New Site Media Group » youtube

Emedding Youtube Video Options for Your Website

Steinar — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:52:28 +0000

YouTube Videos

The cleanest option is to create a video pop-up from within your text (click here)

However, you may wish to create a pop-up from an image, such as this (click on the image)

Creating a pop-up version of your YouTube video is a great option if you want a more streamlined look and feel to your site, rather than intruding on the flow of the text with large blocks of video. It’s also great if you want to reference a video to make a point but readers don’t necessarily have to see the video to understand a specific concept.

Pop-ups with shadowbox format such as this is also considered more cutting edge and elegant to some due to it’s departure from the standard embedded video options provided by YouTube and other video hosting services.

YouTube Embedded Video (click on video below)

Embedding your video is the standard approach to including a YouTube video on your site. There are many options, including size, color, and framing to create an attractive appearance that meets your taste and website style.

Standard (Medium) Size

Smaller Size

Use WebsiteGrader.com to check if your site is Optimized for Search Engines

Steinar — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:32 +0000

To check if your site is optimized for search engines I recommend you start with a free service called WebsiteGrader.com

This service uses the following criteria to grade your site based on millions of other sites previously reviewed:

Content

Blog Analysis
Blog Grade
Recent Blog Articles
Google Indexed Pages
Readability / Grade Level

Optimization

Metadata
Heading Summary
Image Summary
Interior Page Analysis (3 pages)
Domain Info (Age)
Crawl Date
Inbound Links

Promotion

Delicious Bookmarks
Twitter Links
Twitter Grade

Conversion

RSS Feeds
Conversion Forms

Check out websitegrader.com for more information.

My first blog post from the iPad 3G

Steinar — Sat, 01 May 2010 02:04:04 +0000

So, I’ve had my iPad 3G for a couple hours and thought it was only appropriate to kick things off with a blog post using the WordPress app. Actually I already posted a couple videos on YouTube, including the Fedex delivery man dropping off my iPad and another video of the all important unboxing.

I’m an avid Apple user so the iPad is really a very logical extension of my regular workflow. I especially like the ability to boot up immediately and get straight to work vs. waiting for my Macbook to warm up. Plus the battery lasts up to 10 hours so it’s great in terms of working in remote locations and while on the go.

I’m most interested in the productivity elements of the iPad. Quick access, remote computing, connectivity to my home desktop. With 3G access, I’ll be able to do this literally from the highway. Plus if I need to show something online to a client in a pinch, it’s much faster and impressive to do so on the iPad vs the iPhone or MacBook.

Some of the apps I’m starting with include WordPress, Twitteriffic and Audio Boo. These allow me to publish text and audio based blog posts and engage folks on Twitter. With MobileMe and Safari, I can quickly find and share content online using Ping.fm in my bookmarks. It’s really a great experience.

So, that’s it for now. How are you using your iPad? What business apps do you recommend?

Create Video Content to Engage Your Readers Online

Steinar — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:23:18 +0000

Creating videos to engage your readers is a great tactic you should consider if you manage a blog or would like to take your online communications strategy to the next level.

Publishing online video has vastly improved over the years and for a minimal investment you can easily shoot, upload and share video on the fly. The two biggest barriers I most often see are 1) fear of criticism and 2) assumption that video takes a long time to produce.

I’ll admit, shooting video takes some nerve. My advice is to practice. If you need to, shoot a video everyday for 30 days and then start publishing. This will give you the chance to become familiar with the tools and find your voice or individual level of comfort.

In terms of time required – true video can take longer than simply typing out a new blog post. However, that doesn’t need to be the case if you’re willing to sacrifice perfection for efficiency. You can easily shoot and post video right within Youtube or use a tool such as Seesmic.

So, what’s your experience been shooting video and what’s the reaction you’re getting from others?

A popular subject – How to Podcast from your Mac

Steinar — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:25:32 +0000

Based on the traffic, comments, and backlinks I’m seeing, my series on how to podcast from your Mac is relatively popular. The numbers aren’t staggering but nearly 1000 visitors have come here to learn exactly how this all works.

So, here’s a summary of where we are in the series and what’s next.

You can also watch these on my YouTube Playlist: How to Podcast from Your Mac.

In upcoming episodes, I’ll cover:

How to host your podcast on WordPress and publish to iTunes
How to publish a video podcast from your Mac
How to include video, audio and pdf’s in your podcast
How to publicize your podcast on other podcasting networks beyond iTunes

Any other topics you would like me to explain on this subject?

Also, please subscribe to my RSS feed and newsletter to stay informed when these new episodes release.

The Future of the URL Shortener and All Those Links We Are Creating

Steinar — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:02:04 +0000

Everyone is getting into the URL shortening game these days. Google, YouTube, and Facebook are just a few joining the likes of the established players such as Bit.ly. And now Microsoft is jumping in. But there’s something weird about their URL.

via Fa.il: Bing’s URL Shortener Is Longer Than Bing’s Own Domain.

