Time for another Reader Poll – Have You Used Video on Your Blog?
With services like YouTube (and many others) that make it easy to share videos on your blog I’m keen to hear how many bloggers have used video as a way of engaging readers.
This poll simply asks if you’ve used video and if so – have you made it yourself and/or used other peoples?
{democracy:41}
I’m looking forward to seeing the results and I am interested to hear from you as to what impact you feel video has had upon your blogging and readers levels of engagement?
Yeah, we released our 1st video last week… A full Interview + tour of the Thinkgeek office.. Got more than 120K views on it.
Video is mainly good for branding… or maybe not, but we haven’t found a good way to monetize them effectively yet..
For those of you who are curious, the video is here:
Inside ThinkGeek: The Interview
http://www.vimeo.com/2727969
Check it out, it’s REALLY interesting… that’s what we got told anyways :)
I have shorts posts that basically contain videos connected to my niche, and I also have posted a personal video to highlight a point I was making.
Videos are an excellent blogging tool because they provide an eye-catching visual element, help tell our story from another point of view, and frequently provoke good discussion. Downside: It’s easy for viewers to get sucked into the next video and the next, so a blogger risks losing their hard-won readers.
not yet but soon I’ve going to start with my friend.
Aloha :)
Well I am fairly new to blogging, I just started my first one about 10 weeks ago but things are moving fast.
So just a few weeks ago I invested in a mini camcorder to enable me to make my own videos. But I keep sitting down, setting the camcorder up on its tripod and start recording. But it is proving to be a little out my comfort zone !!
Everytime I start I dry up and dont know what to say. The last thing I want is to sit there and read off notes as I want it to be ‘real’ and unrehearsed.
I guess practice will be best and just keep going huh !!
Thanks for the post
Dean
Yes, I have used video on my blog, although sparingly. Great post as always, Darren!
http://www.burgerblurb.com
my comment was not included about a video I put on my site that went quite well… did I break a rule on commening? I am an everyday reader of this site…. please let me know why my comment was not included, and I’ll make sure not to do that in future… are NO links allowed? I wasn’t spamming, I was giving an example of what you asked…
[email protected]
I have used some, but never really got into doing much with it. I may change that soon though.
I’ve been reading about the importance of using video on your blog, while I don’t have many, with the upcoming google 2009 algo changes it will be neccesary to have a few because google will be “rewarding” sites with video on them with higher serp rankings and the theory is simple behind it, viewers searching for something via the SE will likely find the information on your website through video media and watch the video before “clicking-out” leaving the search engine diagnostic believing that the information and result viewed by the user was “relevant” and award you higher serp rankings.
You can already see the effects of video being ranked high on the serps via the different video web 2.0 sites ranking high in search results from user submitted video like youtube,metacafe and many others.
Video is the next SE seo movement and if we want to keep our current rankings in the serps we need to incorporate them into our websites and using wordpress there are a plethora of ways this can be done.
http://www.megaonlineprofits.com
Hi Darren,
I’ve always used links to my own videos on my blogs and now I have started to embed videos from You Tube to add other related content to posts I make…It’s the way of the future for sure.
No doubt you will be one of the first to keep us abrest of what is happening in ‘Blogging Land’..that’s what ‘Problogger’ is all about for me anyway.
Cheers
Ted Newman
http://www.tednewman.name
http://twitter.com/Newbie_Coach
I do use video in my blog. But not very extensively. In the future I plan to use Screen Casting videos.
I use videos all the time on a few of my blogs… Sometimes I just do not feel like posting an actual post and make a video.
Plus you can submit it to all the video directories for extra traffic
If your like me and wondering how can I effeciently and effectively incorporate video’s into my website without becoming a film producer you can use a great service called animoto, this service allows you to upload a few images and select different back-ground sounds and the site create’s the video for you, then you can easily incorporate this into your blog or upload the video to youtube for even more marketing exposure for your blog.
I hope you don’t take the google algo changes lightly, there are currently 128 different algo formula’s google uses to determine serp rankings for website’s, this number will be increasing to 200 and some of those new formula’s will be video serp ranking diagnostics, don’t be surprised once the updates are complete and a keyword or longtail that you have been enjoying high SE rankings from gets dropped out of the rankings due to sites with video supplying simple 2 minute info-video for the same information and stealing your rankings.
Google knows how long a visitor from SE’s stay on your website, and if their watching vids on your site they will be obviously spending a little more time on your website thus believing the content you have on there is “relevant” and awarding you with high rankings for it.
Didn’t want to berrage this thread with this info but I think it’s ironic that I read this information then saw this poll, I wanted to share this with the readers.
Just voted – I started using video recently and the effects are great! lots of traffic from the video sites..
I LOVE making little videos with my camera to illustrate what I’m talking about. I usually include a few stills as well, for those who don’t have fast internet connections here in rural Nova Scotia.
Illustrating the blog is a big draw for my readers, many of whom live far away from this shangrila village and would like to see photos of it.
After reading this, I see how important video is! I am heading back to my onw blog now to post my first one on making money online. Thanks for the info!
A lot of topics have already been covered by text-based articles/tutorials, but there’s a lot less competition when it comes to video.
I’ve made some PHP and MySQL tutorial videos and found that people really liked them. And in the process, I discovered a new interest of my own! Turns out, making videos is a lot of fun, so I’m planning to make my blog into mostly a video blog.
Hi,
I have used a video in the latest post.
But as I get to re-do my blog layout I will post more up.
I use video posts to show my readers exactly what I am talking about or share something that I saw on the net.
