New Site Media Group » video

Twitter Search RSS Feeds to Find Customers and Blog Content (Video)

Steinar — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:09:15 +0000

In this video I show you how to use Twitter Search to find people in your niche, answer questions, and find new content for your next blog post.

In particular I illustrate how to:

search twitter for leading indicators of questions
use exact phrase match to narrow in on the right tweets
save the RSS feeds to your RSS aggregator
leverage Twitter questions to build your following, knowledge, and business

UPDATE: if you want to exclude Tweets that include links, simply add -http to your search. This will weed out Tweets that look like user questions but are potentially links to an answer of some sort. Here’s an example:

I hope you found this useful. I know it’s been a great approach for me.

You else do you conduct real-time online market research? What other techniques can you share that work?

Seven Elements of an Effective Blog to Drive Traffic, Engage Customers and Stay Organized (Video)

Steinar — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:42:55 +0000

Blogging is a great channel to deliver content online, deliver your message and engage in meaningful discussions with your target market. One of the challenges for bloggers is their ability to make their blog more effective and efficient.

In this video I discuss my recommendations on seven elements to drive effective blogging. There are more elements than just seven, but it’s the most I could fit into a ten minute video. For a great library of resources on this topic I encourage you to read http://www.problogger.com and http://www.copyblogger.com.

Topics Covered:

Unique & engaging content
Personality & balance
Consistent activity
Design with purpose
Focus & organization
Contact information
Comments & interaction

What’s been most effective for your blog? Which key elements am I missing?

Leverage Online Video to Engage Readers, Drive Website Traffic and Differentiate Your Business (Video)

Steinar — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:11:54 +0000

YouTube has been around for years and is without question one of the best video sharing sites. Getting your video message online is a terrific method of engaging readers, driving traffic to your website, and differentiating your business. It takes practice but the payoff can be significant.

Topic Covered:

Test and gain confidence (It’s all about practice)
Use the right tools to shoot, edit, publish, promote
Using Multiple platforms to share videos online
Leveraging the network to reach a broader audience
Engaging with readers unlike text or audio content
Search engine optimization to drive traffic to your site
Mix it up with different approaches to use video.

How can you get started with video today? What holding you back? Have any success or horror stories to share?

Evidence that YouTube Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Works (Video)

Steinar — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:50:43 +0000

YouTube search engine optimization (SEO) is an often overlooked element that can drive significant views and traffic back to your website.

Setting up a search engine friendly video is very simple and only take a fraction of the time required to actually shoot, edit, and publish the video.

Keywords are critical in your title, description, and tags. In this video I provide an example of a video I uploaded 2 years ago, which continues to get a steady flow of viewers now topping 250,000.

The link in my description feeds these viewers back to my website of choice (another feature that 99% of videos fail to incorporate).

Why don’t people optimize their videos? What do think? Seems like good sense but it’s so often overlooked.

The video referenced in this article is the 1st video in this YouTube Search.

Does Audio or Video Really Engage Blog Readers? (Audio)

Steinar — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:20:11 +0000

In this audio post I discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using audio and video on your blog.

003-audio-versus-video.mp3

Advantages of Audio Blogging
•   Quicker to record and post
•   Fewer tools required
•   Faster download
•   Greater reach with MP3 players

Advantages of Video Blogging
•   Great to put a face with your name and voice
•   Good for presentations or tutorials
•   Good to leverage YouTube channel network
•   Most engaging web content according to studies

In either case, audio and video both add color to the standard text based blog, much like photos make your posts pop. Experiment with both and find which works best for you. You may find that video works in some cases, while audio is better for others.

What are your thoughts? Are you finding success with audio and/or video. Which seems to work best given the topic or situation?

Optimizing YouTube Videos for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Steinar — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:31:09 +0000

YouTube.com is the second most searched site on the Internet, next to Google, so you might conclude that it is the second largest search engine. It so happens that Google owns YouTube so the implications are something to be well understood and taken seriously as YouTube relates to your Internet Marketing strategy.

