I have been asked so many questions about the effectiveness of online videos. Does talent matter? Does the production of the editing matter? To be honest, these questions are missing the point. Your video can have the best production value or the best talent, but if you do not address the reason to the watch the video on the page first, you can actually hurt conversions.

Why should your visitors watch?

The truth is none of your visitors start with a reason to watch your video. You are kidding yourself if you think otherwise. Your page must give a value added reason for every action you ask your visitor to take. The same applies to video.

Rule #1: Never assume that viewers will automatically be drawn to your video.

Keep in mind that videos can and often do present potential annoyances to your visitors. Understand that your visitors are likely asking themselves these questions when a video is present:

• How much time will this take?
• Will this video have any good information?
• Will it slow down my system and lead to technical difficulties?
• Will it be too loud (for the office)?

So what is the best way to get a visitor to watch your video? Simple, give them a value added reason to do so. For example, maybe the value of the video is that visitors can get all the information of a page in less than a minute without having to read anything. Or perhaps the value is that you can see and hear a demo of the product or testimonials from other people who have used it.

Rule #2: Always be testing (videos too)

I understand it takes time, energy and money to redo videos. It’s not as easy as testing buttons, or headlines, trust me I get it. But I assure you it’s worth it.

In the article, I take a look at the question “Why do some videos rank well on Google but not on YouTube and vice-versa?” It may seem an odd question, considering that Google owns YouTube, but the answers are complicated and important for those of us in SEO to understand.

Comparing Google and YouTube video ranking strategies, I attempt to break down the relevant information for marketers, offering advice on how to improve your approach to video optimization.

The bottom line is that YouTube relies heavily on social interaction whereas Google depends primarily on a healthy back link profile. The best way to achieve both is via a robust social media and/or viral marketing strategy.

For a more complete explanation on how to better you video rankings, check out my article on Search Engine Land.

Many content producers are intimidated by the huge volume of videos on YouTube.  YouTube streams more than 1.2 billion videos a day, which leaves many marketers feeling like they have little to no chance of standing out from the crowd.  The reality is that the majority of this content on YouTube isn’t worth watching (no surprise), but the content that is good is rarely optimized. With a few easy steps, you can easily distinguish your videos and improve their rankings in both YouTube and traditional organic search:

• Remember that videos posted on YouTube are, for all practical purposes, invisible to search engines. The big guys (Google, Bing and Yahoo) have a difficult time deciphering Flash (the format of all YouTube videos), so optimizing the surrounding content is vital.
• Include appropriate keywords in the title of the video (assuming that those keywords are relevant), and use the word “video” whenever appropriate. The title is aguably the most important piece of information search engines have about your video. Since many search queires include the world “video” when searching for a video, this addition gives you an obvious but often-overlooked advantage.
• For each video, write a unique keyword-rich description that includes a URL. Put the URL at the beginning so that the user will see the link even if the “more info” option is collapsed.
• Include links to other social media profiles like Facebook or Twitter. This will not only extend the social media experience, but can also drive traffic to a customized landing page that is part of your larger campaign.
• Encourage participation. YouTube is a search engine, but it is also a social media channel. Open your video to commenting and embedding whenever possible, but keep in mind that you might have to weed out some inappropriate comments. On the other hand, some negative feedback is good because it makes the user experience more genuine.
• Make sure to use YouTube Insights, which can provide great information about demographics and view experiences. This data can help you improve your future videos.

The fact that YouTube is the second largest search engine makes it an attractive vehicle for online marketing.  Making sure your customers can find your videos through search requires adapting traditional SEO best practices and keeping in mind that search engines do not explicitly understand the Flash content of videos.

For a more thorough explanation on SEO and YouTube and additional tips for improving your YouTube search results, make sure to check out the original article on iMediaConnection.

Video served on RAIS will initially show as a thumbnail…

Until clicked. The video opens up and extends the page, essentially pushing down all other listings. Videos can be viewed full screen without leaving the search page & can also be shared with social sites and blogs.

