YouTube is the most popular video sharing website on the web. Approximately, more than 2 billion videos are watched daily on YouTube. Such a...
YouTube is the most popular video sharing website on the web. Approximately, more than 2 billion videos are watched daily on YouTube. Such a large viewership means a huge potential. surprisingly though, all that potential seems somewhat unexplored by most of the bloggers out there. This is one gate that is waiting to be opened. And once you open it, you'll see how many opportunities you've been missing.
Getting views on your videos and increasing your subscribers' base is no big deal. You just need to have the right focus for the task. Starting is the hard part. But once the wheel starts moving, it'll require minimal effort at the right places to keep it in motion. Here are some best tips that will help you along the way. These tips will help increase subscriptions, and ultimately bring more traffic to your blog.
This is part one of our new series on YouTube Traffic. Subscribe via Email to receive free updates as we publish more exciting new parts.
YouTube Traffic Series
Part1: YouTube HOT Traffic Strategies To Increase Blog Subscribers
Part2: YouTube SEO and Marketing - Things To Do after creating Video
It's all about the content!
Now I know we say this time and again, but that doesn't make it any less important. In fact, it is the most important thing to keep in mind, because quality is what will eventually decide who wins and who loses. You might advertise your video and get a large number of views with some tricks, but if you don't have quality, you won't sustain these numbers. This, in fact, is rule number one for every thing you might do, for example blog post writing, article writing, working on a website etc. Quality is everything around here. So what you present in your video should be good.
Good video quality
If you are planning on filming yourself or the things around you, then this might be a good time to invest in a good video camera. I am not saying you should get a DSLR or something, but you should at least have a decent movie camera with watchable quality. But as a general rule of thumb, the better the video quality, the more professional it looks and the better the reception.
Beside filming yourself, you always have the option of on-screen recording. For that, you'll need a good screen recording software, such as Camtasia Studio. You may, however, need to get a good quality microphone.
Plunge into the pool!
Appearing in, or voicing a video can be intimidating to many people, including me :). People usually do fine in their practice runs. But in front of a camera or behind a microphone, they lost all confidence and fumble. Don't worry though. This is perfectly normal. It's stage fright and could happen to anyone.
The thing to remember in such situations is, nothing can harm you, not the camera lens, nor the person who'll watch your video :). Do some test runs with the camera rolling, or ask a friend to film when you are practicing and not expecting. Always ask yourself this, what's the worst that's gonna happen? It's just a video after all. And if you can't come out from behind your wall of typed words and face the world, what difference will your efforts make?
Thinking outside the box
Now that's a tough one. Maybe the toughest one of all, because if coming up with unique ideas was so easy, everybody would be rich, and 'unique' would no longer be 'unique', if you know what I 'm saying. Here's a few things you can start off with.
The key to thinking outside the box is to observe things around you. Look at a class room, for example. It would be a good idea if you have a board marker or chalk in hand, and you make diagrams or illustrations for your viewers. Now I know many might have already had that idea, but you get the point. If you're good with animations or video editing, you can make characters on the board and make them move to make it more interesting for the viewers.
Intro and overview
To any video, an intro is very important. You can't just start off abruptly. Your video should have a small overview of what's to come in the video, so that viewers might know instantly what they can expect. They can then choose to watch or leave. For all you know, it might attract the right audience, which is all one can hope for.
Also, try using some kind of intro effects and music. This strategy doesn't work with everyone, but it's worth a shot. It goes a certain way into branding yourself. The intro might be one of the things people recognize your videos from. But then again, it's a debatable topic. It works in some cases, but not in others. There's no harm in experimenting though.
Use watermarks
Watermarks are great. They server multiple purposes. First of all, they are a great anti-plagiarism device. Anyone who wants to embed your video has no choice other than to give you credit for the video. It displays your blog or brand name, so that the traffic on any blog will know where the video is from, and where to get more such videos.
Add a call to action
At the end of your video, add a call to action. If someone has stuck around to watch the whole of your video, chances are, he or she will want to stick around a little longer. So adding a call to action won't hurt. You can add one or multiple call to actions, such as "subscribe to my channel" or "follow me on Facebook" or "get more updates on my blog" and so on. These calls to action are extremely important, and if you don't use them, you might lose most of your loyal viewership.
These are some of the guidelines I had to share with you. In the next post, we will share some more technical tips with you. Till then, stay tuned :)
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