Recently I have noticed an increase in the number of websites allowing to edit videos online. Below is an overview of some of the applications I have found to see what they offer in the hope to discover any positive potential.

Youtube video editor

I first took notice when Youtube launched their video editor where you can create a new video based on exisiting videos in your channel or from a creative commons list. Later Youtube released a more advanced editor where you can colour correct, trim, rotate, stablise and add new audio to existing content from your channel. Pretty nifty idea as it gives those who lack any form of decent NLE (non linear editor) software to adjust and improve their footage.

Magisto

I then recently discovered Magisto. A website that claims to do all the hard work for you. All you have to do is upload a video or two, it will then scan the footage and select the best moments from it for you. Before you upload and hand over your footage to the Magisto wizards, you get the privilege of selecting from a list of inappropriate and gimmicky music to accompany your new masterpiece.

And that’s about as much control as you get. Your video is edited to Magistos liking with some random transitions you didn’t know where going to be included. The video is then nicely rounded off with a Magisto branded outro.

Credit where its due, I uploaded a test video of a bird I filmed that was perched on a tree that eventually flew away. Magisto scanned my footage and took the close up of the bird flying away as an interesting moment to use. Well done Magisto. But I can’t help but wonder, why be so automated, why not present a few clips to the author that Magisto thinks could be suitable to use. This will keep the process fast and hassle free, but gives the author a chance to have some say over what is shown in the final video.

Youtube Video Creator

This got me to research further where I explored the Create Video option on Youtube. I have seen the link so many times but never needed to visit it. I was surprised to see what was available. Below is a quick run down of each of the apps.

• GoAnimate - You’re presented with a series of options to make a video in about 10mins. You first choose your skit, the background scenery, choice of 2 characters, then you type in the dialogue and you’re done. But if you want to have a wider selection of characters and scenery, or want to have more than 10 lines of dialogue, then you have to upgrade to GoPlus.
• Xtranormal Movie Maker - Exactly the same as GoAnimate, except its CG instead of 2D animation. Again if you want more options you have to pay.
• Stupeflix - I personally think this is the most useful option from this list. It offers a timeline for you to upload images, videos, maps and audio, complete with control on adding titles and transitions. The Scrapbook template is ideal for those who may want to share and present some holiday snaps.
• One True Media – In it’s simplest form it’s a pretty good video editor with a simple timeline to control the order of clips. On top of that you can spice up your videos by adding some stock effects, transitions and music. You can then have the pleasure of adding the video to your Youtube channel as well as ordering a copy to have on DVD
• Vlix - Purely used for effects, there’s no video editing here. You can add a variety of colour filters, and then you have a selection of effects such as slow motion, stop motion, reverse, fast forward and of course the ability to add stars and sparkles. The colour filters are pretty good when watching the demos. But you can’t preview the effect on your footage until you publish it.

Discuss

I’m interested to learn more and find out what other people think. I have left some points of discussion below for starters.

• What are the pros and cons?
• Are there people that actually use any of these online editors?
• Will some of these online editors spawn a new kind of templated/cookie cutter type videos that we will instantly recognise?
• Will this destroy creativity or inspire people to invest in more powerful software to achieve their vision?
• Are there any other online editors that I am unaware of that are better?

Crowd funding is a means to get funding from people pooling together to support your project. Typically you would be familiar with this collaboration when donating to a disaster relief for example. But in the past few years, online crowd funding platforms have risen and are starting to gain popularity specifically for the creative industry.

Kickstarter

Kickstarter is an online crowd funding platform, where people from all around the world can pledge to donate and fund your project, usually with some kind of incentive for them to contribute.

Each project is essentially a pitch which will generally include videos, images and as much information as possible to sell the project. Then there is the goal amount with a deadline, followed by a list of incentives for each person who contributes x amount.

Kickstarter examples

Below are two projects that have succeeded in gaining funding.

Molly Crabapple’s Week in Hell

Molly Crabapple is an artist who wants to undergo a project to celebrate her 28th birthday. She wants to lock herself away for 5 days in a rented room, covering the walls with paper and then spending the time to fill every inch of that paper with art.