As the largest online video sharing site, YouTube is home to everything from Obama’s weekly radio address to corporate sponsored informercials and people showcasing their musical talent. The list goes on and anything you can imagine can be found on YouTube. It’s free to sign up, free to upload videos, and free to view videos. Honestly, there’s nothing stopping you from taking advantage of this great medium to communicate and engage with your market.

The fact is most people do not understand how to properly optimize their videos for search engines and thus most video get very little attention.

Keywords

As with any search engine optimization strategy, keywords are critical. Think of them as the combination of words or phrases that people search for on the Internet. Since YouTube videos are frequently indexed by major search engines, it’s important to understand some simple steps to make your videos more search engine friendly.

It so happens that you can also call out these keywords in a special Keywords section with every new video you upload. Here’s your chance to thoroughly differentiate your video from the pack.
Titles

The title of your video needs to include two things: 1) your keywords and 2) something to hook viewers as they scan through a list of titles. If you fail to include the right keywords, search engines will ignore your video and if you fail to use a catchy title viewers will ignore your video.

For example, instead of using a title such as “Great House on 1.3 Acres!”, you might get better results with “4581 Morgan Creek – House for Sale in Roseville, CA”. The first example would be fine if the video was for a specific client, but the second video will ultimately draw more viewers since it names the city and uses the keyword phrases “house for sale” and “Roseville, CA”.

Descriptions

The second most overlooked section of posting a video on YouTube is the description field. When search engines index your video, the description field is a key element.

First and foremost, if you have a URL that you want visitors to visit, put that as the first item in your description. By default, only the first few lines of the description are displayed above the fold, so you want your URL to be right there at the top in the most obvious position so viewers click on it. Be sure to format the link correctly so it’s an active link using “html://www.mysite.com”.

The description field is also a great place to pack in your keywords and keyword phrases. Take care not to overdo it – strive for something that makes sense and gets the point across, but still incorporates the keywords where possible. An extra bonus is that YouTube cross-references related videos and people are more likely to find your video if you follow these general guidelines.

What’s you experience with optimizing YouTube videos? Any tricks you’ve learned?

What materials or applications would you recommend for producing podcasts and YouTube videos?

Steinar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:09:17 +0000

Q: I am working to create a YouTube channel and weekly podcast; I have been requested to put together a list of necessary materials I will need in order to do this, both on a Mac and PC platform (e.g. lighting kit, editing software, etc.). I’ve done this before, but wanted to see if anyone out there might have any specific recommendations I should be considering! via LinkedIn Answers

It depends on the context, but here is a sample of the equipment I use.

For high-definition, professional results I shoot with a Canon HG20, with either voice over or music or a USB mic. My mic of choice is the Samson Audio C01U.

For casual high-definition shoots, the Flip MinoHD could also work.

For video blog style, I use my Macbook Pro iSight, either with a mic or using the internal mic.

In all cases, I edit on my Macbook Pro with either iMovie (direct post to Youtube) or with Final Cut Express ($199).

Lighting can range from window light to $50 halogens from hardware store to professional lighting kits ranging from $50-$1000.

You can get started for a couple hundred bucks or go into the $1000′s depending on the quality desired.

Hope this helps.
-Steinar

Optimizing YouTube videos for SEO

Steinar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:04:00 +0000

As the largest online video sharing site, YouTube is home to everything from Obama’s weekly radio address to corporate sponsored infomercials and people showcasing their musical talent. The list goes on and anything you can imagine can be found on YouTube. It’s free to sign up, free to upload videos, and free to view videos. Honestly, there’s nothing stopping you from taking advantage of this great medium to communicate and engage with your market.

The fact is most people do not understand how to properly optimize their videos for search engines and thus most video get very little attention.

[ Open this video to study the following optimization techniques. ]

Keywords

As with any search engine optimization strategy, keywords are critical. Think of them as the combination of words or phrases that people search for on the Internet. Since YouTube videos are frequently indexed by major search engines, it’s important to understand some simple steps to make your videos more search engine friendly.

It so happens that you can also call out these keywords in a special Keywords section with every new video you upload. Here’s your chance to thoroughly differentiate your video from the pack.

Titles

Descriptions

The second most overlooked section of posting a video on YouTube is the description field. When search engines index your video, the description field is a key element.