More than two-thirds (67%) of Americans online have streamed or downloaded digital video content from the Internet, reports Ipsos MediaCT in its recent MOTION study. Furthermore, Nielsen reports a 25% year-over-year increase in total online video streams viewed and a matching increase in online video time per viewer.
With this high-level—and growing—interest in online video, chances are good that adding video content to your blog will help you reach a wider audience and raise awareness of your company and brand. Are you ready to give video a try?
Sample business how-to video from YouTube
You Have Options
Adding video to your blog sounds harder to do than it is. First, you need to decide on your source for video content. Do you have existing video that you’d like to repurpose for your blog? Have you discovered content on one of the hosting sites (e.g., YouTube, Hulu, Yahoo!) that your audience will find interesting or useful? Or, do you want to create an original video, either by producing it in house or by hiring a professional video production company?
By far, the easiest option (and what we’ll cover in this post) is to embed video content from one of the hosting sites into your blog, which is what I did to include the sample how-to video in this post. Let’s take a look at the few steps it takes to add a YouTube video to your blog.
How to Embed a Video
First, find the video that you’d like to include in your post. YouTube offers a search function, categories of videos that you can browse through and a Featured Videos list to help you find useful video content for your audience. You’ll know whether the creator permits the video to be embedded in other blogs and Web sites if you find a URL and Embed code alongside the video. (If you don’t see this information, don’t use the video.)
Most blogging platforms now include built-in functionality that lets you easily insert media. If that’s the case for you, simply click the insert-embedded-media icon (e.g., a “strip-of-film” icon), provide the requested information and click Insert.
If your blogging application doesn’t include this functionality, you’ll need to insert the Embed code into the HTML source code for your blog page. (Don’t fret—this isn’t hard to do!) Begin by selecting and copying the Embed code provided with the video. Next, in your blog editor, switch to the HTML source code view and paste the Embed code wherever you want the video to appear in your post.
That’s it! Most of the time, you’ll also want to include at least a short commentary about why your audience will be interested in this video—the story it tells, the problem it solves or who they’ll be watching. And, by including some text in your post, you’ll also be able to optimize your post for the search engines.
What Are the Benefits?
Including video in your blog isn’t the be-all, end-all, and it isn’t appropriate for every business. Whether to incorporate video into your blog really comes back to your audience and its preferences for receiving useful information. When used effectively, the benefits of adding video content to your blog are many. Video content lets you
With this high-level—and growing—interest in online video, chances are good that adding video content to your blog will help you reach a wider audience and raise awareness of your company and brand. Are you ready to give video a try?
Sample business how-to video from YouTube
You Have Options
Adding video to your blog sounds harder to do than it is. First, you need to decide on your source for video content. Do you have existing video that you’d like to repurpose for your blog? Have you discovered content on one of the hosting sites (e.g., YouTube, Hulu, Yahoo!) that your audience will find interesting or useful? Or, do you want to create an original video, either by producing it in house or by hiring a professional video production company?
By far, the easiest option (and what we’ll cover in this post) is to embed video content from one of the hosting sites into your blog, which is what I did to include the sample how-to video in this post. Let’s take a look at the few steps it takes to add a YouTube video to your blog.
How to Embed a Video
First, find the video that you’d like to include in your post. YouTube offers a search function, categories of videos that you can browse through and a Featured Videos list to help you find useful video content for your audience. You’ll know whether the creator permits the video to be embedded in other blogs and Web sites if you find a URL and Embed code alongside the video. (If you don’t see this information, don’t use the video.)
Most blogging platforms now include built-in functionality that lets you easily insert media. If that’s the case for you, simply click the insert-embedded-media icon (e.g., a “strip-of-film” icon), provide the requested information and click Insert.
If your blogging application doesn’t include this functionality, you’ll need to insert the Embed code into the HTML source code for your blog page. (Don’t fret—this isn’t hard to do!) Begin by selecting and copying the Embed code provided with the video. Next, in your blog editor, switch to the HTML source code view and paste the Embed code wherever you want the video to appear in your post.
That’s it! Most of the time, you’ll also want to include at least a short commentary about why your audience will be interested in this video—the story it tells, the problem it solves or who they’ll be watching. And, by including some text in your post, you’ll also be able to optimize your post for the search engines.
What Are the Benefits?
Including video in your blog isn’t the be-all, end-all, and it isn’t appropriate for every business. Whether to incorporate video into your blog really comes back to your audience and its preferences for receiving useful information. When used effectively, the benefits of adding video content to your blog are many. Video content lets you
- Educate your audience in a different way
- Reach different online channels than you ordinarily do
- Put a face on your business
- Appeal to a broad audience
- Raise awareness of your brand
- Stimulate comments and conversation
- Increase time spent on your blog and return visitors
- Differentiate yourself from your competition
Comments for Show and Tell by Adding Video to Your Blog