engines, traffic and conversion.
SMM is about using social media for traffic and conversion.
Yes this video ranked well in search engines for certain terms but the reason it got popular was through social media, not search engines.
I agree that there are 5 key elements for creating a successful content in Social Media:
authentic
positive
emotional
featuring real, recognizable people
short
I think the best element is the 3rd one, “emotional”. Watching the wedding dance video, you can’t help but smile. You get emotional but it was also because the whole party was emotional in the video. The wedding party is having a blast and you feel like you are having fun with them.
This is not the first wedding dance/surprise video. One of my favorite is a couple’s first dance on Jack Johnson which turned into Michael Jackson – The Way you Make me Feel
However, the JK wedding video is more emotionally packed by the people performing in the video.
I will add a 6th and 7th element to yours: originality and surprise.
The video of Norm and Renee’s Wedding First Dance has been done. Walking down the aisle like that? I have never seen it on YouTube.
I also have to add that timing is very important. I think that the video I metionned earlier would of been as big as the JK video but 2.5 years ago, people were not sharing like they are now with Facebook, Facebook was not at its current size, neither was Twitter, etc.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
[...] on the Web has censored the most popular Web video of 2009 (the JK Wedding entrance Dance). I have embedded it on SEOptimise as well a while ago. You can’t access it from Germany (where I live) anymore for “copyright [...]