Video is valuable in the tech age – so valuable that it can skyrocket your blog and leave others in the dust. Making the decision to take your blog to the next level with video content is easy once you know how and why video is helpful, and the resources available to create them.
Videos as blog content can engage your readers in ways that text alone can’t. Videos are interesting for viewers because:
- A website with a video on their landing page keeps a viewer’s attention for 2 minutes, while a text based web page holds visitors’ attention for 8 seconds.
- Information transferred through images happens 60,000 times faster than information transported through just text.
- Providing information through videos appeals to various audiences, because it is visually appealing and includes elements of sound.
A video can be used on your blog in countless ways: to introduce your blog, enhance any content that you’re posting about, market your blog content to attract new users, or send invitations to guest bloggers. Video also helps reach a larger digital audience because they are viewable on smartphones and tablets.
How to Take Your Blog To the Next Level
Make your blog stand out among the rest. Here’s some tips to ensure your video makes a mark on the digital world:
- First impressions matter!
Make sure your video thumbnail is eye catching, aesthetically pleasing, and relevant to the title of your entry. The thumbnail should look presentable in order to increase click through rates.
- Placement is important.
Your video should be placed close to the top of your landing page or blog post, so it can immediately be seen, which helps maximize SEO and Google page ranking. There’s something mysterious about a thumbnail, no matter how great it may look. People are curious about the content of a video and are likely to watch one on a webpage – so place it correctly to boost traffic.
- Don’t waste your viewer’s time.
The video should be relatively short, because people normally have 45 seconds, but not 4 minutes. The most engaging videos effectively explain the subject matter in two minutes or less. It’s important to grab the viewer’s attention in the first few seconds – make it relevant.
- Be creative and intriguing.
Include fun visuals and occasional humor in your video. Get in touch with your creative side – and don’t limit yourself! The video and information should be easy to follow and exciting for the viewer to watch.
- Clarity helps!
Everything included in your video should be exceptionally clear: only the most important information is included, unfamiliar keywords or topics are defined, the images included make sense and are relevant, and background music is not too distracting. It successfully engages your audience the way it should!
How to Create a No Budget Video
Including video content on your blog will certainly take it to the next level. Regarding how to make a video, there are several options, including hiring a professional video production company, hiring freelancers, or using online video creation tools. Professional companies and freelancers come at a cost, but the last option is more budget friendly…especially if you have no budget.
Mysimpleshow is an online video creation tool that allows anyone, no matter their skill set or creativity level, to create explainer videos on any topic. The tool provides a guided creation process equipped with everything you need to make a professional quality video to enhance your blog: storyline templates, images, automated voiceovers, a PowerPoint upload option, tutorials, example videos and scripts, and sharing options. The provided hand sketched images are uniquely styled visuals that gain attention from viewers.
After writing a script with the examples and guidance provided, visuals are automatically suggested and animated for you, with the option to change or upload images and polish your storyboard canvas. Before producing your final product, you have plenty of voiceover options, including uploading or recording your own voiceover. The process is simple and quick, and realistically you could have a video completed in about one to two hours.
5 SEO Tips for Video Publishers
- Should publishers host their videos on Youtube?
There are pros and cons when it comes to publishers hosting their videos on Youtube to generate business. Hosting on Youtube is equipped with greatness: it’s owned by Google, so your high-ranking SEO video content would likely appear as a video snippet on the search engine, bringing in more traffic. Youtube is the largest video hosting site in the world and it’s free, but you can also pay for advertising through Google Adwords. You can customize your own account and build a following from gaining subscribers. Also, Youtube video ownership will be always yours. That is something that doesn’t happen on other social media channels like Facebook, where once you upload the video, it automatically becomes part of Facebook data so they can use it without your consent.
The not so great side of hosting on Youtube: it includes a variety of features to identify demographics and target audiences, so if competitors are familiar with your SEO keywords, they can possibly put ads for their own company on your videos. It may be more difficult to establish your blog as a professional brand with all of the content on the video hosting site, especially because some of the content is unprofessional and comparable to spam, which is what you don’t want surrounding your own videos.
- Should publishers promote the videos on their website or on Youtube to grow their subscriber list? How can a publisher promote their video submissions on their site while also getting users to come from Youtube?
To grow subscriber lists, publishers should keep in mind the purpose of every channel. If you want a brilliant and useful channel on Youtube, then host all your videos there. Cross promoting your content is a smart way to gain Youtube subscribers. From Youtube, videos can be embedded onto a blog and you will earn more views while bringing traffic to your website and Youtube channel at the same time. Enabling and promoting sharing buttons on the blog is a great way to help boost the amount of subscribers, as well as posting the videos on your social media accounts. Embedding a video or a link to video content in a newsletter is another way to cross promote.
To grow a subscriber list on Youtube, a blogger should: have attractive thumbnails and direct or catchy video titles, use all target audience features provided, tag the video correctly, and use a call to action at the end of the video asking viewers to subscribe. Keep in mind that an alert will be sent to all your subscribers every time you upload a new video, so be careful about how often you choose to upload a video.
- How can you SEO optimize videos to show up on normal Google search results and Google video search results?
You can SEO optimize videos to show up on Google search results as well as Google video search results. First, keyword research must be done. Since Youtube is owned by Google, the trick for this is to find video keywords that result in Youtube video results on the first page of Google when they are searched. Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends are great ways to find video keywords. Once you have your video, make sure it is aesthetically pleasing and informational, so you can maximize Youtube metrics. Include your video keywords wherever you can – as the filename of the video uploaded, in your video title and description, and as video tags. Afterwards, share it on social media, in newsletters, on your blog, and in your e-mail signature to gain likes and views.
- What are the pros and cons of using your own voiceover versus a professional one?
There are pros and cons when it comes to voiceovers. Creating your own voiceovers for videos is free on tools like mysimpleshow, and low cost if you have to book studio time or rent a mic. It adds a personal touch to the video, giving viewers a new perspective of you and your blog. You can customize the voiceover until it sounds exactly how you imagined, and it doesn’t take much time.
Having a professional to do a voiceover is also a good option if you have the budget for it. Your video may come off more professional because someone who is trained is speaking your text, and you don’t have to worry about spending time to record it yourself. Be warned – professional voiceovers do come with a price tag, and sometimes a hefty one.
- Should publishers transcribe their video as content on their Youtube description and for the text on the blog post on the publisher site?
Publishers should transcribe their video as content on the video description, but only to an extent. Summarizing the video without giving away all of the content will keep your viewers watching for a longer period of time.
Publishers shouldn’t duplicate exact content, because Google and Youtube both recognize when that happens. Luckily, that doesn’t mean content can’t be manipulated for another medium, or used in addition to another post. For example, having a blog post with a related video embedded on the page will only help your SEO ranking and blog traffic.
Continuously establish your online presence and regularly keep your viewers up-to-date and in-the-know by using videos on your blog. Creating them yourself allows plenty of flexibility regarding choosing and scheduling content. Video content really makes all the difference in a digital world!