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In 2008, there is plenty of buzz about the new and exciting online promotional tactics related to online video marketing and online video sharing.
The most popular website online for online video is YouTube. This video sharing giant has fast become the default website for users to learn about online video sharing, how to upload videos, and how to market videos online. However, it is important that you learn a few techniques to optimize your video so that when you upload it, it results in the best possible quality video. Youtube converts videos to Flash on the fly and in doing so, it compresses the video and has difficulty processing digital garbage. With a little bit of technique, you can optimize your videos for prime-time.
Obviously the first step is to have video content created in order to then share the video online. To do this, you will need the equipment in order to shoot video, edit, and encode video. If you do not currently have a camcorder or other video camera, most digital cameras these days, and even some mobile phones, have video functionality built in. In addition, you can use a simple webcam to produce videos. As far as software for editing and encoding your videos, there are hundreds of choices. Even the basic video software that come with most new computers have the tools that you will need.
While Microsoft MovieMaker is a great introductory program for video editing, it does not do well with videos that are created using a mobile phone. If you are going to capture video from a cameraphone for use on youtube, I would suggest getting Quicktime Pro from Apple. This is a very inexpensive upgrade and can handle conversion in multiple formats.
We all have seen the research that has been pouring out all over the internet with regard to the growing popularity of online video content. Internet users are consuming online video content at a rate greater than previously predicted. And, consumers all over are learning to produce and share online video content. Video can often be a more effective means for a producer to get a message across than typical offline or online content. In order to take advantage of the opportunity that exists today with regard to online video, one must learn the tips and techniques that can be used to allow for greater discoverability of online content – this is called Video SEO or video search engine optimization.
1) It is recommended that you create and submit a transcript for users and the search engines, add a transcript to each video file you’ve uploaded via your Video Status page. Create a Keyword Rich Title for your Transcript; include a brief introductory paragraph/synopsis that describes the subject matter of your transcript (and video) and be sure to publish your transcript.
2) Keep in mind that when users search for videos on search engines, often time they use the word “video” in their search. For example, “car racing video.” Therefore, in addition to the keywords that you are targeting, also be sure to include the word “video” or “videos” in your description, text, title, meta data, etc…
As you may have noticed, there is a ton of buzz out there about video search and marketing for video search engines, and there are a few posts out there with good information on how to upload your videos to these search engines, but most do not provide insight into the specific needs of SEO for video.
To have a success in video search engine optimization, you should have knowledge of some key technical aspects involving online video and search.
There is misconception that, keyword research for video content is same as standard organic search or other search verticals. This is not true and moreover, till now there aren’t keyword research tools to determine and measure video search results. Before you begin with your actual video search optimization, put together your keyword list. The list can be based on standard search results; however, they should be supplemented with results from news search engine results pages for more appropriate content. At this early phase of online video revolution, video searches at this point tend to be shorter keywords as opposed to “long tail” searches. More than any other piece of advice, make sure you include the word “video” in your keyword list. Examples – car videos, car video, racing video, automotive videos, etc….