What is Video Syndication?

Video syndication is the use of a syndication service to post your video on a number of video hosting sites in one go.

How is it useful?

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.  Approximately 310 million people visit YouTube.com each day (source Wolframalpha Nov 2009).

According to data from Comscore (July 2009), the US site was the 6^th largest internet destination, the top internet entertainment site and has significant reach in most ages groups.

Having a video, series of videos or even a channel (and anyone with an account has a channel) on YouTube is a great way to get exposure, traffic and build links to your site.

Video is a way to deliver information quickly and clearly, and is often better than simply using the written or spoken word alone: Remember when you tried to explain how to programme the video recorder to someone over the phone? Was that fun?

Youtube is only one (albeit the biggest) video hosting site on line, among others are:

• Viddler
• Metacafe
• Vimeo
• Dailymotion
• Google Video
• HowCast
• Blip.Tv
• To name a few video sites, find more sites here

Video syndication offers you a way to get your video on these sites quickly and in only a few steps.

Where do I start?

1             Making the Video

The first step is recording a video.

This video should be about something relevant to your site, it could be a product review, a how to guide, it could even be an introduction by you showing off your site to the online community.  These are just a few ideas.

What do I use?

It depends on what you want to record.

Recording Your Screen

If you are recording content from your computer (“screen capture”) there are a few applications to consider. Here are some we use but do not necessarily recommend you use them:

Macusers can also look at Screenflow ($US 99).

Recording Live

If you are doing live recording you can use a digital camera that takes movies or simply a video camera. You could also consider using a Flip camera – which is specially designed for recording video for uploading to a PC or Mac and then online. (Be warned the Australia site uses flash media and can take a minute to download).

2             Editing

Once you have made your movie you may need to edit it, this may mean adding a soundtrack or a voice over, removing some mistakes or unnecessary content.

As noted earlier with some applications have (such as Camtasia) you can not only record but also edit videos.  Other free applications to consider include:

• iMovie (which normally comes bundled with a new Mac); and
• for Windows users either : Windows Movie Maker (if you use Windows XP) or Windows Live Movie Maker (if you use Vista or Windows 7).

You may already own some video editing software or some other freeware or shareware.

Whatever you have the important thing is you are able to:

1. edit or remove unnecessary content
2. add titles
3. add credits or text to the movies

These last two will allow you to brand your video and also promote your URL.  A few more tips can be found at the end of this paper.

Uploading to YouTube

Loading your video to YouTube is relatively straightforward.

You do need an account but if you have a Gmail account you are pretty much there already as YouTube.

TIP: If you plan to record a series of videos or use videos extensively we strongly recommend you set up a specific YouTube account and hence channel for your business.

There are three preferred formats for uploading to YouTube:

H.264, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4

It may be necessary to convert your video format to MP4. There a few video convertors around, some of them are free but as always there are paid ones. You could also keep an eye on PC magazines (such as PC User, PC Authority) as sometimes they will have convertors as one of the free applications they offer each month.

How do I syndicate?

One free service we recommend is Tubemogul (www.tubemogul.com).

Tubemogul around 25 different video hosting sites including YouTube, Viddler and MetaCafe – a full list is provided at the end of this presentation.

The following assumes you have a Tubemogul account. To get an account, visit the signup page.

Tips for Online Videos

1. SEO Your Video: Optimize your video for keywords and phrases:

• put your keyword in your title
• Start the description with your URL (use the http:// syntax so the link is clickable) then provide a detail description that includes your keywords (if necessary put a transcript of your video in the description). Search engines can then crawl through the text.
• add tags to your YouTube video with up to 20 key phrases (ensure the words are relevant to your video)

1. Catchy Titles: Use a catchy title for your video
2. Short and To the Point: Keep the videos short (no more than 5 min in length) and to the point.

If you need more than 5 minutes to deliver your content, then break it up into 5 minute (or less bites) and create a series.

This will probably  mean you need to edit your video – if so, try to break it up at natural transition points or better still points that appear like cliffhangers (for example, if your video is making a cake you might end on video just at the point you are about to take it out of the oven).

Let people know if video is part of series by including in title hints such as “(part 1 or 5)”.