Nickita
from
http://www.nickitaknight.com
I used a video a friend made for me on my last blog to demonstrate a speech I gave. My readers enjoyed seeing the girl behind the blog. I plan on using more when I get the right “equipment” to do it properly.
When I need to I make videos and share it. Like my sample recorded video using my Cinergy TV Tuner. ^_^
It’s my recent strategy to engage readers with YouTube video clips related to the story published. All videos have been produced by others. It’s still early days though for me to tell if its producing the expected results, as it all began late in November. My long term plan is to get my readers to upload their own video clips that I would then publish, however for now all video clips are produced by third parties.
On my personal blog I just have videos that others have made. However I am starting another blog that will only be videos that i make.
Seems like video is all the craze right now. Why not use it and access all the people on sites like youtube.
I’ve made 42 video tutorials so far. It’s a lot of work but quite satisfying!
IMHO, video adds a significant amount of “experience” that your audience can actually participate in. Additionally, videos can add not only the entertainment factor, but credibility factor when someone is willing to put their own face or business on a blog or website.
I’ve not used it on our own site but have added it to clients blogs. I follow a few blogs that heavily use it but it’s just not something i’ve seriously considered before. Must say I am suprised by your results so far, I thought I was one of the few that wasn’t using it!
I have no plans to use video on my blogs. The main reason is that I am very unlikely to take the time to look at videos on other peoples blogs so why should I expect other to look at videos on mine. Also, creating a quality video takes significant time and, if I were to use video, it would have to be good quality.
video is one of a good things to add on blog.
it gives our readers fresh content.
I have made a few videos but mostly my posts are without any videos.
But I would like to do more of video blogging in the future because I feel it is going to hit big in the near future
A video does a great job of telling the story and wouldn’t be without it.
Towncrier is now moving into Interactive Video which permits the viewer to click and view a supplemental video about products seen in the main vid.
Making supplemental videos available lets you showcase more goods and ideas to your visitor and get them to take action at the height of interest.,
I just launched a new local blog on the Philadelphia business scene and started using video posts via RevveR and YouTube. Video is going to see a huge jump in usage this year so I might as well get the cobwebs out and learn a few things early.
I tried a few. Considering it as a permanent piece of the website content, but would prefer it to be something worthwhile which isn’t always easy to develop. I love photography for my niche and it’s likely to win out over video
I like to add variety to my posts/blog and video is one way of doing that.
When I need it to share to my readers why not. ^_^
The Video Library on my website is the biggest draw for search engine traffic….
I have created a few videos and would like to do some more in the area of video marketing to get my own ideas and helpful video tutorials out there.
One video in particular was about drawing a demon, just a simple 3 and half minute video and so far it has done over 1800 views, so that got me to thinking what if I did a full series about drawing different things…all them video channel views would make a lot of views combined.
I voted and said that I use other peoples and my own videos and I find this a good exercise for sharing useful videos that are yours and not yours. Also who knows what you may find!!
I like the idea of video when it needs to be there.. I run a apple game blog and find that most of my reviews are helped with good video demos.. I am also thinking of doing interview style with people from the gaming industry.
I’m not sure an actual video blog done by me is what this niche really is looking for but I may be wrong.
Thanks for the poll,
AGS
http://www.applegameshop.com
I think video is essential for a blog about bike riding
I have posted bike maintenance videos, Live Action, and videos on Technique. I have never message the traffic that a video post get compared to a Text Post with images. Something I should measure.
Hello,
what do you use for creating videos ?
I haven’t even considered putting up a video, although I’m fortunate that my son is talented at editing videos (way over my head). I was thinking as I began to comment there’s really nothing I could video about, but maybe some of my subscribers might like to see a video of my gardening progress. Maybe I’ll do a poll and see if anyone would be interested! I’m planning to start my eggplant and tomato seeds indoors, in the cage my husband built for me, to protect the seedlings from our cats… hmmm… thanks for the suggestion!
i often upload my video on youtube, and share it on my blog
I’ve found it a very effective way to add content to my posts about music.
I use videos on my site – both those I find made by others that I think my readers will enjoy and those I make myself.
I definately recommend making you own videos. They have brought me visitors time and time again plus they are fun to make. I also found sometimes they bring me higher up the list in google than just an article with the same key words.
This year I’ll be buying myself a decent webcam and some better editing software so I can investigate this medium further.
I used videos before on one of my sites that I grabbed from Youtube. It’s a good way to make your site seem more modern, and these posts don’t take a lot of time to write
I’ve wanted to do some video lessons for my guitar tutorial site http://www.fretfeed.com , and it’s very high on my 2009 to do list. In addition to having more and different kinds of content on the site, these can be uploaded to various video sites like youtube, revver, and dailymotion, and hopefully bring some more traffic to the site.
I enjoy making videos. I find it is easier to create content utilizing video as opposed to writing.
I make my own videos, but rarely. The process is time-consuming with all the editing that needs to be done, then the video has to get converted to FLV. I write and post pictures mostly.
I don’t have a proper video camera, but am hoping to do screencasts on my blog soon.
My problem is, I don’t like my voice right now.
I’ve found it useful for visitors who are visual learners. It also gives my blog uniqueness and increased stickiness.
yup. sometimes i use my own video and sometimes i got it from youtube.
I have videos on my blog but they are links to YouTube Videos.
I didn’t produce them.
I am fairly new to blogging and I am planning to use videos of my own making on my blog in the future.
http://www.censusthis.com
I can see that in certain circumstances, video can enhance a blog post, but mostly I find them obtrusive. I like to skim a blog post to find out whether it’s relevant to me. But you have to sit through a video in its entirety.