Some YouTube stats:
- It is the second biggest search engine after Google
- Every minute, there is 48 hours of video uploaded
- Videos get about 3 billion views a month
- It is owned by Google, so the content is always indexed by Google
Why use it?
- It provides traffic: If potential customers can’t find you, then they can’t do business with you. Videos uploaded to your YouTube account get indexed by Google and, if they are relevant to a specific search query, are served on the results page.
- Exposure for your business: Videos provide exposure for your business and provide insight to your personality. People like to do business with other people, and this lets them see the faces behind the brands.
- Not everyone is doing it: Even though there is so much content being uploaded regularly, many businesses are still not taking advantage of this opportunity. Why? Many seem hesitant to go in front of a camera, or they don’t know how to take advantage of the platform.
Why do people go on YouTube?
- To get entertained: They look for videos that entertain and help them pass their time.
- To get educated: They go there to look for content on a topic they want to learn about.
- To socialize: They go there to see what others are doing, and then they share their content, leave comments, and like or dislike videos.
What should you figure out first?
- Identify who your viewer is: Knowing your audience is critical because it will lead to better content for them. You cannot make a video for everyone; it has to be tailored to your audience.
- How can you offer value to your viewer: Once you know who your audience is, decide on how you are going to deliver value. For a restaurant, this could mean recording the Chef making a popular dish in the restaurant, so that views can make it at home. The possibilities are endless.
So, how do you leverage this platform to drive traffic to your site?
- YouTube keyword tool: Most people know there is a keyword tool for Google search, but what most people don’t know is that there is one for YouTube as well. This tools tells you what search terms are popular specifically on YouTube.
- Category tags and description: Once you know what people are searching, this will give you keywords to optimize your own video descriptions and tags. When uploading a video, fill in all the information completely. The description is the text that appears below the video, telling them what the video is about.
- Provide a link: Add the URL of your site to the description of your video. Don’t forget to add http:// in front of the address as that will make the link clickable. Always make it easy for a visitor to click.
- Keyword in header/title: Always include a main keyword in the header/title of the video and keep it towards the beginning.
- Annotations: This option provides the opportunity to include a “call to action” within a video. A great example would be asking a visitor to click on a link or subscribe to your channel.
- Closed caption: This option allows users to upload a .txt file of the transcribed video in addition to the video itself. Why transcribe it? Because this text is indexed by Google. If you are looking for an easy way to get videos transcribed, check out speechpad.com (or give it an intern).
- Video response: This is another way of adding authority to a video. If someone responds to a video, it is subsequently given more credibility due to the fact someone took the time to record something and post a response. This is also a great way of driving traffic: add a response to an already-popular video so that it appears below the original video as a response (which provides great visibility).
- Embed the video on your site: Take the video from YouTube and embed it on your site. Make sure to add a little explanation about what the video is about. Great cross-promotion.
YouTube will only continue to grow and Google is investing so heavily into it, they also just launched a partner program for original content, a clear indication of the importance of this platform..
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This guest post was contributed by Raj Rajan. He writes about revenue management strategies, hotel internet marketing, hotel reputation management, and hotel technology at RethinkHotels.com.
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