Everyone knows the power of YouTube, but you may not know all of the ways you can promote content using YouTube.

Below are 5 of the best tips I’ve come across that will help you increase your sales and conversions by using YouTube as a free brand evangelist to get your message to the masses.

1. Create an animated explainer video. There are some online platforms that allow you to create your very own explainer video in a matter of minutes. Goanimate.com is one of these sites.On this platform, you can create an original explainer video using cute animated characters who move, talk, and use props, all of which are readily accessible on the platform. The basic subscription is free. If you want to save your creations, have access to more props and backgrounds, or want HD functionality, it will cost you $39-$79 per month, depending on the package you choose.
2. Start an instructional video series. When you give customers something free, they will often repay you by purchasing from you later on. You could start a video series on YouTube with new installments each week that address the topics your customers want to learn about.
3. Use keywords in the description of your YouTube videos to drive traffic on Google. This will increase your search results for primary key words in the search engines. But remember to choose relevant key words and maintain good high-quality content that Google will reward.
4. Remember to keep your video to around 2.7 minutes when possible. This is the average attention span of people who tune into videos on the web.
5. Make it something others will want to share. Remember the key to using YouTube as a promotional tool is to create the desire to purchase. With that as an end goal, create content that others will want to share, by making it funny, extraordinary, or evocative.

You can use YouTube to promote anything. Just think about the message you want to send and say it with video. Make it interesting, valuable, and worth sharing. Use keywords in your descriptions and keep it short.

YouTube’s powerful tools will do the rest and you, and best of all, you don’t have to pay a cent!

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Google’s April 21st algorithm updates (without the zoo animal name this time) have happened as some web owners still hold their breath hoping they’ll still have their page rank when the dust settles.

What to Expect: The Road Ahead

But what will the result be for the average website? Is it still something to worry about? Google emphasized mobile-friendliness on this latest algorithm change roll-out and stated that sites should get mobile-friendly or risk losing their rank in their search engine.

Does Quality Still Rule Over Mobile-Friendliness?

But they also stated that, when all is said and done, it was still great content that would win the day. In this Q/A session Google presented shortly after the roll-out, Google announced (see #9) that sites will still be ranked high if they are of high-quality, even if they don’t pass the mobile-friendly test.

Google’s Holy Grail

You have to hand it to Google-for every new algorithm update, ranking regulation, or change they make to their system, they always provide the tools to fix problems that keep you from ranking high.

So there is no reason why you can’t beat the system with the tools Google provides for you themselves. One such tool I call the “holy grail” of Google’s toolbox is Google Analytics.

The Power of Google Analytics

I recently took on a video project to create 12 video lessons on Google Analytics that was published on a well-known on line learning site’s platform for students to take.  During my development of this course, I learned even more about Google Analytics and what it can mean for a website.

You can conduct experiments, do split A/B testing to determine which version of a website is performing better with users, determine which data you want to have reported each month, and focus on conversions, demographics, and more.

There’s no doubt that this tool is something every on line business should have.  It is the best tool you have to help you stay in the know on what Google expects and it helps you increase your traffic and helps you set goals for your on line business as well.

In the Aftermath

As for the recent Google updates, life will go on and people will figure it out, or risk being dropped in rank from Google’s search engine.

In the meantime, Bing, Microsoft’s counterpart to the larger Google search engine giant, is announcing that they will be rolling out a similar mobile-friendly update to their search engine, but they are not saying when.

Complete with similar mobile-friendly testing tools and aids for web owners, their approach is to soften the blow for web masters in the hope of preventing a repeat of the countdown to mobilegeddon experienced with the Google updates.

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THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

The Good

First, SEO is not bad. So understand that upfront. Search engine optimization is intended to speak to the search engines, so to speak. It involves the skillful use of keywords used strategically in the right places to increase traffic and ultimately, conversions. Ideally, it matches up the searches people do looking for information to your web content. Here’s a list of 17 Best SEO Practices to help with this.

The Bad

The only time SEO is bad is when it is used in isolation without any real meaningful content or when it involves deceitful practices. And who would want to do that? Remember, you are talking to your visitors and your potential clients, so you always want to give them something useful. Google rewards sites that do this because they ultimately want the searches people do to be relevant, and turn up appropriate results to what they are searching for. If you provide this, you won’t get your hand slapped or sent to “time out” by the gods of the internet.

The Ugly

The worst thing that can happen is that Google drops you from the search engines completely! So just focus on good, relevant content, and you’ll be rewarded for it. Think of Google as the conscience of the internet. They are a company that knows what it is doing, attempting to provide the best consumer experience possible. That drives traffic and sales to YOUR website.

How the West Was Won

In essence, all we are talking about here is being honest. Provide good, engaging content to your visitors and give them something valuable using the keywords you have chosen to match up with what you are offering. People are smart these days. They know how to spot the genuine article. If you have something good to offer, they will find you and Google will reward you with more visitors and that means more conversions.

Turns out being honest and straighforward is the best approach — even in our virtual world!

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