There will be a live feed of this ‘performance’, and those who pledge to support her project can in return own a piece of the finish artwork.

Pogo: Remixing the world

Nick Bertke aka Pogo, is a musician of sorts who dissects sounds from films and TV shows and remixes them into a musical composition. Nick has used Kickstarter to help him embark on a quest to remix the world. He has already tested the water by doing remixes of sounds in his mothers garden, and self funding trips to New York and Johannesburg. But for him to carry on this journey he has approached Kickstarter for help.

Kickstarter paves the way for anyone with an interesting idea to be able to get the support they need directly from the target market to achieve.

Unfortunately Kickstarter is only open to US residents at the moment, but they say they are working hard to open it to more countries. So for us in the UK, we may still need to find other alternatives to fund our creative projects.

There are other alternatives to Kickstarter, they all follow the same system and tender towards the creative industry, but It does seem though that although some of these sites are open for international use, they are primarily populated by people from the US.

• Rockethub - Open to International 
• Indiegogo - Open to International 
• Pozible - Open to International – Mostly Australian users
• Pledgemusic - Open to International  - Aimed at musicians
• Sponsume - Open to International  - Mostly UK users
• Invested in- Open to International

Kickstarter seems to be more successful and popular out of the lot. It took me quite some time to find a similar site that was more open to people from the UK. The only one I found is Sponsume, but due to it not being as recognisable and as popular as Kickstarter, it would likely take longer to get the funding you need due to its comparably smaller user base, you can see this just by browsing the site and seeing projects failing and not achieving its target funding. It’s unfortunate that Kickstarter is limited to US residents, but should do very well once it opens up to International use.

Crowd funding is a new concept that the UK hasn’t seem to have grasped just yet, but if you’re having trouble finding support for your new creative project it might be worth giving crowd funding a go.

• http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/04/using-kickstarter-for-business_pagen_2.html
• http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/kickstarter-week-in-hell/
• http://mashable.com/2011/06/18/kickstarter-versus-grants-for-artists/
• http://www.pogomix.net/

The iconic 'Man in the Moon' from 'A trip to the Moon' (Le voyage dans la Lune) 1902

Sometimes referred to as the First Cinemagician, George Méliés (December 8th, 1861 – January 21, 1938) is well known for his innovation in the use of special effects in film.

George Méliés was a magician turned filmmaker after seeing a demonstration of the Lumière brother’s camera – A camera they invented that was small and light in weight, which meant it can be transported and set up easily – ideal for filming. From his background as a magician he understood the art of illusion which gave him a different perspective on how to approach film than other film-makers of that time. His fascination made him famous in cinema history for many technical and narrative achievements. He became a master of a technique called mise-en-scene, which in French means, “putting into the scene”. Originally used in theatre, mise-en-scene for film signifies the director’s control of everything that goes into a composition of a shot.

“Méliès’ mise-en-scene enabled him to create a totally imaginary world on film.”

(BORDWELL, D. THOMPSON, K. 2004)

Matte Painting background from A trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la Lune)

Méliés utilised a wide range of techniques in his films, as well as inventing some of his own special effects (sometimes accidentally!).

It is believed that he accidentally discovered the stop-trick/substitution effect when his first camera jammed during filming. After fixing the jam and the action resumed, he realized that he had inadvertently discovered a neat camera trick, causing objects to change position (a man changed into a woman, and a bus changed into a hearse).

Using matte paintings Méliès created the illusion of depth, and using miniatures he was able to send astronomers to the moon in his 1902 film A trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la Lune). What Méliès achieved with his special effects paved the way for what we see today.

Some of the effects Méliés discovered (below) are still in use today.

• Stop trick/Substitution -  It occurs when an object is filmed, then while the camera is off, the object is moved out of sight of the camera, then the camera is turned back on. When the film is watched it thus seems to the viewer that object disappears.
• Multiple exposures -  A multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more individual exposures to create a single photograph. The exposure values may or may not be identical to each other.
• Time-lapse photography – A technique where photos are taken over a long period of time, with a long interval between each frame/shot. The footage is then played back at a standard frame rate. This technique has been commonly used to film flowers growing and opening.
• Dissolves – A gradual transition from one image to another.