• RAIS will host any length of video. Videos under one minute generally work best but Yahoo reports having some clients running branding videos up to 4 minutes long.
• If video is not used, other templates include an image variation where a brand logo highlights the SERP ad and the searcher is given various actionable, deep linking options.
• Up to 4 additional landing page links can be included to show in the results so customizable links can drive traffic to top converting pages.
• RAIS ads will only currently show in the upper North placement of your brand SERP.
• Keywords included in the RAIS program will run on exact match only.
• Only brand & brand modified keywords can be included in RAIS campaigns. For example, the site ChadsRadBikes.com could have ‘chadsradbikes.com’ & ‘chadsradbikes’ but also ‘chadsradbikes homepage’, ‘find chadsradbikes.com’, ‘chads rad bikes newsletter’, etc. & even misspellings. Some of the initial participants are currently running over 400 keywords in their RAIS campaign.
• RAIS ads will replace existing sponsored search ads on the brand terms selected. Regular text sponsored search ads will appear on advanced match queries and on partner networks for those brand terms.
• Currently, the keyword set & marketplace determine pricing. RAIS beta now has a minimum cost of $15K/month but this will rise depending on spend of the KW set you want served. Higher volume keywords are more expensive and some low volume keywords will not increase pricing at all.

Here are a few additional ‘best practices’ to consider when using video in SEM:

• Online Video is generally displayed at 425 (width) by 355 (height). Import your video as close to this as possible to avoid stretching.
• Have call to action at end of video to instruct the viewer on ‘next steps’.
• Post quality content only – Why should people care? Videos should have a quality picture, sound, music as well.
• Make it easy for users to grab video and share it on rich media and social sites.
• Make sure your URL appears in the video – generally best placed at the beginning since engagement falls off rapidly after  10-15 seconds.

Clicking on the plus sign launches the VPB clip, expanding the video. If a user clicks on the ad after having already clicked on the VPB, the advertiser will not be charged for two clicks.  Advertisers pay based on a cost-per-click (CPC) bid.

VPB is simply an alternative to using Text ads for your Google AdWords search campaigns.  We have found that entertainment clients (with numerous video assets) make the best advertisers to use VPB.  At the moment, Google does not have the functionality to upload VPB clips in the AdWords UI or AdWords Editor, so advertisers have to submit their clips to Google.  The turnaround time is approximately one or two business days.  It can sometimes take longer.  The process of uploading VPB clips can be quite laborious on Google’s end.  As such, we only upload one VPB clip at a time in a handful of ad groups.  Submitting more than one VPB clip for a large number of ad groups might take more than a day or two for Google to complete.  Plan your campaigns accordingly.

If possible, use QuickTime clips for VPB.  They’re no larger than 200×150 and 10MB when zipped.  Anything larger will cause the email submission to be bounced back as undeliverable. The clip should be no longer than two minutes, but it’s recommended that the clips be much shorter.  Users tend to lose interest by the 30-second mark.

VPB has been an excellent fit for Travel Channel, enabling their users to immediately  watch previews of upcoming episodes, in addition to driving traffic to their web site.  Travel Channel is always open to testing new products, and VPB in particular has been a proven success for them.  CTR for Man v Food has gone from 2.18% (Jan 2009) to 6.34% (August 2009) since we implemented VPB.  That’s a 190% increase.

UPDATED:  Travel Channel VP, Digital Marketing Pete Dorogoff was quoted today in an AdAge article about media companies getting more into paid search.  “We buy search terms around the talent, food, locales and major tourist attractions,” Dorogoff said. “With search we’re casting a wide net and seeing what shakes out.”

Much like Google’s own AdWords program, Sponsored Search allows advertisers to bid on keywords in an auction-based pricing system in order to display videos and text on the top and right rail of organic search results within YouTube. In fact, the program uses the AdWords algorithm and advertisers can manage their accounts right from the AdWords user interface.