Seems like every link you see these days has been shortened by one of the popular URL shorteners, such as bit.ly or tinyurl. These services are great, especially when using a social network like Twitter where messages are limited to 140 characters.

It was inevitable that Microsoft would get in on the game, but it raises an important question. What happens to all those links when one of these URL shortener services goes under?

I see a couple major implications:

all your links old become broken
any search engine optimization benefit you enjoyed would now vanish

If you are a casual user of the Internet and social media, this is probably no big deal. But companies or individuals investing in the business of driving traffic online should beware. The rapid proliferation of URL shorteners should be a clue that ultimately some will not survive.

And then what?

Do you use URL shorteners? Have you considered the potential risks of handing control of your links over to a 3rd party?

Mobile Phones Will Serve as the Online Content Consumption Platform of Choice by 2013

Steinar — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:11:37 +0000

More evidence today from Gartner that mobile phones will serve as the online content consumption platform of choice by 2013. Is your company preparing for the shift? It’s happening now, so get on-board.

By 2013, mobile phones could easily surpass PCs as the way most people hop onto the Web. Gartner’s statistics show that the total number of PCs will reach 1.78 billion in three years, while the number of smartphones and Web-enabled phones will shoot past 1.82 billion units and continue to climb after that. This trend will force more Web sites to revamp their pages to make them easier to surf on a mobile gadget.

via Smartphones to dominate PCs in Gartner forecast | Business Tech – CNET News.

Consider the following tactics to make your site mobile friendly:

Create a mobile version of your website or if you’re using WordPress, install a mobile theme such as WP-Touch.
Use mobile friendly video, not flash. YouTube is a great choice and now supports high-definition. Some services, such as Vimeo, don’t play nice on many devices, including the iPhone.
Understand the bandwidth and screen size limitations (and opportunities) of mobile devices. Large images, files and other on-page elements create a barrier for users.
Consider more new media – audio and video – instead of just text. Text is difficult to read in some cases if not properly formatted, whereas optimized audio and video can potentially get your message across faster and with greater impact.
Use a website statistics analysis tool, such as Google Analytics to track visitor devices and navigation. You can learn a great deal about their behavior and tweak your content appropriately.

What are your plans to meet the needs of mobile users? What’s working for you?

How to generate inbound links with videos for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Steinar — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:04:49 +0000

Let’s discuss how to generate inbound links with videos for search engine optimization (SEO). Most folks don’t understand how video seo works and once you do, it can serve as a powerful means for driving traffic to your site.

Let’s use YouTube as an example. Here are the steps to optimize your video for inbound links (or backlinks).

Use you keywords in the Title (1st words if possible)
Use your keywords in the description
Use your keywords in the tags (use dashes to keep phrases whole; e.g., “real-estate-strategies”)
Put your url as the very first item in your description. For example, “htttp://www.mysite.com”. You must include “http” to make the link active.
Set up a Google Alert for your video title to see the the video spread and inbound links proliferate.

PRO TIP: Instead of uploading directly to YouTube, sign up for a free account at TubeMogul, which will syndicate your video to dozens of the leading video sharing sites.

For a good example, check out my Construction Site video on YouTube (over 250,000 views) or watch this quick tutorial on videos seo strategies:

What do you think? If you’re publishing video will this help generate inbound links?

Dailymotion Launches Video iPhone App (another reason to use TubeMogul)

Steinar — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:51:21 +0000

We have previously discussed how to leverage video to reach a new audience online and while YouTube is the leading video sharing site, there are other video networks you should consider when publishing video online. Dailymotion is one of those sites and they have just announced a new iPhone app that’s sure to draw more users.

The question is why are you only posting your videos on YouTube? I understand that some of you are only uploading videos for fun or don’t really care if anyone sees them, but for those of you in the business of marketing yourself or your business, I suggest you use TubeMogul.

TubeMogul is a great, free distribution service for online video. Upload your video once and TubeMogul will syndicate it for you on up to 25 leading video sharing sites, including YouTube and DailyMotion. The benefit is that your video is now available in a place that’s convenient to your viewers. Not everyone watches videos on YouTube and Google indexes far more video sites beyond YouTube. It’s a win-win for you and your audience.

Paris-based video sharing site Dailymotion has released an iPhone app. In fact, two versions exist. A free to download version (iTunes link) that is supported by ads and a premium ad-free version that costs €4.99, which seems a little on the high side, although that depends on how intrusive those ads are to you.

Like the plethora of competing iPhone video offerings, Dailymotion, which as been called the French YouTube but has much wider reach across continental Europe and elsewhere, is at a significant disadvantage compared to the Google-owned video sharing site, which comes pre-installed on the iPhone. That said, the functionality provided by Dailymotion’s iPhone app at least matches YouTube’s offering.

Dailymotion-iPhoneiPhone users can search for videos on Dailymotion, view featured and the most popular (viral) videos of the day, browse channels and access their Dailymotion account. IPhone 3GS owners can also record and upload videos to the site.

via Dailymotion lands on iPhone.

Do you share videos on the Internet? How and where do you upload them?

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?