Using Online Video to Promote Search Engine Results

April 25th, 2009 by Chris Robinson

As part of my volunteer duties at the California Center for Sustainable Energy’s EcoBuild San Diego event on April 9th, I recorded the following video interview with Mike Centrullo from Marrokal Design & Remodeling. EcoBuild was designed as a showcase for green building products and technologies as well as an education and outreach opportunity for 2007 San Diego wildfire survivors. Since many of these homeowners have yet to rebuild damaged or destroyed properties, it is hoped that events like EcoBuild and other CCSE workshops will encourage them to use green and sustainable techniques with their next homes.

With the support and encouragement of Lauri Walker from CCSE, we put together this brief interview discussing the benefits of green building and remodeling.

Case Study – Marrokal Design & Remodeling

Prior to the event, I had pitched the idea for using online video promotion as an added benefit for event sponsors. The video was shot with a Flip Mino HD Camcorder (sorry for the plug, but it really is a nifty little camera) and edited with Windows Movie Maker. Following is a log tracking Marrokal’s search ranking in select keyword niches over time:

Friday, April 25 – Keyword research conducted using SpyFu and the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. Based on this research, we decided to focus on the following keyword terms: “Green Building Remodeling San Diego,” “Green Building Design San Diego,” and “Green Building Construction San Diego.” As a baseline measurement, Google searches were conducted with the target keywords prior to distributing video.

Green Building Remodeling San Diego:

Top Ten Results in order:

Local Business Results by Google
www.egreentopia.com
www.jacksondesignandremodeling.com
www.berkhome.com
www.sdcounty.ca.gov
www.remcondesignbuild.com
ecolifeconsulting.com
energycenter.org
www.marrokal.com
www.nahb.com

Green Building Design San Diego:

Top Ten Results in order:

www.usgbc-sd.org
www.co.san-diego.ca.us
www.greenprogress.com
www.ciwmb.ca.gov
www.sandiegogreen.com
www.signonsandiego.com
docs.sandiego.gov
www.goodcleantech.com
www.meponline.com
www.greenerdesign.com

(Marrokal shows up on page 5, in the 47th position overall)

Green Building Construction San Diego:

Top Ten Results in order:

www.co-san-diego.ca.us
www.usgbc-sd.org
advancement.sdsu.edu
www.berkhome.com
www.dprinc.com
www.signonsandiego
www.buildcwc.com
www.sddt.com
www.ecovian.com
www.k2contracting.com

(Marrokal shows up on page 3, in the 28th position overall)

Footage was distributed across the Internet on Friday, April 25 with the following attributes:

Title:

San Diego Remodeling and Green Building Design w/Marrokal

Description:

http://www.marrokal.com

Marrokal Design & Remodeling is dedicated to providing the utmost in quality, service and integrity in full-service home remodeling in the San Diego area.

Conventional building construction needlessly consumes large quantities of wood, water, fuel and other materials. A green built home conserves these natural resources. If you are looking for a one-stop, green remodeling design and construction solution, contact Marrokal Design & Remodeling.

Keyword Tags:

San Diego, Remodeling Contractors, Green Building Design, Green Building Construction

Saturday, April 26 - Literally overnight Google search rankings were updated to show the YouTube video posting and others. Over the course of the day other sources began to show up on first and second page rankings of Google searches. During this period, additional footage and links to YouTube video were distributed to Blog.com and Technorati.com, as well as various podcast distribution sites and social bookmarking sites (Digg.com, delicious.com, etc.)

Sunday, April 27 - The following updated search rankings are provided as of Sunday evening:

Green Building Remodeling San Diego:

Top Ten Results in order:

Local Business Results by Google
www.egreentopia.com
www.kewego.com – Marrokal video
www.viddler.com – Marrokal video
Video results for Green Building Remodeling San Diego:
www.empivot.com - Marrokal video
www.youtube.com - Marrokal video
www.berkhome.com
successwithstrategy.blog.com - Marrokal video
www.jacksondesignsandremodeling.com
www.remcondesignbuild.com
ecolifeconsulting.com

Green Building Design San Diego:

Top Ten Results in order:

www.kewego.com - Marrokal video
usgbc-sd.org
www.greenprogress.com
www.co.san-diego.ca.us
successwithstrategy.blog.com - Marrokal video
www.signonsandiego.com
www.sandiegogreen.com
www.ciwmb.ca.gov
www.viddler.com - Marrokal video
Video results for Green Building Remodeling San Diego:
www.empivot.com - Marrokal video
www.youtube.com - Marrokal video
www.greenerdesign.com

(Marrokal.com shows up on page 6, in the 58th position overall, additional video links to MySpace Video and DoGooderTV show up on pages 4 and 5)

Green Building Construction San Diego:

Top Ten Results in order:

www.usgbc-sd.org
www.co-san-diego.ca.us
www.berkhome.com
successwithstrategy.blog.com - Marrokal video
advancement.sdsu.edu
www.dprinc.com
www.kewego.com - Marrokal video
www.mccarthy.com
www.bdcnetwork.com
www.sddt.com

(Marrokal.com shows up on page 4, in the 31st position overall, an additional video link to emPivot shows up on page 2.)

Over the next week or two, I will continue to monitor Marrokal’s search rankings in these categories – we are still waiting for Google to index the podcast distribution channels, as well as some niche blog sites, so it is possible that rankings will improve in the next few days.

Stay tuned.