How to increase website traffic with YouTube

Knowing your target audience is one of the first things you need to think about when making your video or designing your website.  YouTube videos are free to make and free to post.  You can use  them prior to your blog, as a tutorial guide or for a  complete advertising commercial. 

Videos can build up your audience and followers.

You can collect leads using a lead magnet capturing emails or getting others to sign up for a webinar.

Set up your Channel on YouTube

You must have a Gmail Account in order to get set up on YouTube.  This is easy and free to get.

You then create a Channel. You can add up to 50 different channels per Gmail Account.

After you have set up your channel you will want to go to settings by clicking on the little “gear” in the top right hand corner of your screen.

From here you will be able to go to “Creator Studio” 

Go to Channel selection inside the Creator Studio.  You will notice a button that says “Status and Features”. 

Clicking on that will bring you to a new screen which allows you to verify your account with Google and also verify your website. 

You will now need to follow a few easy steps to verify your account.  After this you will receive a text message from Google via your cell phone.  You simply insert the code given to you via the text and you will be good. This is an important step as it allows you to get all the features of YouTube enabled and ready to use. 

It is a good idea to add channel keywords when doing your setup so people can find your channel easier.  Unless you wish ads to run before your own videos, you should uncheck the advertisement box.  Some people like to make money by using this feature but it does distract from your ad and message and can cause people to click off your video before they watch it. 

Very important step:  Associated Website

You will need to input your website and follow the steps to verify that your own the website.  It is a pretty straightforward process and is easily completed.  If you have any problems there are search mechanisms right in YouTube for online help in completing all the set-up tasks.

After completing your set up, you need access your channel by using the icon on the top corner of your screen to your YouTube account.  Then you click on “My Channel” and will arrive at a blank screen in which you will need to add your picture and channel art.

You can add your photo by clicking on the little pencil feature similar to how you add your profile picture on Facebook.  You will also use this same process for adding your channel art to the screen. 

Below is a sample of a blank screen and a created screen.  YouTube also has detailed instructions available with sample templates you can use for your channel art design. 

Once your picture is complete, you will want to use the “edit links” button and put in channel description using optimal keywords.  Then you will want to add your URL for your website and you can also add your Facebook channel.

When are ready to upload your videos to YouTube it is a fairly easy process. You can even do it directly from your cell phone. Be sure to click a category such as “How to or Once you have uploaded the video to YouTube, you may wish to use other settings to enhance the use of your video. 

Settings and Enhancement for your video

Advanced Settings:  This will show your category and be sure to check this appropriately for your video. How to and Style is the most common selection.

Video cover upload.  You can upload a cover picture for your video just like the one that appears on mine by simply making a thumbnail picture in the approximate pixels which can be used to cover your video. 

You can create several of these and change the look of your videos.  The cover is not necessary to do but it is a great way to create interest in your video and displays your brand that people will look for when searching YouTube.

Video information box will tell you the number of times the video has been viewed and will also give you the link which you can paste into your website or social media to display the video. 

Enhancements/Audio: This setting is for color and stabilization.  If your lighting is poor or your video is shaky it can be corrected here. You can also add audio to your video.

Cards:  This is the area you can connect your website and message to appear on your video that directs the user directly to your website or blog posting.

Annotations:  Examples of these would be a speech bubble which encourages the user to subscribe to your YouTube Channel or a “See my Blog” bubble which can be linked to your website.  This is why it is so important to get your website verified at the beginning of setting up your channel so you can link your videos back to your blog.  You can also put a title on your video using the annotations selection. 

When using annotations be sure to note the time you wish the speech bubble to appear on the video whether it be in the middle, ending or all the way through.

Video Title:  Title is very important as this is what is used by the search engines.  Use of the same techniques you use on your blog to draw traffic works also on YouTube.  I always synchronize the two posts together using the same keywords:  How to increase website traffic with YouTube

 Video Description:  When using the description you should always place the link in the upper part of the description as this is the first view people will see.  Then the description should follow using keywords to draw Google to find your vide. 

Monetization:  This is where you can use YouTube to place paid for ads on your videos. 

Paid ads on YouTube are called Trueview Ads and are available in two ways:  

In-Stream – Commercial    -This is where you have an actual commercial that runs before your video.  You only pay a fee if someone watches at least 30 seconds of your video

In-Display – effective ads that come from search engines.  These are actual ads that you pay for when someone clicks on them. 

YouTube is the number two search engine behind Google.  Information on paid advertising can be found here http://youtube.com/yt/advertise

Video Playlist:  A video playlist is a group of videos in one category which are placed together for easy access for your viewers.  I use these for my book series excerpts for the Rubies Books.  It’s a great way to showcase my book excerpt videos.

Once your YouTube video is up and running you can place it on your blog and use it in social media advertising or placement.  It is one of the most effective ways for your followers to get to know you personally and establishes your brand and techniques.  The more personal your followers feel about you the better and greater your audience will be. 

YouTube can be used to advertise your website, an affiliate product, or your book.  I use it weekly as a way to showcase my current novel by using the book excerpts to interest people in the storyline.  I also use YouTube for various different blog posts as I have for this one. The URL you get from YouTube can be placed on your website or any social media area.  

The optimal length of your YouTube video should be between three to five minutes.  Of course, if you are introducing a tutorial such as this one, you can make it shorter. 

The best way to make optimal use of YouTube is to experiment for yourself on what works for you.  We are all a work in progress and nothing comes without using a little elbow grease to make it just right.

That brings me to the topic of my next blog:  Can you really make money online or is all this just a waste of time?

Be sure to sign up for my Newsletter so you don’t miss a single piece of valuable content or tips for your business.  Until next week get out and enjoy life and your family.  Life it too short to waste a moment.