Video marketing is booming these days, and no site is bigger than YouTube for video. In fact, it is one of the top 5 websites in the world now, and shows no sign of slowing down. This means more and more business owners will be publishing content on YouTube. YouTube gives great visibility for businesses who take the time to create good titles and descriptions for their videos, so they will attract the right viewers.
The Pros of YouTube
YouTube is a search engine it its own right, with around 75% of Internet users going there first for how-to content. YouTube is also a social media site, if you choose to use it in that way by allowing people to comment on, rate your video and so on. Finally, its functionality adds great options for the online marketer who wants to upload and brand their videos. You can also add your videos to your site or blog easily with an embed code, or WordPress shortcode.
Having said all this, there are some common mistakes that newcomers to YouTube make which can make the
ir videos less effective. Here are a few of the main ones.
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Not using a custom thumbnail
Google will choose a random frame to use as the thumbnail, or preview, of your video. Set a custom thumb by uploading a jpg of the first frame of your video, or a title screen.
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Autoplay
Autoplay is not a good idea because the viewer might miss the start of the video, or want control over it, rather than your content blasting out in the middle of their office before they have their headphones in or speakers set to low. It makes it even worse if the video is below the fold and they have to scroll to find the video.
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Related Videos
Don't just let any related videos display at the end of your video. YouTube allows you to link to other videos in a number of ways. You can set the recommendation across your entire channel, or at the end of the video using the end screen feature.
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Videos not responsive
Responsive design means the video will scale to whatever size screen your viewer is using. The standard embed code that uses iframes is not responsive. Edit the code and the style sheet at your site to include responsive videos. You can always use a WordPress Plugin that provides a responsive YouTube player.
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No table of contents or show notes
A lot of lazy marketers skip this step, but if your video is a long one, take the time to timestamp each section and make it clickable, and provide show notes, which will also give you more chances of being found by the search engines.
