Video Pulls Traffic to Your Website

Dear Early Light,

I own an upscale boutique and have noticed that some of my competitors now have video on their websites. I’m thinking of adding video to mine but I don’t understand how doing so will increase traffic to the site. Users won’t know there’s video until they get there, so what is the value of adding it?

OK. 

Short answer? Video sharing sites.

Once you have a strong video to promote your company, your first-stop parking is, of course, your website. Next stop: upload it to video sharing sites. There are dozens in all shapes and sizes out there. Pick the ones you think your prospective clients will most likely turn to when conducting a search. For instance, we here at Early Light Productions upload to YouTube, BlipTV and Vimeo.

Video sharing sites help you jump into the deep end of the pool where more potential clients are swimming, so many more than the swimmers that your website, on its own, will ever attract. These sites help you position one of your most powerful promotional tools – your video – where people can view it, link to it, comment on it and (if you allow them) embed it anywhere else on the Internet where even more people will find it. Most video sharing sites include free analytics, helping you track demographic and other statistics on your users over time.

Once you’ve uploaded your video be sure to find the site’s option to add a selection of tags. These are the key, one-word or short phrase descriptions of your video that a user might type in when searching for your business. Think of this as casting hooks out to the search engines. Take time to consider your bait.  “The game of finding fruitful keywords can be a delicate one,” writes Lucy Beer in her Practical SEO E-book (free download). “They have to be relevant enough to attract and keep web surfers, but specific and targeted enough that you can rank highly [in searches] for them.

Finally on every video playback page you create, include a link to your website. You get the idea. You want to drive that traffic back to you where your rich and more detailed content resides. Smart, well-conceived videos will enhance any website; we’re convinced enough on that point to have launched our own business. But take the time to plant your video wisely - and widely. Now more than ever there are countless ways to extend its reach deep into the web.

Please post your comments, ideas and tips here. 

Related blog: Make Your Video Debut and Tune Up Your Video to Play Far and Wide