Video is a really important medium these days. People are consuming content very differently than they did in 2005. They aren’t subscribing to your blog posts, they aren’t using feed readers like we once did. They are taking content in bits and pieces. So it’s important to meet your users where they are, and provide them with content in the ways they want to access it. YouTube is the biggest social media platform and the second most visited website in world. Adding a Vlog to your marketing efforts can increase your website traffic, your online subscribers, and your online brand in a lot of ways.
Here’s my first VLOG!
Video Transcript
Hey, it’s Amy from Sumy Designs and I want to talk to you about vlogging. So what exactly is vlogging? Vlogging is video blogging. We take video, we take blogging, and we put them together. Instead of writing a traditional blog post, you are going to have a video blog post. It’s still going to be posted to your website. It’s still going to be in a blog post, but it’s going to be a video. So why should you consider doing a video blog? Well, back when blogging was in its heyday, around 2004 and 2005. We consumed content via blogs and we had feed readers and we would add the websites we wanted to subscribe to to those feed readers. Every morning I would get up, get my coffee and I’d go to my feed reader and I’d see which websites had updates and then I’d go through and read all my blogs and stay up-to-date on all this content. So you never missed a post.
Well, Google reader died. People have stopped consuming content in that way. So you can have a great blog, and I’m specifically talking about blogging for business. You can have a great blog, but people aren’t just going to go and check it every day to see that you have new content. And if they’re not subscribed, they’re not going to know you have new content. Most of the time you can put it out on social media, but people are busy, they’re active, they’re everywhere. So adding YouTube is going to be a great way to build new subscribers and to find new followers because people are consuming content in a different way.
Why should you have a video blog?
Well, a video blog allows you to connect with your customers on a different level. Yes, I can write a lot of text. I can write a lot of content and that’s great for SEO. That’s what Google wants to see. But what is not going to happen when people are reading text? They aren’t going to get that emotional connection. They’re not going to see your face. They’re not going to hear your voice. So they’re not going to get the same level of trust that they’re going to have if you have a video. When you make a video, you want to make sure that your voice and your personality come through.
A few tips I have for you to get started on your vlog.
Number one, if you’re using a camera, I would invest in a tripod because when you’re trying to do your videos and you’re doing this, it’s going to get shaky. It’s going to be hard. I’m not a professional videographer, so I’m just using my webcam because that’s what works for me today.
But if you’re going to use a camera, you’re going to be out in the field, invest in a tripod, it’s going to make a difference.
The other thing I would recommend is don’t spend five minutes having an intro. You may want a cool intro with slides, photos, music, all that stuff. I get so frustrated when I go to a video that I want to watch and I have to sit there for two minutes and wait for the intro to be over. Yes, you can have a little slide-in for branding, but spending all that time waiting for somebody to actually give me the content I want is annoying. Get to the point. What do you need to think about when you’re starting your video blog? Number one, where and how are you going to do it? Is it gonna be a screencast? Is it going to be done with a video camera?
Do you have just a webcam like I’m using? There are a lot of different options. Consider also what content you want to share, how you’re going to inform your subscribers and what value they’re going to get from it. If your blog doesn’t have value, then you’re not going to get followers and you’re not going to get subscribers. How long should my vlog be? I am of the opinion that people have very short attention spans these days. So I recommend you keeping it five to 10 minutes at the most unless you have something really in-depth and really detailed that you want to share that is going to take longer. These can be five to 10 minute videos that people can take a look at, get what they want, and then close it out and be done.
How often should you blog?
Well, when it comes to blogging, you need to have consistency. So just doing one and then never doing another one again is not a great idea. So I recommend you pick a schedule that works for you and stick to it. It doesn’t have to be daily, it doesn’t have to be weekly. Just doing one a month would even be beneficial to your website and your traffic. But don’t just make one and forget. Come up with a schedule. Stick to it. It is great to have a video on your blog post, but you need to have content too.
Here are the basic steps to having a video blog.
- Figure out what you want your content to be.
- Record your blog, edit it.
- Upload it to your site
How to add your video in Gutenberg
Log into your website your WordPress website and all you need to have is the URL for your YouTube video. I’m using Gutenberg in WordPress, so I’m just going to click on my little plus sign and I’m going to go down here to embeds and choose YouTube that all I have to do is paste in the link for my YouTube video and hit in bed. And voila, my video shows up right in my blog post and then next I’m ready to publish.
Oh, but wait, there’s one more step. It’s important to publish your video to your website, but it’s also important to include a transcript. So you’re going to want to write up an intro, what’s your video is about, share the video and then include a video transcript. Why would we include a video transcript if we just have the video? Well, number one it’s really important for Google and for SEO purposes to have content in your blog post.
Google can’t index the words that you’re saying in your video. They know you have a video. They know that video is on YouTube, which they also own. So all of that is great for SEO, but you also need to have words with your blog post. Having a transcript is going to be the better way to drive people to your website from Google, from organic Google searches. So add the video, add the transcript. You use a service like temi.com, which is an automated transcription service. It costs like four bucks, depending on how long your video is. It’s pretty easy. You’re going to need to clean it up. It’s a robot transcription service, but it gets you started. Then you add it to your blog and you publish, and now you’ve got video content on YouTube. You’ve got written content on your blog. This is a win-win in all situations. Got questions about blogging. Why don’t you subscribe? And I’ll answer in another post.
Amy Masson
Amy is the co-owner, developer, and website strategist for Sumy Designs. She's been making websites with WordPress since 2006 and is passionate about making sure websites are as functional as they are beautiful.