When you’re looking for ways to better drive traffic to your website, you have to consider YouTube. YouTube is an asset that many marketers have found indispensable, yet many others continue to disregard this top video search engine as something that can take their business to the next level.

YouTube’s Stats

While there are other video search engines available, none of them even come close to scratching the surface of YouTube. Let’s take a look at some statistics amassed by Website-Monitoring.com:

• Twenty-four hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every single minute
• YouTube exceeds two billion views a day
• The average person spends fifteen minutes per day on YouTube
• More video is uploaded to YouTube in sixty days than has been created by all three major US networks in the past sixty years

Over thirteen million hours of videos were uploaded to YouTube during 2010 alone. When all these stats are laid before you, you can’t deny that YouTube is the best video search engine around.

Every day, web surfers visit YouTube for a multitude of reasons. Some want to catch up on the latest news, some are car enthusiasts who want to watch videos of their favorite cars, some want to see some funny videos, some are DIY specialists wanting to see a video tutorial for their new woodworking router, and some are photographers looking into digital camera reviews.

I can’t list the thousands of reasons why people might visit YouTube. The important thing to think about here is the statistical significance.

Getting Going on YouTube

Creating a video for YouTube really is a lot easier than most may think. You don’t have to be an expert videographer by any stretch. All you need is an inexpensive HD video camera that you can purchase online or at an electronics store for about $100.

When you’re actually shooting your video, the best thing to do is keep it simple. Less, as they say, is more. You should also plan your shoot ahead of time so you don’t waste money and time. You should also shoot your video in sequence so everything stays better organized.

Two more tips: avoid walking and shooting at the same time and avoid using the zoom feature as much as possible, as both sequences will likely be edited out in the end.

Another tip that I heard Steven Spielberg talking about on TV is that there are essentially three main shots: the wide shot to establish the scene, the mid-range shot, and of course the close-up. Stick with these three according-to-Spielberg shots and the story you are trying to tell in your video will come across much better through your use of imagery.

My Very First Foray into YouTube

My very first undertaking into harnessing the power of YouTube traffic was in November of ‘07. YouTube at that point had not yet developed into the powerhouse it is nowadays but it had been going strong for a few years and I was curious to see what I could make happen with it. So I registered on YouTube and proceeded to upload a video my friend created from some footage my son Justin shot of me cruising around town in my Shelby Cobra kit car, my dream car.

I’d wanted to know how much exposure I’d gain and I was very surprised at how well it did. My video’s viewership increased month after month and viewership has continued to rise ever since. Today, my video’s viewership has rocketed to over 313,000, as you can see in my graph.

YouTube’s great built-in features are what made it possible for me to track all of these statistics. If you couldn’t tell already, I was really impressed by what YouTube had to offer and nowadays I have a lot of YouTube videos working for me every day – and I plan on adding more videos. If you aren’t using YouTube today, you should start now!

7 Ways to Put Your Video at the Top of YouTube’s Rankings

Since publishing my first video back in 2007, I’ve learned quite a bit on how to highly rank a video on YouTube:

• Tip #1 – Don’t forget to include the keyword phrase you want to rank for in the headline for your video.
• Tip #2 – You want your video to keep people’s attention. If your viewers are clicking away early, your YouTube rankings will be negatively impacted. The video’s length isn’t all that important; you just want it to keep people’s attention.
• Tip #3 – Include a description of your video. Sit down and write an interesting and keyword-rich description in the “Show More” section below your YouTube video. Include links to drive traffic in this section as well.
• Tip #4 – Put your video in the correct category and use the correct tags to boost your rankings.
• Tip #5 – Always allow comments and actually encourage people to comment – this will help guide any future videos you may post. Viewers can also “like” and “dislike” your YouTube video, which will give you even more direction. You should ask your viewers to “Favorite” you and you should also ask them to visit your site. You can also insert calls to action throughout your video with text overlays.
• Tip #6 – YouTube automatically tracks embeds, so you can see how your video is being shared with other sites. Keeping that in mind, don’t forget to share your YouTube videos with any social networks you take part in. If you are on Facebook, let’s say, you can embed your videos on your Wall to further boost your social media traffic.
• Tip #7 – Always stay informed about your statistics on YouTube. The amount of information you can put together using your stats there is amazing. You can see the number of viewings per day your video is getting and where they drop off, your female versus male viewers, and you can also get some great graphs that are absolutely chock full of information. You can also download all this information in a spreadsheet.

Another thing worth saying is: always make sure that you stay within YouTube’s terms of use. It may seem like a no-brainer, but you can easily break these terms by using copyrighted music in your video. It’s pretty crazy, but YouTube actually detects copyrighted music during uploading and removes it automatically. So the lesson here is that if you want your video to be seen as you intended it you should use songs that are public domain.

More, More, More

To further illuminate things, let’s talk about ShareASale. If you are into affiliate marketing already, you may know about ShareASale already. Every year, I attend the ShareASale Think Tank and I have since it began back in ‘06. For the last 4 years, I have also recorded the event in a video.

Go to YouTube and do a search for “ShareASale Think Tank.” You will find my YouTube videos ranked highly. You can also Google “ShareASale Think Tank” and see my videos ranking highly there as well, which gives them even more exposure.

While lots of people still use text (I am typing this, after all), every day more folks are adding YouTube videos to their marketing program. What you are promoting or selling on your website isn’t important; whether it’s router lifts, Tonka Toys, mobility scooters, motorcycle insurance, mobile phones – YouTube simply must be a big part of your marketing program.

I’m sure that you’ll see great results using the techniques I’ve laid out here. As always, I look forward to any commentary and questions, so let’s share.

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If you have any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page. Hope you guys had a good weekend.