Latest posts by James Martell (see all)
- Building A Better Fathers Day With Gifts That Give Back - June 6, 2013
- The Simple Path To Google Rankings Success - January 14, 2013
- Google Rankings – The Gift That Keeps On Giving - November 12, 2012
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YouTube is probably best known for its goofy user content, film trailers, music videos and viral videos but it turns out it’s much more than just an entertainment site. Actually YouTube represents serious competition to its owner Google as a search engine. Videos on YouTube are viewed more than 2 billion times every day!
YouTube has become the go to website for people who want to see how something is done rather than read how something is done. That means that virtually every website regardless of topic can potentially find a source of traffic on YouTube. And that traffic can equal or exceed the traffic you get from all of your other traffic building strategies combined.
It doesn’t matter what you are promoting or selling on your website whether it’s router tables, data entry services, tv stands, car insurance quotes, infrared cameras, or exotic travel …YouTube needs to be part of your marketing mix.
Be afraid”¦ be very afraid
Be afraid of missing out on this fantastic traffic generating resource; don’t be afraid or intimidated by the idea of producing a video. The effort that goes into producing a quality video, having it edited and doing the on-page optimization required to get a high ranking is far outweighed by the amount traffic that can be generated.
I first tried this out in 2007 with a 2-minute video of me driving around town in my dream car, a replica of the 1965 Shelby Cobra. Now just how many Shelby Cobra fans like me can there be on YouTube.com?
Check out the graph below and you’ll see that over the years I have steady growth and to date they exceed 300,000 views. And this was a first-time effort! Since then I’ve added many videos and consider them to be an essential part of my marketing plan. You should too.
Academy award winner? Probably not. Traffic generator? Definitely!
Like so many things in this business you don’t need expensive tools you need creativity. The same applies to producing videos. You don’t need expensive cameras, or lighting or any special training in cinematography. What you do need is a good engaging and compelling story to tell and you have to tell it in an organized fashion that will engage the viewer and keep him tuned in until the end of the video. To do this you need a plan.
You don’t need the artistic capabilities of the Steven Spielberg to put together a storyboard about your topic. The storyboard basically lists the messages you want to get across in the order that you want them to appear. When you review this storyboard it ought to resemble an elevator pitch. Each segment ought to logically lead into the next and contribute to the ultimate objective. Whatever you do don’t include fluff.
With the storyboard completed you’re ready to shoot your video. Keep in mind these simple tips:
- Spielberg says there are basically only three shots in any video. The establishing shot which sets the tone in the scene, the mid-shot which gets closer to the action or the objective and the close-up where you sell the video. So if you are promoting a line of washers and dryers your establishing shot might be a wide shot of the big appliance store, your mid-shot mightbe of the washer and dryer department and your close-up would be of the washer and dryer you’re featuring.
- Shoot sequentially. If you follow your storyboard and shoot the video sequentially you’ll save time and effort when comes time to edit the video.
- Using the zoom feature on your camera screens out amateur, don’t do it.
- Editing can greatly influence the quality of the video. If you don’t consider yourself a professional editor then visit a site like Elance and outsource the job.
How to get top ranking in YouTube searches
As I mentioned YouTube pays a lot of attention to on-page optimization to determine where your video is going to rank in your category and for the keyword phrase you’re targeting. Most of this optimization is done on the upload page.
- Probably the most obvious optimization you can do is to make sure that the keyword phrase and are targeting is included in the title of your video. So if the phrasing you’re targeting is wood routers the new title needs to include the phrase and read something like the “three best wood routers for home workshop”.
- On the upload page will find a field for video description. This actually is a great opportunity to not only describe the video but provide YouTube with enough keywords that it understands what the video is about. YouTube, like Google, isn’t terribly concerned about keyword density as it uses those keywords to identify responses that are appropriate to queries. In your description include not only your targeted keyword phrase but as many related keywords as you can reasonably include.
- Another no-brainer. Make sure you’re in the right category. Also make sure you include four or five relevant tags for the video.
- But the biggest factor in determining where you rank in YouTube is the performance of the video measured by the number of people who stick with it to the end versus the number of people who bail. If your video is experiencing people abandoning it early on, then that’s a signal YouTube that your video is not a good choice for the query entered and as a result it will be ranked much lower. Remember editing can make a big difference in how your video performs.
Is YouTube right for your website?
My wife Arlene and I recently produced a podcast entitled “The Secret to Getting YouTube Traffic”. We received a number of comments on that podcast but the one that stands out the most was from a listener named Judith Neumann. Here’s what she had to say:
Thanks, James & Arlene for covering this topic! YouTube has really helped me drive traffic to my website. Now that I’m getting into Affiliate Marketing, I hope it can continue to help me out. As you mentioned, the most important thing is to have GOOD CONTENT!
YouTube can help virtually any website increase its traffic and its branding. If you want your share of those 2 billion views daily then you need to make the commitment to develop a solid storyboard, an organized video, have it edited professionally and do the on-page optimization required. So go ahead and give it a shot, your website will thank you with more traffic and more conversions.
Over to You
Are you taking advantage of YouTube traffic? Do you have a tip or strategy to share?
