YouTube isn’t the only video hosting website on offer, but it’s undoubtedly the biggest. YouTube also happens to be the second most popular search engine after Google, making it a very important site if you’re trying to attract more visitors to your website.
If you want to use YouTube to boost your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) and your online marketing efforts, here are a few tips for optimizing your videos.
Meta Data
Just like website SEO, optimizing a YouTube video relies largely on placing relevant keywords in your titles and meta descriptions.
If you’re uploading the video to your own site as well, it’s a good idea to vary the keywords you include in the title and description so your videos can rank in search results for a larger number of keywords.
While you’re at it, the description field you fill out on YouTube can be used to promote your own website, as well as describing your video.
Sharing is Caring
Adding an embed code allows visitors who watch and like your video to share it on their own blogs or websites. Find this by scrolling under the video and clicking ‘share’ followed by ‘embed’. Add links to your YouTube videos on your own website to encourage people to view your videos – this kind of cross-promotion ensures that existing customers see your latest message, too. They might like your new video and share it with friends.
Not Enough Pageviews?
If your video isn’t getting the traffic you’d hoped for, there are several ways to increase the number of views:
- Promoted Videos – Much like Google pay-per-click advertising, YouTube charges only when someone clicks on your promoted video. The rates are reasonable, and there’s no risk of paying for clicks you didn’t get.
- Video responses – This is a little sneaky, but it works. Find a video that gets lots of views and post your own video as a “video response” – see below. As long as your video is relevant to the popular one, people will click.
- Be social! – YouTube is essentially still a social network, so add users as friends, comment on other videos and become part of the community. Attract interest in your own content by interacting with other people’s content.
Learn your lessons
The monitoring tools on YouTube are amazing, so you can use trial and error to get results. Analyze the stats for your videos and think about the differences between popular and unpopular content. Think what was missing from that video that nobody watched, compared to your other video that got thousands of views.
Raven Tools offers a YouTube monitor that tracks video views, channel views and channel subscribers over time. Their advanced monitoring option also offers even more data, including unique views, comments and favourites.
Nobody watches long videos
If your video is ten minutes long, split it into five two-minute videos, if you can. People are more likely to watch these shorter videos, and they offer another benefit: You can optimize each video for specific keywords, and target a larger number of keywords.
For example, a long video titled, “How to look after your dog” can be broken up into a series of shorter videos: “How to brush your dog,” “What to feed your dog” and so on.
Make it look professional
Not everybody can be the next Steven Spielberg, so there’s nothing wrong with getting some outside help. Hire a professional video production company, and you’re guaranteed to see better results.
By using a specialist agency, you benefit from greater expertise and end up with an expertly scripted video with a polished voiceover. Custom animation and graphics can be added, and most agencies are equipped with a state-of-the-art editing studio for that unmistakeably professional finish. This pro touch can certainly help people engage with your video, enjoy it more – and share it.
Matt Fielding is an online marketing consultant for Vidify.co.uk, a video production company based in London that specializes in helping companies reach their customers through online video.
Great Post Matt! There are also many other ways on how to generate traffic to your blog. Here is a list of ideas on how you can start to gain unique visitors. http://www.ajsolutions.us/ajnetwork/how-to-generate-traffic-to-your-blog/
This is a very precious post. I try to get visitors from youtube and get backlink from it and started to post my videos there. Bu they are not professional videos. What I wonder is; What if we write keywords totally different from the content of the video?
I mean should the content and the keywords be related? Does it work if I just put a video on you tube and give description related to my web site and business?
great post, traffic had been growing since i use YouTube. Who would guess It could have such a positive impact…
YouTube has been a godsend for my branding and visibility. I never would have thought that at first, but sometimes you just catch a fire. Keep it short and have good audio are the two biggest things I would say. I throw some hints out as well on my HubPages. Thanks for writing this, Matt!