Youtube is one of the hottest venues on the Internet. In fact, 72 hours of video is uploaded every minute. It would take several lifetimes to view every video. So how do you get YOURS in front of your target audience? To do this you need to OPTIMIZE them.
Optimization
You’ve heard the word, but what does it really mean?
op·ti·mi·za·tion
n.
The procedure or procedures used to make a system or design as effective or functional as possible, especially the mathematical techniques involved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The better you optimize and target your videos the more your video is seen and shared. You don’t have to be a math wizard to learn how to optimize It is important to simply apply these four steps:
1. Create Shareable Content.
We ALL know this. Fresh, interesting and sharable content is King. It rises above the rest and creates ripples in the pond.
People share videos they find entertaining or educational. The more your video is shared, the higher your rankings in search engines such as Googl, Bing, Yahoo! and Youtube. Therefore, your content will appear higher in search results, reach more people and drive new visitors to your site.
2. Use Optimal Keywords.
Youtube is the world’s second largest search engine. It is important to add keywords or ‘tags’ to your videos to make them more visible in search engine results.
How to find the best Keywords
Google Keyword Tool is a free tool that helps you find tags to use for your blog, articles, videos and more.
Once you find the terms you want to use, add them to your Youtube videos (see below)
3. Share Your Videos.
Increase your exposure by posting your videos on your website. Facebook and Twitter postings also help increase exposure. Consider other video networks such as Vimeo – low-cost video platforms with a large number of users. (From my research 3/13/13- Yahoo! Video and Google Video no longer accept video uploads. If I am incorrect, please let me know )
4. Analyze and Improve.
Gone are the days of “set it and leave it.” To keep a good ranking requires effort. You can use the following tools to track and improve your tags and rankings:
Google Analytics will track how many people come to your company website from YouTube. This is a good overall measure of the effectiveness of your video marketing strategy.
YouTube Analytics shows you how well each of your videos is performing. Use this information to determine what content viewers respond to best. This will guide your strategy for future marketing videos.
