If you are like most website owners, then you feel that you haven’t made the mark until you can find your listing on page one of the world’s most popular search engine, Google.  The problem is that with 360 million websites online and 130,000 new sites coming online each and every day, it’s getting harder and harder to generate a page 1 result…or, is it?

As I pointed out in my past two blogposts, SEO Sorts ‘Em Out, parts 1 & 2, the rules for SEO have changed drastically in the past 5 years.  Of course, that’s the nature of the SEO beast, in that the search engines change their algorithms regularly to make sure that wily professionals like me can’t game the system.  The bad news is that this weights the game in favor of the big guys, since large companies can out-produce any mom and pop firm when it comes to creating content by the boatload.   The good news is that there are still ways around the SEO bottleneck that every small concern can capitalize on.

Yahoo for YouTube

One of the best weapons that everyone can employ is YouTube.  The problem is the way in which most small businesses employ it.  By that, I mean that all too many small concerns think that creating and posting a TV-style advertisement is going to get them into the game.  What they don’t understand is that there is a big difference between viewing habits on YouTube versus the Boob Tube.

 On TV, there are people who will sit through a 30-minute infomercial without batting an eye.  On YouTube, short, punchy videos that deliver 90 percent content and 10 percent advertisement is the way to go.  Want to sell a widget online?  Don’t create a used car ad with a Billy Mays look alike whose job it is to scream out your advertising copy.  Online you are much better at coming up with a series of videos that portray the lighter side of widget use. 

Case in Point would have to be the Orabrush.  This device at first glance sounds like a toothbrush, but it’s not.  What the Orabrush is, is the world’s first tongue brush.  Invented by Robert Wagstaff, the device languished on the shelf until his firm created a series of humorous YouTube videos that have currently been seen by more than forty million viewers.  (Check out my video below for a better take on this concept.)

Make Them Laugh Til They Buy

What works for the Orabrush can also work for you.  Or, you can take the concept one step further and create your own Web TV show that showcases your business.  For instance, my firm currently has a client that sells APC UPS backup batteries.  More specifically, they sell the replacement cells for these batteries.  When I spoke to the VP of marketing for the company, I asked him if they had ever done any videos on the subject.  “Only one,” he told me.  

Keying in the term APC Battery Backup into YouTube, I found his video (which can be seen below) which shows the viewer how to swap out the cell in a particular model.  Sounds about as interesting as watching paint dry, doesn’t it?  Surprisingly, this video has racked up nearly 46,000 views in two years, which is not an insignificant number.  Pointing this fact out to the VP, I told him that there was obviously an audience to be tapped on YouTube.  However, I also pointed out that while viewers would not be averse to seeing the occasional how-to video, in order to sustain interest and build a large audience, we would need to get a little more creative.

Thus was born the idea for the APC Battery Boys, a web TV series that is currently in preproduction.  (Stay tuned for the February launch of this series.) More of a gadgets and gizmos show, the APC Battery Boys is going to investigate the world of batteries and more importantly battery powered gadgets, some off the shelf and some DIY.  The sponsor will be able to enjoy product placement shots in virtually every episode, plus promos by the shows three cast members.  Shot on a shoestring budget, this is exactly the kind of grassroots programming that makes for must-see online TV

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YouTube to Google in One Easy step

Not only can this concept be used to mine YouTube for a growing and receptive audience of prospects, with a little tweaking it can also generate a page one result on Google.  Since Google owns YouTube, it is always searching for what is known as “mixed media,” not the least of which are YouTube videos.  And since Google only puts one or two videos on the first or second page of most web searches, if you can get your video picked up by the search engine, then you more or less own this search, since it is a fact that people are five times more likely to click on a video than a website link.

So if you, like billions of other people worldwide, are gaga for Google, go the extra yard and start producing videos that can go a long way toward generating more exposure and building a receptive audience online for your growing business.

If you are looking for assistance in shaping and shooting a promo or web TV series for your growing firm, give Carl Weiss a call at 904-234-6007.  Carl Weiss operates http://jacksonville-video-production.com a leading producer of web-based video programming and marketing.  He can also be heard live every Tuesday at 4pm at http://blogtalkradio.com with his Working the Web to Win online radio show.