“Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes”
-Andy Warhol
YouTube is a user-generated site that focuses on video content. Registered users can view videos and upload their own. Non-registered users can view videos of other users but may not upload theirs.
Taking it a step further, YouTube has become a semi-social networking site based on videos. Registered users can mark their favourite videos, subscribe to the uploaded videos of other users, and befriend other users.
Going for the whole 9 yards, YouTube has developed to become more than just user-generated content and networking. YouTube also allows users to customize their profiles and pages and even create customized play lists of videos! An easy-to-understand ranking system is also in place, on top of a comments area per video, and account/video updates via email.
Video killed the blogging star
So what does YouTube have to do with your site?
Another great thing about YouTube is that it allows you to easily embed videos in your blog. So now, you have great content and a video to go with your posts! Remember though that embedding videos does not replace relevant and well-written content.
Search engines crawl over YouTube, just like how they crawl over text-based sites. Every YouTube video has a text description that accompanies it, and a set of tags determined by the user who uploaded the video. These elements follow the embedded videos to your blog. Therefore, if a user searches for a keyword that a particular video is optimized for, the YouTube video will turn up on the search results page and all blogs and websites where that video is embedded.
Of course, fantastic content will make you a blogging star. However, a close second can easily beat you to the top spot with the help of embedded YouTube videos. The sooner you get into the game, the farther you can pull away from your competitors.
Pick what you want to own, and own it first
Picking which video to embed is not a race. You can embed a video even if a million sites already have that video embedded.
Determine the keyword or key phrase that you want to optimize for, and do all you can to make your site own it. Relevant content, embedded videos, links, and site aesthetics should come together to communicate the same message to one audience.
Targeted communications for a targeted audience—this is a basic tenet of marketing that many seem to take for granted. But before launching into a full-blown digital campaign, it is recommended to learn about your audience. In fact, use YouTube to learn about what your market likes watching, what they talk about, and how they talk about it.
Go as far as getting your own YouTube account so you can subscribe to particular channels and users. Doing this, you also get updated on shifts that happen to your market behavior. The comments section is a gold mine of insight that will be useful for crafting your marketing campaign.
“I’m bored with that line, I never use it anymore.
My new line is ‘In 15 minutes, everyone will be famous’.”
-Andy Warhol