A Trip to the Moon/Le Voyage dans la lune (1902)

A Trip to the Moon is a science fiction film which uses a lot of special effects. It also features the iconic man in the moon with a crashed rocket in his eye

This film is loosely based on ‘From the Earth to the Moon’ by Jules Verne and ‘The First Men in the Moon’ by H/G Wells. It runs for 14 minutes at 16 frames per second (this was the standard frame rate at that time).

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

References in Pop Culture

The Smashing Pumpkins – Tonight Tonight

Tonight, Tonight is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins, where the music video pays homage to many of George Méliés’ films and style.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

The Mighty Boosh

The Mighty Boosh is a british comedy show which features ‘The Moon’ as a character in series 2 and 3. The moon has a strong resemblance of the Man in the Moon from Méliés’ ‘A trip to the moon’.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Conclusion

George Méliés was an important figure in film-making history, his works and innovations have contributed and paved the way to how we use special effects today. If he were still around today, would he still be the visual genius he was, or would he be lost with the amount of readily available resources to hand. As back then film-making was still a new medium and resources were not as accessible as today, so with these limitations and his background as a magician taught him how to create illusions. So if he were around today, would he still be a visual genius that he was by having so few restrictions?

With only limited resources back then and film-making being a new medium, just imagine what he could achieve with the readily available resources we have today

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s
• http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA3C77F17405A7423 - George Melies Youtube playlist
• http://youtu.be/oYRemE9Oeso – a trip to the moon
• http://youtu.be/NOG3eus4ZSo – smashing pumpkins – tonight tonight
• http://youtu.be/qbnZNJptWEQ – The moon from mighty boosh
• Film Art – An Introduction – pages 177-179, 467-468, 291, 243-245
• The Overuse and Consistency of Digital Effects in Film – Matthew Creed – 2007 Dissertation

Ok Go

Who are Ok Go?

Ok Go are a US rock band who released their debut album in 2002 along with the  single ‘”Get Over It” which debuted at no 21 in the UK singles chart. But it wasn’t until they released the video for ‘A Million Ways’ from their second album ‘Oh No’ that the band gained in popularity. The video for ‘A Million Ways’ featured the band doing a choreographed dance in their backyard. The video was released in August 2005, just 7 months after the birth of Youtube. A year later the video had been downloaded over 9 million times making it the most downloaded music video ever.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

in July 2006 they released the video for ‘Here it goes again’ – another choreographed dance but on treadmills (now probably the video people first think of when they heard Ok Go). Within 6 days the video was viewed over 1 million times.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

All is not lost

For the new single ‘All is not lost‘ they teamed up with Google and made an interactive video using HTML 5 (Just in the same way Arcade Fire did recently for ‘We Used To Wait‘).

The video is like a kaliedescope of limbs as the camera is placed under a transparent floor looking up at the band and other dancers. The HTML5 version of the video lets you write in a message that the band spell out with their feet (see image on the right) There is a Youtube version as well but it doesn’t have the interactivity.

Their secret to success?

Since the success of these videos, Ok Go have continued a tradition of releasing creative videos each generating an enormous amount of views, each video going a step further than the previous. So what’s their secret? Anyone can (and have done so) film themselves dancing about and making rube goldberg machines, so why does it work for Ok Go? If you look at all their videos, they show that you don’t need a big budget to make something entertaining. Each video is done so that anyone who is willing to put in the time and effort can recreate them – granted you may need to a big room to spare and to call in some favours from friends, but if you’re willing to find a bunch of household items and visit the scrapyard, you too can create their video for ‘This Too Shall Pass’.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

The key factors of all this is the human element, the innovation, the long shots, the single takes and the belief that you can also create a similar video. Also when was the last time you saw a band dedicated to making sure each video is as creative and entertaining as the last? All these attributes combined have become part of Ok Go’s brand identity, they don’t repeat ideas, they push and twist them into something new.

