Feed Google the fresh live video content it loves

Dre says: “Give what Google wants: fresh content with live streaming video.

Video is really hot right now, but live streaming video is even better. It’s fresher than fresh. Google loves fresh content and live is a great way to feed Google that fresh content it wants.

If you look at Google Search Central, over 40% of the case studies are on video. Live video, in particular, is even better for SEO in 2025.

I’ve been doing live streaming for over 4 and a half years now. I can’t say I mastered it because we keep learning every day, but I’ve found great ways to live stream, great ways to talk on camera, and great ways to engage with audiences and build that personal brand.”

How do you go about building a personal brand using video?

“There’s definitely a methodology to it. First of all, video is the best way to get engaging and be authentic. You’re being recorded, so you can’t be an AI – especially with live streaming. You get all the slip-ups, and you get yourself raw. It’s a great way to get to know someone.

You’re not editing yourself. You might see me doing edits, but they’re live edits on screen. You’re getting the real you, and the real person behind whatever you’re selling, promoting, or teaching.”

Can you measure the value of building a personal brand using video?

“My personal brand was built through video. I started the show over 4 years ago and I did not have a personal brand, but I was able to build my personal brand along with my show.

I built the SEO Video Show, and it was my career insurance. Over 2 years ago, I was actually laid off from my position and I had just bought a house. What saved me was having that personal brand. I was able to be recognised and, when I asked for help on the show, people reached out with gigs and opportunities.

Also, my personal brand, along with the show, started gaining sponsorships. When you have an authentic show that’s very engaging, that’s streamed live, you can also get sponsors that could help you pay the bills.”

Has this also helped you build your own network on places like LinkedIn?

“Definitely. Of course, I have profiles for the show, so I can link it to my personal brand. One of the things I’ve also done is productise my brand. I have a media kit which represents me and everything I’m involved in.

When you create a media kit, you can pitch it out to companies. A great place to network and do this is at conferences. Every company is spending thousands of dollars to have a booth there. If you come up with your media kit and show them your reach and what you do, they can compare it. They could reach that many people for a whole month compared to a 1-day, 2-day, or 3-day show.

That’s a great place to get sponsors. Get your media kit ready when you go to conferences and introduce yourself to all the companies out there.”

Is this something that people within organisations should also be doing, as well as independent consultants who are building a personal brand?

“There’s the personal brand, but there’s the general brand aspect as well. Right now, I work with enterprise-level clients and, instead of doing pre-recorded videos for case studies, I encourage them to do a live stream and get that raw testimonial from their clients to get more engagement.

That’s more authentic than recorded videos or a one-sheet of some quotes. If you do live streaming video with your customers, not only will that help you promote your live stream, but you also put out that raw authentic experience for other prospects that might want to use your product.”

Are most clients scared of getting on video, and live streaming in particular?

“It’s not for everyone. However, for anyone that’s bold enough to do it, they’ve been very successful.

It works really well for retail clients and luxury brands. I’ve also seen it work well for cybersecurity, which often isn’t very fun, but you could see the banter between a CEO interviewing a customer on live streaming video. It’s great how they interact.

Then, they take those and repurpose them into other clips, which also get ranked on Google. Google is ranking Instagram Reels, TikTok clips, YouTube Shorts, etc. These are all things that you can use to get ranking in 2025.”

What are the primary use cases for live streaming video?

“I recommend that clients use it for interviewing their clients and creating case studies, and for building personal brands and the company’s brand. For the most part, my angle with companies would be to use it for case studies.

For consultants, building your own personal bad is very important, and you can easily do it with live streaming video. If you’re not too keen on doing live, start out with regular video –recording yourself and becoming comfortable in front of the camera.

It can be a little scary talking to yourself in the camera. However, it is often easier when you’re talking to someone. Record a conversation on Zoom and stream it. With that banter, you can get so many nuggets to share with the world.

I have a discovery call option on my website. You can book a 25-minute call with me, and I always ask, ‘Hey, can I record this?’ When they ask me questions, it’s great content. Imagine if you turned something like that into live video? It would be raw, and you would have more people coming in and wanting a quick live session. I haven’t live streamed my calls, but I’ve recorded them and then created blog posts from that.

I’m going to follow my word in 2025. You’re going to see me doing a lot more live streaming. I’m going to be doing some IRL live streaming where I will have a 5G modem attached to my backpack and be streaming wherever I go – especially with marketing conferences. I don’t see anyone else doing that. I think brightonSEO will be one of the first places where I interview SEOs live. I’m going to have fun with this.”

How did you get into live streaming?

“I’ve never been shy in front of the camera. One of the things that got me into live streaming was wanting to start a YouTube channel during the stay-at-home era, and wanting to network with others.

