How to Use Videos To Help Promote Your Website

Effective marketing is essential for helping an online business grow and gain a significant share of their market through the number of visitors to the website. This is especially true for new businesses, where the barriers to entry for others to set up and sell similar goods and services, are normally low.

As marketing budgets get squeezed during the global financial downturn, many entrepreneurs have to be increasingly inventive in their marketing efforts to stay ahead of the competition. This is where web video comes in.

Thousands of hours of content is uploaded to popular to video sharing websites, with millions of people from all parts of the world viewing, commenting on and sharing links with their family.

The nature of how video is exchanged and recommended means that small companies can compete on equal terms with larger, better funded businesses for the web's huge market of customers.

Getting started with web video is fairly straightforward. You don't have to be an experienced videographer, you don't have to own a camcorder or even own any content. You can quickly and easily set up a website (using online website building software) and embed videos from sites like Youtube and Myspace to enhance the written content on your website.

If you fancy yourself as a director/producer, you'll need a concept, a script, a camcorder, microphone and lights. You could also film your video using a webcam or mobile phone camera. Find a quiet space in your home to use as a studio.

The real challenge is to create something that is not staged or too scripted and is as natural sounding as possible. You could talk about your passion for your business or impart some wisdom to people. It's also important to observe a number of guidelines, namely to avoid overt selling in your video, keep the video short and make it funny.

Some of the most successful videos on Youtube have been highly entertaining and more likely to 'go viral' and attract tens of thousands of viewers, if not more. It still means you can talk about your business, but you need to do it in an interesting way.

With the increasing popularity of portable media players like the iPod and smartphones like the PalmPre, BlackBerry and iPhone, people can access video on the move. When filming a video to promote a website, website owners should consider the size of their screens and avoid any wacky film techniques. Time-strapped consumers need to watch your video and need it fast!

If you're conce
ed that your web video production is not of 'professional' quality, remember, the success of sites like Youtube has proved that tens of millions of people appreciate good content over style. If the video is funny or thought-provoking, viewers will not just watch the video, but also recommend it to their social media networks..

After you've finished editing your video, you can upload it to one of many video sharing sites to be shown to the world. Videos are now being listed as standard with websites in search engine results, so tags and keywords describing the content will help bring your video to people's attention and drive traffic to your website. With regular video updates, you'll find that your profile and visitor numbers will grow rapidly.