Their secret to success is them as a band/a group of friends/a bunch of people with a passion to be creative, innovative and have as much fun as possible.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at this playlist of their music videos and you will see that what they do is surely a labour of love.

References

• http://goo.gl/YC32f – All is not lost – JC version
• http://www.okgo.net/
• http://mashable.com/2010/11/28/viral-music-video-how-to/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK_Go
• http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ok-go-explain-viral-video-woes-in-new-york-times-op-ed-20100222
• http://socialtimes.com/ok-go-videos_b27807
• http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/10/22/okgo.viral.video/index.html?eref=rss_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+Most+Recent%29
• http://blog.videoagency.com/uncategorized/ok-go-as-a-master-class-in-viral-marketing/
• http://www.myrppl.com/ok-go-have-some-fun

But now it seems that I may have been flattering myself a little. While reading Keri Smith’s blog Anti-Advertising Crusade Marches On I realised that, actually, I’m pretty ignorant to most of it. Not because I’m not interested, but for the simple reason that my poor little brain just can’t deal with it all!

According to research by Yankelovich, the average urban dweller in a rich nation is exposed to around 5,000 ads on a daily basis.

KAPITAAL, a Dutch animation commissioned by the Graphic Design Museum and created by Studio Smack shows how…

Award-winning Typo-Animation that gives you a clear impression of the enormous amount of visual stimuli that plague us every day. Due to the immense scale of the visual bombardment, the commercial effectiveness has become utterly dubious.

From my time as a psychology student, I know a little about memory and attention. Without going into too much detail, I’ll share a paragraph from my final paper (which was 49 pages, by the way – just be glad you don’t have to read it all).

There are certain limits on human information processing, as our sensors are constantly being bombarded with incoming stimuli, like images, sounds and smells, but we have a very limited capacity to process these stimuli. We cannot simultaneously pay attention to all of the sensory information that we are receiving, and have to select some to concentrate on, while ignoring others. Selective attention refers to the capacity to maintain a behavioral or cognitive set when presented with distracting or competing stimuli – incorporating the notion of ‘freedom from distractibility’. For example, we are able to stand in a crowded, noisy room with many people talking at once, but can easily concentrate on a conversation with just one person. Some psychologists believe that there is a sort of filter, which only allows the attended message to pass through, and filters out the non-attended message. Divided attention, on the other hand, refers to the ability to respond simultaneously to multiple tasks or multiple task demands. It is suggested that we are more capable of dividing our attention between two tasks when the tasks themselves are different (the less similar, the more we are able to do them simultaneously), with practice, so that a skill may become ‘automatic’, and that the tasks are not difficult. Most psychologists agree that there is a limit to the number of things we can do simultaneously.

So it’s little wonder that we can’t possibly take in every advert we see when we walk into HMV, or venture down into the depths of the tube.

The question is, if there’s so much advertising around us that we can’t take it all in, what’s the point? As the video description says; ‘due to the immense scale of the visual bombardment, the commercial effectiveness has become utterly dubious.’ Yep. But what are they going to do? Take it in turns? I have an image of Richard Branson, Peter Andre and Ronald McDonald sitting around a table fighting over timetables. Don’t ask me why it’s them. Maybe I saw an ad today.

Coldplay use projection Mapping on the Pyramid Stage as a finale to their set.

Coldplay headlined Glastonbury 2011 with a blistering visual set that can only be described as an explosion of colour from beginning to end. They finished their headline set by projecting visuals onto the famous Pyramid Stage (see video here), making them the first band to bring the stage to life using projection mapping. It was after watching this on TV that made me want to write this new visual medium that seems to be growing in popularity.

For those unfamiliar, a quick wiki search defines it as “3D projection is any method of mapping three-dimensional points to a two-dimensional plane”

My first encounter with 3D projection mapping was from watching Envisions Sensory Box video (see embed below). This video was merely an experimental installation by Alcatel-Lucent for their customers at the last Mobile World Congress based on the tagline: Transforming the Mobile Experience.

