Why You Should Be Using YouTube Video Content for Marketing and SEO

If your blog posts aren’t driving the traffic they used to, you’re not alone. Google’s AI Overviews now answer many informational queries on the results page, which means fewer clicks to websites. The upside: using YouTube video content for marketing is surging, and pairing video with your written SEO content can restore lost traffic, strengthen authority, and open up new ranking opportunities.

Below, you’ll find what’s changing, why video matters, a quick case study, and a practical playbook to put this to work.

Why Search Is Changing (and What That Means for Content)

For years, content marketing leaned on blogging through publishing helpful posts, targeting keywords, and earning rankings. That still matters, but AI Overviews and answer-engine results often give quick answers without a click. The result?

• More impressions and citations in Search Console
• Lower click-through on many top-funnel topics
• Higher bar for quality and expertise

Yes, change has occurred for how this written content performs, but you shouldn’t abandon written content for SEO entirely. It’s still the backbone for brand discovery, service pages, and high-intent queries. You just can’t rely on text alone anymore.

Why YouTube Video Content for Marketing Is the New Go-To

YouTube has become the go-to platform for discovery, education, and entertainment. That’s exactly why it matters for SEO. Nearly 78% of people watch YouTube every week, and more than half tune in daily. Unlike written content that AI can summarize or replicate, your on-camera expertise can’t be easily copied. 

Plus, YouTube videos show up across multiple avenues in Google search results, on YouTube itself, and even when embedded in your blog posts, emails, and LinkedIn updates. Put simply, video expands your reach and raises the perceived quality of your content, which are two signals that boost visibility across every channel.

Case Study: Embedding Relevant YouTube Videos Boosted Rankings

We tested a simple idea to see what impact it would have on using YouTube video content for marketing:

• Picked five existing blog posts already performing decently
• Produced a focused YouTube video for each post covering the same topic
• Embedded each video at the top of the corresponding blog post
• Tracked results for ~3 months

Here are the results we saw after about 90 days:

• Increased ~2× total keyword count across the five posts
• Increased ~2× keywords in the Top 3 (about 80 net-new Top-3 keywords)
• Nearly doubled traffic to those pages

No major rewrites were necessary. The lift came from relevance plus a richer format. Utilizing video content for marketing already-written content gave users another way to consume the same information, and Google rewarded that quality.

Why Using Video Content for Marketing Existing Written Content Works

This approach works for a few key reasons. First, adding a clear, on-topic video instantly raises the usefulness and overall quality of your page. Google recognizes that as a positive signal. 

Second, video gives you more real estate on the search results page since you can rank with both your written content and your video. This also increases the chances of getting clicks.

Third, being on camera helps build authority and trust faster than text alone. People connect more easily with a real voice and face. 

Finally, there’s still relatively low competition for many video topics compared to written articles, which means there’s a valuable window of opportunity to rank before everyone else catches on.

YouTube Can Crack Tougher SEO Keywords

Traditional keyword research teaches marketers to avoid high-competition keywords, or those broad, high-volume terms that established websites already dominate. For written content, that advice still holds true. Competing against large, authoritative domains for those phrases can take years of consistent publishing, backlinks, and technical SEO. 

But YouTube is a different story. Because there is far less high-quality video content than there is written content online, it’s often possible for a well-optimized video to rank for those same competitive keywords much faster—sometimes in just a few days.

This happens because Google and YouTube both prioritize diverse content formats in search results. When a topic has thousands of articles but only a handful of strong videos, your video has a real chance to appear near the top of search results, even for keywords you’d never win with a blog post alone. 

By targeting these ambitious “hub” terms through YouTube, you can claim valuable visibility and brand awareness much earlier in the SEO process. Then, when you embed those videos into your blog posts or landing pages, you strengthen both assets: your video benefits from your site’s relevance, and your page benefits from the video’s engagement and time-on-page metrics. 

In short, YouTube gives you a shortcut to break into tougher keywords while reinforcing your broader content strategy.

