In 2005, the world’s largest video-sharing website was born. It was named YouTube by its creators. Soon, it was bought by search engine giant Google for around $1.6b. On this platform, you can easily share your videos with the whole world. Millions of people will watch your videos from all over the world. Below are some of the benefits of hosting your videos on YouTube. Read on to know more.
Huge Audience From All Over the World
The success of a business is based on its visibility. For visibility, you have no better choice than YouTube. Once you have uploaded your videos by choosing the correct category and location, you are ready to go. If your video is liked by millions of people, it can go viral. Once it goes viral, it will get a tremendous audience in a short time. So, the website has a huge audience.
Hosting Cost
If you want to host your personal or business videos on a paid hosting service, the cost will be very high. On the other hand, if you choose YouTube to host your videos, the cost will be zero. You do not need to spend any money on the operational aspect of your channel on YouTube. The site management will take care of everything. All you have to do is upload and publish your original videos.
Ease of Use
If you choose paid to host, you will have to spend a lot of time buying a domain name, choosing a web host, and setting up your website. But with YouTube, you have an easier path to follow. Everything is already set up, so you just need to create an account and that’s it. By following a few basic steps, you can upload your videos as fast as your connection allows. So, using YouTube is very easy.
Web Traffic
If your videos are not seen by anyone then your videos will be of no use. In the case of your own website, you need to take the necessary steps to bring in visitors. On the other hand, if you upload them on YouTube, then visitors will come to your channel automatically. Since the platform is owned by Google, the videos will be automatically indexed in its database.
Bandwidth and Sustainability
Since YouTube has dedicated servers, you don’t need to worry about bandwidth and space. You can post as many videos as you can. Unlimited bandwidth will allow millions of viewers to watch your videos at the same time. In the case of paid hosting, if you haven’t signed up for unlimited bandwidth and your videos go viral, the server may crash and your viewers won’t be able to watch any of your videos. In the case of YouTube, this is not a problem.
How to Use YouTube for Business Purposes
If you are promoting a product or service then you should just use YouTube for business. There are millions of visitors to this site every day and you can attract some of these visitors back to your website.
Use Tags
If you’ve made a video that you’re happy with, load it on YouTube. You will be asked to enter the tags as part of the loading process. These are basically keywords related to your video content. When using YouTube for business, good keywords are really essential.
For example, if your video is about an iPod and someone typed these words into the YouTube search box, your video might appear in search results. Then maybe not.
By adding tags you are giving people a better chance of finding your video. Your tags can be iPod-related so you can have tags for mp3 player, mp3, learn iPod, etc. This is how you can use YouTube for business because with more tags you are giving more options for people to find your content.
You might be expecting people to type the word ‘iPod’, but some people think differently. An iPod for you is probably an MP3 player for someone else. That’s the beauty of using tags in YouTube. You’re guessing what people are likely to type when searching for your video content.
If your brand is well known then you can also use that as a tag. Exactly what people are likely to type when searching for content on Google or YouTube is unclear.
Another good example is the word ‘football’. In many countries, it is called as such, but in America, it is known as soccer. Someone looking for football can type in football so your tag needs to reflect this again.
Categorize Your Videos
Also, assign the appropriate category to your video to make it easier for people to find it. These are very important because of the way YouTube uses to filter through many videos organized. There are millions out there and categories will help speed up searches.
Make sure you have chosen the proper category for your video. If you’re teaching something, assign your video to a how-to category. Don’t worry if you think you want to change it because you are allowed to do it at any time.
Create Your Own VLog
I like to add videos to my blog when I use YouTube for business. If you have done any blogging then you must have heard about video blogging. It is also known as VLOG.
After uploading a video to YouTube, you have the option to mark it as a VLog. This tells YouTube that the playlist is a VLog in your YouTube channel. To fully understand this you have to research things like channels and playlists.
How to Get More Views on YouTube
The truth is, if you plan to use YouTube for business marketing, the only way you can increase your YouTube views is if you make a great quality video. Surely there are services out there that will give you more ideas, but you should avoid these things.
If you use any covert viewing strategy and all your videos are pulled, you risk getting your account banned. Are you sure you want to take that chance? All the efforts you have put into making your video have been in vain. Just make videos that give value and people enjoy and you’ll get more views.
How to Promote Your Product
If you offer a product or service and want to leverage YouTube for business, create a video to showcase your work. It is not necessary that you appear on the screen. You can create a slide presentation that contains exactly what you want to say. Simply say the words out loud on the screen.
Mention the main features of the product and of course the benefits. Add product photos to give an even greater visual impact. Don’t be deluded and make it a long-finished product. Keep it simple and keep it short, usually about two minutes is enough.
People love to watch visual content and you are offering good value by making videos. When you’re finished with slides just convert them into a video file and upload it to YouTube. Add your contact details in the video as well as in the YouTube description box.
YouTube And Facebook For Business
You’ve made that all-important video masterpiece. It’s on YouTube and you’re starting to see some of the views and visitors coming to your website. Now is the time to increase the traffic.
You must have heard about Facebook or not. It is the largest social networking site in the world and is now second only to Google in terms of power. Some say it is even bigger. only time will tell. What I am trying to say here is that the huge base of customers on Facebook is something that you can use to your advantage. You can use both YouTube and Facebook for business by working together.
One thing you can do on both Facebook and YouTube is to promote your video content among your friends. You’ll find a share button on YouTube so you can share your video on your Facebook account. Your friends see it and if they like it they visit your website. Now that you use YouTube for commercial purposes, do you see the potential?
On Facebook, using the share box, you can directly type in the URL of your YouTube video and share it the same way. This is a unique way to use YouTube for marketing purposes.
Why not create a Facebook fan page showcasing your company or product. You can bring any YouTube video you make to it. Now you are opening it to the whole of Facebook and your audience is increasing.
Conclusion
If you use YouTube for commercial purposes, you’ll need to use a little imagination to get your content visible. It opens up a whole new world of marketing for you.