When I watched this, I was completely blown away. The idea of this medium seemed so simple and opened up so many possibilities that I was eager to see more and hopefully experience for myself.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

So if you can transform ordinary boxes into a cityscape, what can you do with an actual building? Well many advertisers were quick to find out, as they transformed entire buildings into a visual delight. I can only advise you watch the videos below to see the incredible visuals they created.

Advertising

3D Projection Mapping promoting The Tourist.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Hyundai Accent 3D projection mapping on to building.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

Toyota Auris Hybrid: ‘Get Your Energy Back’ 3D projection mapping on to car.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

The Hyundai Accent and the H&M video were fun and made it an event for promoting their new product. I’d happily venture out at night if there was going to be a visual display of that calibre on show.

But as amazing as these look, at times it seems a bit of a gimmick just to show off the technology. When I first watched the video for The Tourist, I was bemused as to how this related to the film it was trying to promote. The visuals were an absolute joy to watch but felt totally unrelated to the film apart from showing a trailer and a few forced fed photos of the actors. Because of this it kept pulling me out and disrupting the experience for me.

Concerts

Advertisers are not the only ones using this medium. Musicians have begun using it for their live shows. I got my first live experience of this when I saw Muse at Wembley Stadium in 2010. Their bizarre stage set up was seemingly built  for this visual experience.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Some of my favourite memories of this show included the visuals. There were many times that I stopped focusing on the band only to watch the incredible visuals transforming the stage as if it were reacting to the music on its own.It really did heighten the experience of an already visual band.

After watching Coldplays use of projection mapping at Glastonbury, it excites me trying to imagine the possibilities of what other artists will do to transform the legendary stage in the future. I just hope it doesn’t get old too quick.

Thoughts..

I’m excited at the possibilities of this medium, especially in the live music area. But like all new technology, it will be used for the sake of showing off and used out of context or done poorly, but from amongst them will be those that will heighten your experience and leave you with that wow factor.

What are your thoughts on projection mapping? Is it a gimmick or is it a visual experience? What and where do you think are its best uses?

Want to see more examples?

• Roger Waters performing Run Like Hell on The Wall 2011 tour
• Bombay sapphire – Projection on Battersea Power Station
• H&M projection mapping onto building in Amsterdam

Ceri Dz uses video to teach and share his royal icing techniques.

One of the benefits of using online video is being able to build trust and rapport with your customers. This is done by communicating with customers on a new, interactive level.

This is just as powerful as being recommended by word of mouth – someone who has had first hand experience of your product or service trusts you enough to recommend you to others, knowing that you will provide a good service for them. So by using video online effectively, you can demonstrate and talk about your product or service, generating that first hand experience to a wider audience.

Interaction

Online videos are generally hosted on a video distribution site like Youtube, Vimeo, metacafe, dailymotion etc. Each of these have social engagement facilities that allow viewers to leave feedback, by leaving a comment, rating the video or by using buttons to automatically share the video on their chosen social network.

This gives the chance to interact with the audience. You can reply back to any feedback within the comments, and your next video could even be a response to that feedback, thus shaping and moulding yourself into something that people want to see and involving them in your online marketing.

Case Study: Ceri. Dz

We worked with Ceri.Dz to help him produce a series of online video tutorials. Not only are these videos sharing his expertise for free, but they are also serving as an advertisement for his business. Viewers are able to get a taster of his classes from the quality of the video tutorial, as well as getting a feel for his personality and teaching style.

By doing these videos, Ceri.Dz immediately appears as an expert in his field, from the confidence in his delivery and the quality of his demonstrations. People are able to look upon these videos with trust in his knowledge and expertise.

Related links

• Ceri.Dz
• Ceri.Dz Youtube Channel
• Video: A marketing tool

Listen to your audience

So why not pick up a camera (or talk to us!), start talking to your audience about your product or service, and let them see who’s behind the brand. Look at feedback and comments from your followers and include it in your next video.  By listening to your target market, they will shape you and help you evolve into a business that they can trust and be a part of.

