Better Ideas Blog » SEO http://marketinsights.us/blog Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:14:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Another few reasons to have a business video… http://marketinsights.us/blog/another-few-reasons-to-have-a-business-video%e2%80%a6/ http://marketinsights.us/blog/another-few-reasons-to-have-a-business-video%e2%80%a6/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:19:25 +0000 Kathy http://marketinsights.us/blog/?p=214 Back in the 1990’s not many businesses had fax machines. By the end of the decade your business was a relic if it didn’t have one. Whether you know it now or not a well produced commercial video for your business is going to become a necessity in the very near future. Being without a professional video will soon be equivalent to not having a website; it will be as necessary as it used to be to have a listing in the Yellow Pages. Some things just evolve into necessity. Some still don’t think it is important to have a company video. I’ll let you judge for yourself.
Young man videotaping a group of teenagers (16-20)
The comScore Video Metrix service says more than 173-million viewers watched an average of 187 videos during the month of January 2010. Using video as an online marketing source makes sense when considering that over 32-billion videos were viewed on-line in January alone.

According to the Unica State of Marketing 2010 study, video is the most adopted rich media marketing tactic today. Videos, created by marketing, rank first followed by streaming media, podcasts, YouTube, and ads within online videos represent the media tactics expected to be used most in the coming year. Year over year growth in the next 12 months for all these tactics is expected to be in the 20% range. Combine this study with what we already know about the internet. Search engines Google and Yahoo are the most visited websites on the internet. Number three is YouTube. Number four and climbing is Facebook. 99% of all videos viewed off Google originated from YouTube. And Facebook allows the posting of videos or of links to online video or streaming media. It’s increasingly evident that when a person is online they are looking at video more than they are looking for text or graphics.

Search engine optimization is actually the most obvious reason why you need video in your marketing scheme. So when you type into the search bar that which you seek and then click the search button the algorithms in Google or whatever site you may be using for your search heavily favor video as the answer to your query. Recently we started a group who meets specifically to help their You Tube videos rank higher in the search engines. Let me tell you that it is working and even better results are to be had if you include the URL for the company address within the caption of the video.

It is getting more cost effective to produce quality video. Generally a full 1-2 minute commercial shot and produced video is still going to cost you a few thousand dollars. But alternatives exist, including slide show video production. Several downriver firms including Photo Graphics USA offer 30 second video with text, graphics, scripting, and voice talent narrative for less than $300. If a business person is a good reader, and clear and dynamic speaker you can do an elevator speech for much less.

Of course the cheapest option is for you to produce a video on your own. And just like most persons who take do-it-your-self tasks of any kind it’s very likely to look like you did it yourself and the poor quality of the video will reflect accordingly on you and your business. Just like you need an electrician for electrical repairs, and a plumber for plumbing service and repair; you need professionals for production of your commercial video. Though it is also my opinion that you should not think about it too long. Sometimes just getting video up and tweaking it later is also a good way to get a jump on the competition.
With the exception of poor quality do-it-yourself video any form of video on your website, Fan Page, or email is helpful to your businesses marketing and branding goals. Even referring other videos is a great way to build referrals. So once again what will you do today to start producing your business video?

My Best,
Kathy Kane
Market Insights, LLC

]]> http://marketinsights.us/blog/another-few-reasons-to-have-a-business-video%e2%80%a6/feed/ 0 Using You Tube to Increase Your Search Results? http://marketinsights.us/blog/using-you-tube-to-increase-your-search-results/ http://marketinsights.us/blog/using-you-tube-to-increase-your-search-results/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:50:55 +0000 Kathy http://marketinsights.us/blog/?p=103 Here’s a thought… cultivate your You tube clips to increase your web site rankings. What?

Many SEO expert friends of mine have longed to find the answer to the Google Search phenomena of highest search engine ranking kingmanship. The bottom line is and probably will continue to be, that it takes many tweaks and listings and content and links and algorithms and lots more jargon to get your web site listed high in the search engine rankings of Google, Yahoo, MSN, Bing and others.

While discussing the virtues of You Tube with a colleague who has been researching You Tube video seach rankings, he shared the fact that it takes a couple good ratings (stars) and a few reviews to get your video listed above all other, more viewed videos.
Businessman Smiling at Webcam

For example a video I did for Comfort Keepers. Not many views, but high search rankings based on the stars and review.

Next, search Comfort Keepers in Michigan and all of a sudden it ranked in the top 10 on any search engine. Interesting and exciting! So you make a video, tag it with what people are search for, ask people for reviews and rankings, then watch your web site and video come up more often! Make sure to list your web site within the You Tube video for best results.

My Best,
Kathy Kane
Market Insights, LLC

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