Internet Marketing #8 Video content

Video can be a great method of directing traffic to your website, suggests Cary Ganz. Millions and millions of videos are uploaded to YouTube each and every day. These very same videos are visited by millions of people not only for fun but to be educated as well.

That being said, there is a great opportunity to get traffic to your website using YouTube, as well as the other video sites, for FREE.

There are a couple of things you need to think about when using videos as a traffic-building strategy:

1. Be Unique - if you're going to use video as a tool you need to create something different and unique. It needs to attract the visitor and then keep them interested. Much like the rest of the web, visitors tend to have limited focus and tend to leave real quick if the content is not exciting.

2. Great Title - Once again, like everything on the web, the first thing the visitor sees is the headline. Make it interesting and grab the attention of the visitor.

3. Create a Channel - YouTube provides you with the opportunity to create your own channel (ie. homepage) for free. You need to create a bio and include in that bio the url you want your visitors to go to when they visit your channel. In this brief article it's tough to go into all of the details in creating a good channel.

4. Attract Friends and Subscribers - In order to get noticed you need to find ways to attract visitors to your channel and to your videos. One of the ways to do this is to visit other channels and view other videos in your niche. When you are there you can add comments to the video or channel and become their friend and/or subscriber. You can also rate their video as well. Then, add a unique, complimentary comment and in that comment request that the channel owner reciprocate and become your friend and/or subscriber. It's also important when adding a comment that you are at the top of the comment list and that, when reviewing the comments, that you pick a video that has frequent comments as well. This is one great way to get noticed by other video viewers.

5. Add Your URL to Your Video - Whenever you upload a new video you will be asked for a title and a description. Be sure to make the title interesting and more importantly, make sure that the URL you want visited is the first thing in the description. Then provide a description of the video making sure to include the benefits the viewer will receive if they listen to the video.

6. Be Prolific - One video won't work. You need to add as many videos as possible in order to start generating interest. Don't get too crazy worrying about how you're going to get this done. Set yourself a goal of getting one video per day of less than 10 minutes per video done. YouTube only allows videos of 10 minutes or less. In reality you can most likely get your point across in far less than 10 minutes.

There are a number of ways to create the videos to upload. I would suggest that the easiest way is to use a program called Camtasia ( a free version called Camtasia Studio is available on the web) to capture what is on your screen as you narrate the process or even something like PowerPoint. There are also a number of free programs on the web that you can use as well.

Cary Ganz is the Developer of Newbie Rewards, A One Stop Shop for Newbies. Newbie Rewards was created to provide the new internet business owner with one place to find the information, tools, videos, courses etc. that they need to be competitive in the internet marketplace. Free memberships are still available. www.newbierewards.com