Affiliate Marketers Should Move Video to the Front

If you earn income through affiliate marketing, relying only on written “how-to” or review articles is becoming less effective. Google’s AI Overviews often summarize those posts directly in search results, which means fewer people click through to your site. That’s why shifting focus to YouTube is a smarter move. 

When viewers watch your videos, they have to stay and engage to get the full value. You’re not losing them to a quick AI summary, like with written content. Appearing on camera also helps build trust and authenticity, something that’s hard to achieve with text alone. Plus, your videos can rank in both Google search and YouTube results, giving you two chances to attract traffic and lead viewers to your affiliate links. 

You don’t need to abandon written content altogether, but start leading with video for tutorials, product comparisons, and reviews to maintain visibility and keep conversions flowing.

YouTube SEO Checklist To Start (and See Results Fast)

If you’re ready to blend YouTube and SEO into a single strategy but aren’t sure where to start, this quick-start playbook will help. It walks you through a simple, repeatable process for turning your existing blog posts into multimedia assets that perform better in search and engage visitors for longer.

1) Audit and pick your winners

• Identify 10–20 posts with steady traffic or close to page-one rankings
• Prioritize posts with clear search intent and a teachable topic

2) Make one focused video per post

• Aim for 5–10 minutes for length
• Hook fast, teach clearly, recap next steps
• Include a plain-spoken CTA (download, demo, or “read the full guide”)

3) Optimize the video for search

• Title: Include the primary keyword in YouTube videos naturally
• Description: Write 2–3 useful paragraphs, timestamps, and link to the post
• Chapters: Improve UX and watch time
• Thumbnail: Keep it simple, bold, and readable

4) Embed the video near the top of the post

• Place it above the fold or after the intro
• Add a short blurb about what viewers will learn and why it helps

5) Repurpose smartly

• Post short clips on LinkedIn
• Use a pull-quote and link in your newsletter
• Cut a 30–60s short for YouTube Shorts

6) Measure what matters

• Track metrics over 60–90 days:
  • Page: Organic clicks, impressions, Top-3 keyword count
  • Video: Impressions, CTR, average view duration, watch time, subscribers
  • Business: Demo requests, sign-ups, assisted conversions

By following this framework, you’ll create a sustainable rhythm for producing videos that complement your written content and steadily improve visibility across both Google and YouTube. 

What to Do After Your First YouTube Wins

Once you’ve seen early success from adding videos to your existing blog posts, the next step is to make the process part of your long-term strategy. Start by systematizing your approach and shifting your editorial calendar to a video-first mindset so that each new topic includes both a written and visual plan. 

From there, begin targeting more competitive keywords that might have been out of reach with written content alone. Video gives you a better chance of ranking for those higher-difficulty terms, especially when optimized correctly. You can also expand your formats beyond standard how-to videos to include comparisons, walkthroughs, checklists, and even teardown reviews.

Finally, focus on owning more of the search results page. Aim to show up in multiple spots, such as your page listing, YouTube carousel, People Also Ask sections, and, when relevant, paid placements. This will maximize your brand’s visibility wherever your audience searches.

Utilize Your Written Content as Video Content for Marketing Today

Search behavior is shifting, and text alone no longer delivers the same visibility. Pairing YouTube video content for marketing with your top blog content helps you reach new audiences, boost authority, and often double your keyword coverage.

If you need help identifying your top pages for SEO, BKA Content can help. Schedule a consultation with our content experts to see where your site sits and what you can focus on to improve your SEO strategy today.

FAQs About Using YouTube Video Content for Marketing

Is blogging for SEO dead?

No, blogging is not dead. Traditional SEO practices still have value. Text still ranks and converts, especially for service and product pages. But combining video and text outperforms just text alone.

Do I need a studio to start making YouTube videos?

No, you don’t need a dedicated studio to start making videos for content. All you need is clear audio, decent lighting, and a simple outline. This will beat over-produced videos that don’t actually answer the query.

How often should I publish videos on YouTube?

Start with one video per top post you have. After that, a weekly video cadence should be sustainable for most teams.

Where should the YouTube video live?

Host the video on YouTube for discovery. Then embed the video on your site for quality and engagement. It’s ideal to embed the video on the same page that video content is about.