The metadata that you can use to optimize your video when you submit them to the video sharing sites generally includes the title, the description, the tags and the filename.
The Title
Having your targeted keyword in the "Title" is the single most important factor that will get your video found on both the video hosting sites and the main search engines. Try and keep it down to about 64 characters - this is acceptable to most hosting sites and generally will not be truncated.
The Description
Almost on a par with the title tag - repeat the targeted keyword once or twice. A fairly short but carefully constructed couple of paragraphs is generally better than a long description.
The Tags
If you want to be accepted by all the video sharing sites go with five tags (words) and no more than 64 characters.
The Filename
Try and get the targeted keyword in the filename.
Target URL
Try and get the targeted keyword in the filename.
Thumbnails
A thumbnail is the image that is displayed when your video is shown on the video sharing sites. They are a vital piece of the jigsaw and possibly the most time consuming to achieve.
Backlinks and Anchor text links
Generally speaking the Video Hosting sites are not a good source of backlinks or anchor text links. There are a few sites that allow hyperlinks.
From my experience try:
- DailyMotion
- Blip.tv
- Google Video
- iPernity
- Vimeo
- Youtube
An easy, basic "anchor text link" strategy is to join sites like Squidoo, Xanga, Wetpaint, Blogger and Wordpress, and interlink with your best key words and phrases.
Video Optimization Tips
Work hard to produce a title that will grab attention as well as contain your target keywords
"How to" and "tutorial" type videos are very popular
Use videos as "trailers" to other content you may have on your site
Sites such as 5mins.com and AtomFilms are strongly against blatant advertising videos - you need to dress up your content as "informational" or "tutorial" to have them accepted.
Embed your videos on your blog site and provide a transcription as search engine fodder
Use Viddler or blip.tv to show videos on your site as they provide not only excellent players, but also the code for people to "embed" your video on their blog or site.
If you've produced a long video - break it into smaller "episodes" of 3 or 4 minutes. This enables you to use more of your target keywords and you won't bore people to death.
Watermark your videos with your logo or the URL of your site.
Work hard to encourage people to "rate" or "vote" for your videos on the hosting sites.