However, because YouTube users may be searching for slightly less sophisticated reasons than users on Google (searches skew toward entertainment or diversion rather than information or purchase research), the types of keywords one should bid on may be different. In a recent webinar on the new YouTube program, AdWords representatives encouraged advertisers to focus more on one/two word, high volume queries that may be too expensive in AdWords but that may be cheap and effective in Sponsored Search.

In order to learn the nuances of YouTube’s new offering on our own, The Search Agency’s SEM Editorial Department collaborated to create a video advertisement for Travelation, a discount online travel website. As no budget existed for this test, the team designed a fast, funny video concept that could be executed for free using only existing resources. TSA employees acted in the piece, which was shot with webcams around the office and edited with out-of-the-box Windows software.  Have a look:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSSO5JpD6SI

While the video has only been online for a short time, response has been overwhelmingly positive and TSA has quickly identified some of the following best practices:

• NOT having overly-polished content is actually an advantage on YouTube, which is mostly made up of videos produced on home cameras and cell phones. Too slick of a presentation screams “commercial” and can lead viewers to avoid your content.
• Comments left after the video can provide clues to what type of viewers are interested in your video as well as insight into which terms you should be bidding on.
• The webinar recommendation bears out: advertisers shouldn’t be shy about trying terms they would never bid on in AdWords – very general terms, related products they don’t sell, terms that describe their target audience… Creativity in approach can lead to substantial rewards.
• In addition to the paid placement, once MUST pursue organic methods of getting traffic in order to best take advantage of YouTube’s audience: optimizing your channel page, choosing highly relevant tags for the video, commenting on related videos with your ad’s URL, etc.
• Using a coupon code is an easy way to track the efficacy of your video, which can be embedded and displayed in many other places outside of YouTube such  as Facebook, Digg, etc.

8mm chopping, cutting and editing the 'old' way.

My brother and I would waste away an afternoon with my parents 8 mm camera pretending we were famous film directors. Steven Spielberg started this way too, but I believe his movies were a ‘little’ better.

Our editing equipment consisted of a small cutting board, a pair of scissors and my parents’ bedroom window. We’d hold the film up to identify what we considered to be ‘the good bits’ (anything with either of us in them), use our fingers to mark the ends, and then cut the film. There was then a process with tiny adhesive ‘joins’ where you’d match up the butt ends of the film and splice them together. It was exciting stuff for 9 and 10 year olds back in the 60′s.

We were equally excited when it came to ‘showtime’, threading the film through the first reel, looping through what seemed like 50 switchbacks before finally affixing the film’s end through the back reel.

We’d draw curtains and invite the family (those that couldn’t escape) in to view our ‘masterpiece’ – which was generally my brother or I dancing, kicking something or pointing dramatically. There was no sound, but who cared? We were famous for an instant, even if it was to a captive audience, our work was the fruit of our labors, something to be proud of, our 5 minutes of fame.

Fast forward 40 years.

The film-making process is somewhat easier. To say the least. Broadcasting to the world is even easier. The equipment can fit in the palm of your hand, the projector no longer exists, replaced by a computer screen and a medium that reaches millions, drawn curtains or not. The effort required to make a movie is infinitesimally smaller, enough so that the act of movie-making for the masses is almost mundane.

So why the reminiscing and fixation with movie making ?

Last week, I was driving down Ventura Blvd, here in Los Angeles, and I saw this sign.

In a world where everyone is a content producer just by having a video-equiped cell phone it’s strange that a service exists to make it an even easier process.

What could they be offering?

Tips on how to be the next Fail Blog, Barely Political or Happy Slip?

Webcam etiquette? Lighting techniques for your lounge? Sound editing for dummies? Script advice for the den? Grips for the garden? Blocking for the bathroom? How to sound cogent with a hangover? How to be cool?

No, I didn’t go in to find out how much cooler they could make my kids’ home videos, but I will dig out my old 8mm blockbusters the next time I’m in the UK.

Steven Spielberg better watch his back.