I wanted to do something with that, but I wanted to take it a step further than just having pre-recorded videos – and have fewer edits. One thing about live streaming is that the rawness is accepted. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Things happen during our live streams, and I don’t feel that I have to edit anything out.”

Do you need to have the right equipment before you get started?

“This is a huge debate. I always say that the first impression counts. I started learning about live streaming 3 months before I actually went live. I took a course and I felt like, if I invested in the right equipment on day 1, then I would be motivated to use it.

When I first started, though, I just had a Blue Snowball mic and a regular Logitech C920 webcam. I was trying to learn. Then, I took the course, and I wanted to get set up. You need to think about things like how your background shows a lot of your personality and can help with your professionalism.

Then, after I understood the ins and outs of live streaming, I got into all the equipment and everything else that is involved, including the software. You and I both use something called vMix. That was quite a learning curve, so you do need to learn how to use those things as well.

If you want to stream to multiple platforms (which is great for SEO), you also have to make sure you know how to stream to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch. There are so many places that you can stream to and plant your brand in.”

How often should you live stream if you really want to get noticed?

“I’ve been doing it once a week for over 4 years. That’s what I do.

Since I’ve seen the success of live streaming video, whether it’s through SEO or monetisation, you can then productise it and build other shows on top of it.

I have the SEO Video Show, but if I want to get into other markets, like AI, I’ll start another show that I can productise. I can take what I’m doing on the SEO Video Show and repeat it in a whole different niche that no one has seen before. They’ll see the knowledge bombs for the very first time. It’s a totally different audience.”

How long does it take before you know whether a show will be a success or not?

“I’ll tell you this, I only have about 11,000 subscribers. Don’t ever think that subscriber count is all that matters when it comes to getting sponsors or making money because I got my first sponsorship when I only had 2,000 subscribers.

Again, it goes back to first impressions. Put your time in. Invest in yourself and your equipment, and show that you’re professional and you mean business. Companies will see that, and they will want to be one of the early adopters of your show. They will want to support what you’re doing because you’re passionate.

I know we can all say we have a ‘passion’, but I do love live streaming. I have a lot of fun with it, and I love SEO too. I put those two together; it was a no-brainer. I didn’t even expect to make money at first, it was all for fun.

It was after about a year and a half before I finally had a company come to me and ask how they could sponsor the show. I didn’t know that was a possibility. I had to quickly Google a few things, then I threw up a number, and they bit. It made me wonder whether I should have asked for more.”

How long do you want to sign sponsors up for and are there certain metrics that they look at?

“I only had 2,000 subscribers at the time, and this was a prominent enterprise SEO platform, and they sponsored for a whole year. You might get sponsors that only want to start with a month, but that’s not really long enough to demonstrate value to them.

Some of my current sponsors, who wanted to stick around, told me that it was around 3 months when they started seeing codes being used, more searches, more brand searches, etc.

For any new sponsor that comes on, I’d guess that it would take around 3 months to see some return for them. However, once I sign a sponsor, they lock in their price – and I’ve had sponsors for over 2/3 years now.

I have a waitlist of other potential sponsors now, but I’m letting the current sponsors stay on for as long as they want.

I try to ask for a minimum of 6 episodes from a sponsor, which is only about a month and a half for me. It’s all within the negotiation process. In your media kit, you can list options for 6 months or a year, and create a custom package for them.”

Is there anything that you’ve done over the last few years of live streaming that you wish you had done differently?

“Everything has been a learning experience. I’ve learned how to cut down my time producing a live stream.

4 years ago, it was taking around 20 hours a week to produce a 1-hour live stream. Now, it’s taking me 5 hours. That’s with the help of AI. The way my show is structured, I need to find key clips from around the web. Before, I used to watch complete 1-hour shows to try and find that one nugget. Now, I use AI to help me extract nuggets from people’s videos. That saves hours of work.

I usually tell people when I use their clips. I’m on YouTube and, if you’re reacting to those clips and adding critical commentary, then it’s fair use. For the most part, it’s in good faith. I’ve never gotten a copyright strike from any of the videos I’ve shared.”

If an SEO is struggling for time, what should they stop doing right now so they can spend more time doing what you suggest in 2025?

“Take a break and learn from a mentor.

If I had a live streaming mentor 5 years ago, who was doing all this and showed me how to make money a lot earlier, that would have really helped me out. If you’re struggling, find that one mentor, reach out, and don’t be scared.

In the SEO community, we are all very friendly – especially if you go to conferences. You can come up to me and you can come up to David. Whatever it is, we will be happy to help. Ask us anything. You could even go to my website and book some free time if you really want to have a quick mentor session.”

Dre De Vera is an SEO Consultant and Host and Producer of the SEO Video Show, and you can find him over at PaulAndre.com.