References

• http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/04/15/adage-cmo-video/
• http://www.theuniversitykid.com/why-you-suck-youre-not-using-video-for-affiliate-marketing/
• http://dealervideoads.com/landing/?page_id=464
• http://ezinearticles.com/?Practical-Online-Marketing-Tips:-Build-Your-List-Fast-Using-Online-Video&id=5353227
• http://www.johnchow.com/7-ways-to-build-trust-with-your-blog-readers/
• http://resources.mediatrust.org/events/digital-revolution/youtube-using-video-to-enhance-your-campaigns/
• http://www.tacticalexecution.com/2008/06/using-video-to-grow-your-business/
• http://www.fairfaxvideostudio.com/blog/why-is-online-video-so-powerful-for-marketing-your-business.cfm
• http://glenhopkins.name/articles/how_to_use_video_to_generate_more_sales.html

Rebecca Black became an online sensation for her music video about 'Friday'.

What is a viral video?

The term ‘viral video’ is the name given to a video that has become popular on the Internet, after being shared across many websites and social networks. You will have come across it many times, probably without realising, as someone posts a new youtube video onto your Facebook wall.  One of the first videos I remember pre-Youtube that became viral was the Numa Numa guy, followed by the Star Wars Kid. Now in the Youtube generation, videos are easier to find and share. Lately the most popular videos that have gone viral have been Rebecca Black – Friday, a variety of wedding dance videos and anything related to Justin Beiber.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

The Old Spice guy

But how and why have they gone viral?

Most of the people featured in these videos have become Youtube celebrities, some even managing to make a career out of making videos on this social platform. So how can business’ tap into this potential for worldwide exposure?

There have been studies to determine whether there is a formula to achieve a viral video. Upon researching this, some studies claim there are similarities between the top performers, and believe that by including certain elements a video will achieve success, such as:

• Originality. Does what it says on the tin. Create original videos that could end up spawning copycats. See OldSpice who created a one take moving shot, with fantastic dialogue and execution.
• Natural: People being themselves. One of the most popular trends involve babies laughing or young children being themselves: See Charlie Bit my Finger – again!
• Fun: A fun video, that looked like it was also fun to make, really pays off in the finished product: See FreddieW: Flower Warfare
• Shocking: Surprising the viewer by having something unexpectedly amazing happen. See Robot Dancer
• Bad: A video so bad that you want to show others how bad it is. See Rebecca Black who became a Youtube sensation by having a music video made with the most terrible lyrics.
• Cats: Cats are popular on the Internet. See Funny Cats

As much as we may agree with some of this, it still doesn’t guarantee viral success. Some videos are picked up from the start, but thousands of new videos go unnoticed daily.

What are your favourite viral videos? Leave a comment below.

Plan for viral, but don’t expect it.

No one can predict or set out to succeed in making a viral video. There have been studies to work out a formula, but truth be told, there isn’t one. Just a series of coincidences in similarity. What we do believe in, is thoroughly preparing your video to aid in its exposure and online visibility, by making sure we do the following:

• Ensuring content is engaging and entertaining
• Making it accessible for a wide range of platforms; smartphones, tv, website embedding
• Encouraging user interaction with comments, ratings and sharing
• Optimising metadata; titles, descriptions, tags
• Relating with currents trends/memes – If relevant

It’s a race to the top, with so many videos competing to be seen. By following a procedure to ensure that the final video is of a high quality, with engaging and entertaining content that effectively represents a clients brand, and then optimising it to increase its online visibility, can a video get a chance of going viral?

We can’t guarantee a viral campaign, but we can produce a high quality video that reflects your brand and helps with your SEO.

Related posts

Video: A Marketing Tool.

Improve SEO and your online presence using web video.

