Monday, September 10, 2007

Need Video help?

"The Internet is the most important single development in the history of human communication since the invention of call waiting.” ~ Dave Barry, American Writer and Humorist
And we're back!

Today, a "quick one" re video... if you do it, add value, and don't forget to optimize it.

Don't forget to add tags and meta data for better ranking. I also include a transcript below so your page can get ranked in both the content and video engines.

Most folks are looking to get into video because they want more traffic. They think video will be in more eyes to their site. Good theory, but not easy to do.

But here's a tip:

Take a look at http://www.tubemogul.com.

It claims to be a one stop video shop for the distribution of online video. It's a free service that uploads video to YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe, Yahoo!, MySpace, AOL Video and others. Sounds cool, eh?

But what really interested me was the free access to metrics, comment tracking and the ability to add tags and metadata to the video you upload. It sounds like the perfect place to test your first video effort before spending an arm and a leg.

I haven't had time to test this yet, but I hope to this month. I'll let you know how it goes.

One last point re video.

Video for the sake of video won't create value for your site... just like content for the sake of content. Bad writing is bad for your site and the same logic applies to video. Most video that I've seen on sites doesn't add value. That's the key... if you can create a video that fills a hole that is currently missing in your business - go for it.

Otherwise... please don't start spending money on video because some blow hard says "We need to have video!"

It's probably the same "genius" who says your site needs to be a portal or the next yahoo... am I right?

If that is the case... walk away. Please. Don't waste your time and money.

Bottom line: Improve your content always... add value at every cost... the time spent improving your editorial will bring in more money than any video idea you can think of.

Trust me on this.

AP

PS - Good to be home, and I look forward to start posting more regular.