Video SEO can get you a first page ranking quickly; often in less than 24 hours.

Quick – name the second biggest search engine…

If you said YouTube, you're right. (…for the English speaking world ok?)

YouTube really? Yep. In fact something like 70% of all the traffic online is from video. YouTube has millions and millions of viewers and hours of video uploaded every minute. And there are many other video sharing sites – close to 60 at last count!

If you are not using video to market your business online you are missing a hugely popular and fairly simple avenue to grow your business.

However, the real kicker here is that with video, you are using the most effective marketing medium available – video. Numerous recent studies are showing that TV (which is video right?) is still the most effective persuasion advertising medium.

TV has some serious problems, of course. #1, it's prohibitively expensive. #2, it's fractured all over the place with 200 channels, so to get your message in front of enough targeted people is well, see #1.

Online video can be done quickly, inexpensively and still be very, very effective. It can reach your target market fast and last for years to come. Online video for SEO purposes is a good reason to do this, but it is certainly not the only benefit. Video drives traffic. Video builds credibility. Video can dramatically improve your conversion at all stages of your sales process. Online video is affordable.

Here are 7 steps to consider when beginning to put together your online video campaign.

1. Simple videos – these do not need to be fancy or studio quality videos. Check YouTube out and take a gander at some of the video there that has millions of views. Much of it is at a quality level than any of us can produce. The key here is get moving. Get your video done and start on the next one!

2. Your video can just be pictures. You can put together a slide show that tells the story you want and add a voice track and music. Save it as video and you're done!

3. Provide value (share some of your secret sauce) while keeping the video as short as needed and as possible. These are key points. Give your potential customers some of your insider tips and they will be back for more. But never bore them! Do it as quickly, succinctly and elegantly as possible. We're all programmed to gobble information in 30-60 second bites. You might not be able to go that short. Go as short as you can – edit ruthlessly!

4. Put keyword phrases in your video title and tags. Use a keyword research tool to find what your customers are searching for and then use those phrases to name your video and in the tags (tags are required on most video sharing sites). My favourite free tool is
Google's keyword tool.

5. Distribute as far and wide as possible. Often people just put a vid up on YouTube and expect a flood of traffic. Sometimes, that happens… but a much better strategy is to put your video up on many places around the web, so you cast your net as wide as possible. There are close to 60 video sharing sites – use as many as your time allows.

6. Get maximum bang for your efforts and provide value to people searching with other keywords; change your video up and redistribute it again. Your customers search for you using many different keyword terms and phrases, so re-title your video, change it a little in length, save it in another format, and post it up to the video sharing sites again. Your information is providing value so do what it takes to get it seen.

7. Have a call to action. When planning your video, make sure you know your "most wanted response." Do you want people to sign up for your email list? Do you want them to call you? Always end your video with your call to action!

Lucky bonus, secret 8. Get over your bad self and just do it.

Have fun with this. Your first efforts are going to not be as good as your 30th. Such is life. The benefits far outweigh your perfectionist side figuring out how to be great out of the gate. Take action and get better by doing it, now.

Almost everyone thinks they look funny on camera. On the looks thing… do you have friends? Do your funny looks stop them from being your friend? Seriously, being passionate and expressing yourself with energy is way more important than looking beautiful. Get started!

If you want experts to do this for you, (cause I know exactly how much spare time you have to devote to learning and doing another thing in your business…) shoot us an email. We'd be happy to help.