Video Marketing Online: 7 Easy Tips to Increase Website Traffic with Videos

Businesses can leverage video marketing online to reach customers effectively and inexpensively with targeted messages that customers seek out, not ignore.  Integrating video onto your site can increase website traffic, encourage viewers to delve further into the pages, and convert leads into sales.

In fact, some numbers suggest that roughly 50% of viewers will be drawn to your site because videos are highlighted on the homepage.  Delivering your message through video marketing engages an active audience that is looking for information instead of the traditional passive advertising outlets such as radio, TV and billboards.

In one month alone (March 2008), 74% of the total U.S. Internet audience watched online video making it a powerful channel to drive to your site.  Below are seven easy tips to increase your website traffic with videos so you too can be part of the monthly 11.5 billion online videos viewed.

Include the URL
When developing your video, make sure the site name or URL is within the video.  Whether it is included at the beginning or end, the inclusion will raise awareness of the website or brand, and likely get you more website traffic.

Share!
Take advantage of the video sharing websites to increase exposure such as, YouTube, MySpaceTV, Google Video, Yahoo! Video, Blinkx and Revver to name a few.  You are able to add your website link when your video is published which will add to your number of backlinks and it’s well known that link building will also increase your listing on search engine results.

Make it viral
A significant portion of viewership, over 50%, can be driven through distribution of a video by word of mouth.  Constructing a video that people want to pass on to their friends, colleagues and networks can add reach of your video to blogs, forums, wikis and beyond.

Draw attention
One of the easiest ways to increase traffic with video is to title it with a catchy name.  Craft a title that will draw interest, resulting in more website traffic.

Direct the interest
Have an icon or banner on every slide of the video that directs the user to your website, if for a specific product – then have the link go to the product page, just make sure that more information is easily accessible.  If you use a video sharing service that supports annotation, annotate the video with a URL directing them to the page with more information.

Keep it short
Make the average video duration under 3 minutes.  In a fleeting attention day and age, the quicker you can deliver the message in a dynamic and engaging way the more likely the viewer will watch the entire video which can result in more website traffic as well as a better chance of the video being passed on to others.

Specify keywords
Choose specific keywords to describe your video as opposed to general terms – that way your video can target real potential customers instead of those that are only browsing.

Technology today makes it easy for you to create videos on your own or outsource to a video production company, however you go about making your videos just remember the importance of identifying your URL, sharing your video, making it dynamic and appealing, being concise with your messaging and labeling the video so search engines are able to easily optimize the keywords.  These simple tips will help increase website traffic to your site – happy video marketing!

image credits to Patrick Boury

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