We all know the popularity of YouTube, but did you know that it is the #2 search engine on the web? That’s right it’s ahead of Yahoo and Bing. YouTube is quickly becoming a place where users go to get information on different products and services.
For example, Blendtec has cleverly used YouTube to produce a series of videos called “Will it Blend” where Tom Dickson, the Blendtec founder, tries to blend different objects including the new iPhone 4 to show off the power of his blender. What can we learn from Blendtec? For small businesses it’s important to have high-quality video production combined with information-rich content. Throw in a little creative humor and you have a winning combination. Here are some useful YouTube tips to maximize your exposure.
1. Don’t Forget “Video” in Your Title
Similar to the the early days of Google where the title of a web page was an important factor in how well the page ranked, the title of your video is the most important piece of information that you can provide to YouTube. Make sure your title contains all the relevant keywords to your business and don’t forget to use the word “video” when appropriate. Considering that most searchers include the word “video” when searching for a video, this inclusion can boost the relevance of your page.
2. Provide Links in Your Description
Write a unique, keyword-rich description that includes a URL to your business. Make sure to put the URL towards the beginning of the description, so users will still be able to see the link even if the description information is collapsed.
3. Tag Your Video with Keywords
As with many other sites, YouTube’s content is organized on a tag word basis. Along with the title and the description, tags help YouTube identify the substance of your video. The beauty of a tag word system is that the more tags you use the better. By using relevant keywords in your tags, you’ll be maximizing the possibility that your video shows up on a related search. However, you want to use tags responsibly and only use keywords that are relevant to your video otherwise you may leave your viewers a bit agitated.
4. Add Subtitles & Annotations
Adding captions to your video allows for the hundreds of millions of hearing impaired around the word to enjoy your content. With YouTube’s auto-captioning feature, there’s no reason not to do it. Plus, you can re-purpose the transcript and video on your homepage making your website very SEO-friendly. Annotations are a great way to get a user’s attention, but you want to be careful to not overuse them because they can be quite distracting. Currently, only links to other YouTube pages are clickable, however, you can place a call to action that points to the URL you included in your description. For example, “save 10% off your next oil change by visiting our site below.”
5. Get Free Insight
For every video you upload, YouTube offers free analytics data via the “Insight” feature where you can see statistics on views, demographics, community and subscribers. Most importantly, there’s “discovery” data that shows you how people are finding your videos, including the links they followed to get there. In addition, you can see how many views you are getting through the YouTube player page, embed player and mobile devices.