Telling you video is huge is a bit redundant at this stage, however… video is huge.

The question you need to be asking yourself isn’t “should I be using video,” but “how do I get the most out of putting my videos online.”

That’s where this great sticky tips on videos comes in handy, compliments of Webproworld.

Your videos are found via “clues on the page” where your video file is embedded. The discussion does cover both hosting videos on third party web sites like Viddler and the all-famous YouTube and the pros and cons of self-hosted videos.

Spreading your videos around is also a good thing. We’ve found that while you could host the video yourself, viewing times are greatly “speeded up” for your viewer when they are hosted on sites optimized for video viewing.

In addition, pick your third party hosting sites carefully. For example, should you choose Viddler, you are able to edit the title (use your keyword in the title), provide a (keyword rich) description, and tag it. YouTube is great, but at the moment spots like Viddler top our list. And, search engines pick up your video very quickly!

Here’s a bit more about optimizing your video online, condensed, of what you’ll find when you visit the Webproworld forum link above:

1. Sitemaps …video sitemaps are a recommended way to give Google information about the video content of your site…

2. RSS Feeds …Google loves to crawl RSS feeds of various types, and this includes RSS feeds that focus on video content…

3. Metadata …metadata is the best source for search engines to determine what your video is about…

4. Provide a transcript …embedding a transcript in the video viewing page will provide the search engines with a wealth of content to index…

5. Optimize the video page …where the video is embedded focusing on the key topics of the video. Context seems to be an important factor…

6. Use friendly URLs …provide the search engines with additional clues as to the relevant topics of the video.

7. Be consistent when distributing your video …this will give you more opportunities to show up for your target term…

8. Prepare for the future of video search …By taking these steps now, your videos can remain relevant as search engines improve their scanning and indexing capabilities.

Again, a trip to the forum is in order to fill in the gaps of what I did not include.

Also, the responses to this sticky post on video optimization are worth the read.

Not everyone is prepared to jump on the video bandwagon at the moment, but arming yourself to use this immensely popular form of internet and social media marketing in the future is a sure winner.

Related articles

• Netvibes: The new social media dashboard (vator.tv)
• YouTube Video Alerts For Your Inbox (performancing.com)
• Viewzi Launches Site Search (centernetworks.com)
• Sitemap Submission Made Simple (googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com)

Quite a while back, when Qassia first announced itself to the social media community and internet world at large, we did a post about it.

There’s a lot more substance to this post, I swear, so click to (more…)

Sometimes I wonder about myself. I start at Point A only to arrive many clicks later at Point Z – which ultimately ends up providing me with the inspiration for my next post (even when I don’t find what I was really looking for!). Today is no exception.

I’m a regular subscriber to WebProNews and have been for years. Strangely enough I’ve seen “authority figures” poo-poo WPN in their forums, but I can tell you that the insights I get far outweigh the times where the information is intriguing albeit short of the mark. Doesn’t happen often, but some writers just don’t give you the full scoop. Whether their plan is to write more, or just provide surface-level research, I do not know. I have also read article bits and posts where I downright disagreed with the writer.

But that’s what makes WPN so interesting, and, more often than not, I get great input and ideas.

That said (that’s not an intentional plug, but will explain the convolution of the rest of this post nicely) that’s how today started out. (more…)

One of our “tenets” in our tag line for this blog includes “hot topic news” and this most certainly fits the bill. Please read on!

I must be having withdrawal symptoms since my favorite MSNBC news shows air only Monday through Friday. So it’s digging deep into our local, “switch sides every other day” (sound familiar?) local newspaper, The Las Vegas Review Journal that grabbed my attention this morning.

Actually much of the following – other than my own two cents – comes from a section of the paper, the Las Vegas Sun (don’t ask me what their relationship is – but the one does stick in parts of the other). And, just so you know up front, the Las Vegas Sun endorses Obama.

The first tidbit I’d like to share is along the lines of “is wealth distributed properly in this country.”

Here’s a shocker for all us working “Joes and Janes” (thanks Palin) – from Sunday’s Parade Magazine:

(more…)

Not that long ago, it was acceptable to stumble one’s own post to get the ball rolling in Stumbleupon. However, the rules of the game are changing as detailed here:

StumbleUpon Has Updated Its Algorithms

If by chance you have been found wanting by the SU team, never fear there is a way to get back into their good graces. Here’s just a few excerpts from the post (linked above): (more…)