References

• http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1715544/what-makes-video-viral
• http://techcrunch.com/2007/11/22/the-secret-strategies-behind-many-viral-videos/
• http://videoproductiontips.com/online-videos/what-makes-a-video-go-viral/
• http://www.pr2020.com/page/what-makes-a-video-go-viral
• http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Makes-a-Video-Go-Viral?-The-Tips-and-Tricks-You-Need-to-Know&id=5282942
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_YouTube_personalities

Use Youtube Insights to monitor your video's SEO

You probably already know what SEO is, if not, here is a quick definition from Wikipedia:

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. [Wikipedia definition]

Now we’ve cleared that up, adding video to your web page is an extension to using traditional SEO. Like images, video appears in search engine results, but unlike images, video can be optimised to improve its ranking.

How video optimisation works

Just like you would on a web page, it’s about getting as many keywords in without spamming. Search engines are clever and can pick up when content is being spammed. So when it comes to optimising video, it’s down to writing good copy that utilises the keywords you want the search engines to use.

Search engines are unable to extract any keywords from the video itself, but they do crawl the data from the video title, description, tags, geo-location, user rating and comments. It’s also worth noting that a highly rated video also improves its search engine rankings ahead of any of other videos that might also fit the search query.

Video Optimisation tips

• Be as descriptive as possible in the video title. Say what the video is about, making sure to incorporate appropriate keywords. This will not only aid search engines but will also encourage more people to view your video over a video that has a vague title.
• Enable user comments and ratings. This gives the opportunity for communication between users and yourself. This may need to be monitored to filter out any spam or inappropriate comments, but generally those who leave any feedback are more likely to take further action; be it sharing the video or purchasing your product or service, at the very least they are improving your search rankings.
• Add a transcript of the video. As search engines can’t read the content of the video itself, by adding a transcript into the description field you give search engines a better understanding of your video’s content.
• Thumbnails. Some video sites let you upload a thumbnail of the video whereas others like Youtube will select 3 from your video to choose. Try to choose the most interesting image that will give a feel for what your video is about, while encouraging people to view it.
• Use appropriate keywords. When adding tags and keywords to the title and description of the video, make sure they are relevant to the content and your brand. Also make sure to include ‘video’ as a keyword, as people will search for “something something video” as a query.
• Implement a linking strategy. Link to your video from other sites: embed it on your website or blog, share it on social networks, embed it on other relevant sites for your business. The more links back to your video, the better its search engine ranking. Search engines depend on the number and quality of the links to determine the credibility of the video.
• Use multiple video sites. Don’t rely on just Youtube to host your video; there are many more that you can use on to increase your online visibility. By using TubeMogul, you can upload just one video and it distribute it to mulitple video sites all at once.
• Produce content worth watching. After all your SEO and hard work, it will all go to waste if the content is not worth watching. Encourage people to action on your video by making an engaging video that will strengthen and do your brand justice.

Benefits of Web Video SEO

Just to reiterate; a successfully optimised video will:

• Increase conversion rates
• Increase traffic from search engines with an engaging thumbnail image
• Positive user ratings can improve search engine results
• Geo-location increases the chance of being shown in a local search query
• Improve online visibility with high ranking results in search engines and video sites
• Highly rated videos are more likely to be shared across social networks, improving visibility
• Engaging and entertaining content will encourage users to take an action.

References

• http://www.webvideomarketing.org/video_marketing_news.html?cat=Video%20SEO%20and%20SEM&atitle=Video%20SEO%20and%20SEM
• http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Producing-Web-Video-Optimised-For-Seo/2162123
• http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/video-search-optimization.shtml
• http://ezinearticles.com/?50-Benefits-of-Web-Video-and-Video-Email-Marketing&id=3450010
• http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Benefits-Of-Web-Video-Marketing&id=683929
• http://dailyseotip.com/youtube-seo-%E2%80%93-how-to-optimize-youtube-videos-for-seo/786/
• http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/24745.asp
• http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/10/video-seo-basic-tips/
• http://theplatform.com/blog/entry/what_is_good_video_seo_strategy/
• http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/05/search-engine-optimization-for-video.html
• http://www.webseoanalytics.com/blog/the-10-commandments-of-video-marketing/
• http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/10/video-seo-top-google-search/
• http://www.webvidpro.com/our-services/video-seo/