1. Publicise: Tweet, email, the link to the video, embed it in your blog, syndicate, enable embeddable links (so people can put it into their sites)
2. Start a dialogue: encourage participation and try to get your viewers to engage with you. User generated content (UGC) can be a good source of new material and relevant content. Things you can do include:

• allow user ratings and comments
• ask questions in the video
• actively encourage feedback.

Be clear about where you want the comments to go: “Tell me what you think by putting your thoughts in the comments section.” Include a call to action.

1. Push your site: Put a caption or title at the start, middle and end of your video with your URL link into your video. Make sure  you mention your URL at the end of the video and at the start.
2. Use annotations: If you are using YouTube – use annotations to create clickable points on your video
3. Use an interesting background – people will look behind you and an interesting background may keep their attention.

YouTube URL Tricks

There are a few more things you can do to a YouTube video you have embedded onto your pages:

Original YouTube URL – from Do You Wanna Date My Avatar (3:48, 5.5 million views (Nov 09) since Aug 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urNyg1ftMIU

Video Host Sites Supporting by Tubemogul

Having a social media plan is an essential part of any online marketing strategy, by using social media you’re giving your online business the opportunity to push and publish information through a variety of online platforms. Social media applications such as twitter are changing how communication flows real time between consumers and business, online communities such as Linked in act as niche social networking sites and allow information to be shared between those with common interests. Online publishing platforms such as Wordpress and Blogger allow individuals to publish there thoughts and opinions and then interact with visitors through user generated content or forums.

Here is a list of a variety of tools you can use to produce and distribute your content.

1. 1. Blog Platforms

Blogger http://www.blogger.com

Wordpress http://wordpress.org

Typepad http://www.typepad.com

Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com

Gawker http://www.gawker.com

Squarespace http://www.squarespace.com

Movable Type http://www.movabletype.org

2. Micro Blogging

Plurk http://plurk.com
Twitter http://www.twitter.com
Friendfeed http://friendfeed.com

3. Social Networks

On social network sites you can create profiles that contain personal information, photos, causes, hobbies etc. Social Networks such as Bebo and Facebook allow you to stay in contact with friends you have met in the real word and those who you have met online. You have the option of making your profile as open or as closed as you like.
You will find that companies, organizations and celebrities use social networks to build friends or/or fans. They use the social networks to provide information about new products, changes, events etc
You will find that some social networks will be much more niche for example Linkedin is a business oriented social network.

Facebook http://www.facebook.com
Myspace http://www.myspace.com
Bebo http://www.bebo.com
Hi5 http://hi5.com
Orkut http://www.orkut.com
Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com

4. Video Sites

Many sites allow you to upload videos these sites essentially host your video and so that other users can view and access them. Video Marketing is increasingly been used as way to spread information, increase search engine rankings and generate traffic to website.

Video Hosting Sites

YouTube http://www.youtube.com
Revver http://revver.com
Metacafe http://www.metacafe.com
Vimeo http://www.vimeo.com
Viddler http://www.viddler.com
Blip.tv http://blip.tv

5. Podcasting

A podcast is a video or audio file that is recorded and then distributed online, either by direct download from a web site or through distribution services.  You can convert any written documents you have into podcasts in order to reach a wider audience.
Podcasting Sites

iTunes Podcast Store http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatson/podcasts
Audible.com http://www.audible.com

6. Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking is a way to organize your favorites or bookmarks by setting up a profile on a web site that displays all the sites you bookmark. Users can share their bookmarked sites with other users.
Social bookmarking sites can give your websites a much needed boost in traffic and in the case of site that “follow” much needed backlinks.
Social Bookmarking Sites

Delicious http://delicious.com
Stumbleupon http://www.stumbleupon.com
Magnolia http://ma.gnolia.com
Diigo http://www.diigo.com

7. Photo Sharing

Photo Sharing web sites let users upload and share photographs with one another.

Photo Sharing Sites

Flickr http://www.flickr.com
Zooomr http://www.zooomr.com
Smugmug http://www.smugmug.com
Picasa http://picasa.google.com
Photobucket http://photobucket.com