According to Nate Elliot of Forrester Research in the United States, thanks to the introduction of Google's "Universal Search" feature in 2007 - which incorporates results from news sites, videos and maps right into the body their search results, online videos are now 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of search results than text pages!

Statistics like these are helping to drive an entire industry dedicated to video optomisation and businesses around the world are beginning to take note too. A Permission TV survey, for example, recently revealed that out of 400 company executives, a whopping 67% said online video would be a primary focus of their 2009 online marketing campaign, with 52% expecting to start or extend online video projects in the second quarter of this year, up from 32% at the time of the study in December, 2008.

However, appearing on the first page of Google isn't the only reason why videos are great for SEO. Video content can also easily be used to build those crucial inbound links that every successful website needs; they can be uploaded to social media sites where they'll be viewed by a multitude of online viewers and become part of larger online discussions; and RSS feeds can be created, allowing users to subscribe to videos on your website, notifying them as soon as new content is available.

Clearly, companies and organisations who continue to focus on traditional online marketing methods alone will miss out on a proven, increasingly high-impact marketing tool and soon find themselves behind the competition.