Monthly Archives: March 2010

How Video Helps Your Website SEO

Everytime I talk with someone about using Videos On Your Website, the conversation invariably turns to Search Engine Optimization.  A lot of folks hear the term SEO, and they know it has something to do with keywords, but after that, they’re lost.

SEO is kind of like trying to put a bowtie on a fish.

The guys who do this for a living twist and pull and tweak their websites so they can in some measure figure out what the search engines are looking for.  Nobody’s supposed to know for sure.  But we do know that titles, headlines, and what you write on the page all get the attention of the search engine robots. We also know that a few of the right tweaks will get your ranking up, but with time, that ranking begins to fade as something newer takes its place.

There’s another fish analogy – if you turn your back and forget about it, it will start to smell.

That’s why constantly updating your website makes those search engine robots very happy.  Because a changing site is a fresh site.  And a fresh site must be more relevant. That means content.

If content is King, then having videos on your website should at least be Prime Minister. Videos can, and should be optimized with keywords.  They should not only be on your website, but distributed to as many of the video sharing sites as you can with a URL pointing back to your main page.  Everytime you do this, even if it’s the same video, it is fresh content in the hearts and minds of the search engines.

Ultimately, a visitor might share your video with a link, or a recommendation to a friend. That builds credibility, and that’s the other thing that feeds the search engine’s ranking machine.

To put it another way: having videos on your website can make you up to eight times more likely to land on the first page of Google results than if you just have text.

How are folks finding YOU?  What are they doing when they get to your site?  How long would you like to keep them there?

I’d be more than happy to talk to you about it.

–That’s A Wrap

Look Who’s Watching Now

I recently had the pleasure of producing a video for a company that specializes in fitness for seniors. We had a blast, and the video is going to be used to bring the program to more people, which is always exciting.

“Are you kidding?!” one of my friends said, “Seniors don’t go online.  I don’t know of any who even own computers.”

Wrong, says Beulah Buzzer. (And you almost have to be over 50 to remember that phrase)

As a matter of fact, You Tube is the fourth most visited destination for folks 65 and older. That’s according to a new study by Neilsen. In 2009, there were almost 18 million senior surfers spending upwards of two hours a day online.

Want more proof of the trend?  Well, Google was the number one destination, followed by Windows Media Player at Number Two, Facebook was third, and You Tube fourth.

Windows Media Player AND You Tube.  I’d say there is an audience out there.

Let’s don’t write these folks off just yet.  Remember that when they were in their 20’s, they were the ones buying Rolling Stones and Beatles records. So while they may not be scooping up the latest i-toys, the online world definitely does not intimidate them.

And, by the way, Beulah was the name of the buzzer on the radio and TV show “Truth Or Consequences”.

–That’s A Wrap.