Adding Video to Your Website: Easier Said Than Done

Adding Video to Your Website: Easier Said Than Done:

Putting videos on your website, or on external sites like YouTube, is a way to add pizzazz to your online marketing efforts and be on the leading edge.

A video can boost your SEO ranking and the popularity of your company and products, which is why so many marketers hope to score a hit by going viral on YouTube.

As Daryn Zack of Total Traffic Source relates, “Video marketing is one of the hottest marketing tools on the net right now. If you don’t have a video working for you on some of the most popular video sites out there, you are missing major traffic and exposure.

What types of video might you post or circulate? Tutorials, product demos, engaging commentary on issues in your field, either serious or humorous, are possibilities.

Video, however, is an order of magnitude more difficult than posting an image or blog to your website. While some small businesses may have that rare employee with a knack for recording, converting, editing, and posting a video, most small businesses lack the necessary technical and artistic ability.

For those willing to try, tutorials abound on how to create and post videos. However, the tutorials only seem to highlight the complexity of creating online video, which involves digesting and choosing among a bevy of tools, techniques, and formats—then mastering those tools and techniques.

The alternative to rolling your own is to engage a professional video service. These can be found by searching online under “video services,” “corporate video services,” etc., and locating firms in your area. Some video agencies require you to call to discuss pricing, while others freely publish their pricing. The cost of a 60-second video typically ranges from $300 to $400, with a 90-second video in the $600 to $700 range.

These prices are certainly affordable, and for many resource-challenged small businesses will be the best way to go.