No doubt if you are reading this article, you are familiar with YouTube, the most widely known video hosting service online.
YouTube has gained immense popularity because it’s free, can be shared with the world and has a viral effect. A good video on YouTube can get loads of hits simply because people share them with their friends and family or on social networks. YouTube is not the only answer though…
Because, in part, Google bought YouTube, video plays a huge part in search engine ranking now. More and more as you visit various business related websites, I bet you are seeing more videos than in the past. Videos are a great tool because it is so effective in building that Know, Like, Trust (KLT) factor, especially when there are real people on the video. Visitors can get a sense of what type of person and/or company they are dealing with, as they would going to a brick and mortar business.
While YouTube is a great way to get your video out to the world, they do have terms and conditions that could prohibit you from outright promoting your business. You can post an educational video, but if you are putting out a video that blatantly promotes your business, your account could get terminated. The other potential disadvantage of YouTube is that potential competitor sites are embedded in the advertising links that pop up. This could cause your visitor to become distracted and leave your site, something you don’t want to happen!
Today there are a lot of free and paid video hosting services available online. If you Google “video hosting companies”, you’ll get several results. The video hosting company we use at Marketer’s Edge is included with our overall web hosting package. We can store unlimited videos on their servers, tailor them to work with sales templates, our autoresponder, embed them on our blogs and websites, and there is no other advertising except the option of watermarking our affiliate link to our hosting company, and any hyperlinks we choose to add to our video.
Videos take up a lot of space and bandwidth. Keep this in mind if you’ll be using your web host to store your videos. Many web host providers determine their costs based on the amount of space and bandwidth your site consumes. If you use an autoresponder, be sure your video hosting provider works well with your other marketing tools.
There are other free video hosting services available other than YouTube if you are on a tight budget. They too will likely post ads on your videos or video sites in exchange for a free account. These video hosting providers can be very helpful in generating traffic to your site due to their popularity. When using free services, be sure to read the terms of use thoroughly to ensure your compliance.
Whether you choose a free or paid service, one that is included with your hosting plan, or a combination of services, you’ll want to get busy generating some videos about you, your business and/or product and get them on the internet!
