All Entries in the "Video Blogging" Category
Should You Run Videos On Your Blog?
Videos are great content to add to any blog in any niche, but there are some things you should consider before you just go off and start adding video content like crazy wildfire. First, too much can be as detrimental as not enough. For several reasons.
No. 1, the more videos you have on your blog the slower your load time will be. Videos can be a drain on a server, especially if you have limited bandwidth. But there are two ways you can slow your page load time with videos.
- Host the videos on your own server – This requires bandwidth. If you use excessive videos on your site then you’ll slow down your page load time by clogging up your bandwidth. To speed things up again you’ll need to purchase more bandwidth or expand your hosting plan.
- Embed your videos from another site – One popular method of including videos on a site is to embed from another site. YouTube is the most popular video host on the Internet. The problem is whenever you embed a video on your site a web browser must go to that other site to get what it needs to show a video to your site visitor. That takes additional time. Usually, embedding is not a problem but if you have an excessive number of videos on a page then you can expect a slower load time.
If you do use videos, try to stay away from autorun videos. People find them annoying and you’ll lose credibility with your audience quickly. If people leave your site because they find your content annoying they won’t be back.
If videos are the only content on a page you probably don’t have a well optimized web page. That will hurt you in the search engines. Learn how to optimize your video content for search. To do that best, you need relevant supporting text on your web pages and blog posts.
Video content is a good way to attract new readers and keep old readers interested. Just don’t overdo it.
Is Video Blogging Right For You?
That is a little like asking, “do you need a truck?”. The answer will depend on what you hope to achieve from a video blog and whether or not you have the skills required to produce the video.
I know a lot bloggers just don’t feel comfortable with idea of appearing in a video on their blog. In fact many bloggers don’t feel comfortable having a still photo of themselves on their blog. Video blogging is not necessarily about you. Video blogging can include many different topics and can make ideal ‘how to’s’
If you have a particular skill or trade, then video posts could be ideal. Having a short video on how to fix, service or upgrade something will certainly prove to be popular with many visitors who are interested in that topic. There are however a few areas that should be noted when publishing a video post.
First, ignoring the actual quality of the video, how often are you going to post? Many blogs work well with plenty of written content and the occasional video. Other blogs are devoted to videos with little in the way of text. The choice is yours.
If you are going to have the occasional video, are you going to provide a written summary or transcript. Being a scanner, I prefer the written summary. I will only view the video if the summary sells it to me – you have to give me a reason to view the video, after all it takes time to load, time I could be elsewhere.
Time is the third consideration. Will your blog service cope with a 100 visitors all wanting to watch the video? Hosting the video offsite through YouTube or similar is a sensible way to go. The visitor is then receiving the video direct from YouTube and not using any bandwidth from your site.
Without a doubt, video blogging is the future. Are they a part of your future? Only you can tell. One thing you should not do is rush in and produce poor quality videos on topics that have little public interest. Like any blog content, provide some value to your visitor and they will come back for more.
In the meantime, visit as many other blogs as possible and check out their video blogging. Note what works and doesn’t work for you. Learn from their efforts. If you come across a technique that interests you, don’t be afraid to ask. Asking a blogger how they did something is a compliment to them and they will normally provide whatever help they can. Video blogging – it is part of the future. Until your ready, continue to provide the best quality content you can.
BCP is always happy to discuss any of your daily blog content needs if you have difficulties finding that quality content every day.
Is Video Blogging Making A Rise?
Yes, I think we can say that video blogging is starting to rise. In November 2007, there were 9,299 votes cast for 10 nominees for the best video blog in the 2007 Weblog Awards. In 2006, there were 6,434 votes. And in 2004 there wasn’t even a video blog category.
Are these facts in and of themselves evidence that video blogging is on the rise? No. But if you Google “video blog” you’ll find over 100 million results. The top results include some of the biggest names in search – Google has a video blog, AOL has a video blog, and online news source WebProNews has recently started adding video reports to its website. Many bloggers and blog consultants are now starting to experiment with their own video blog posts, such as Michael Martine at Remarkablogger. I think it’s pretty obvious that video blogging is certainly becoming more popular. But will it transform blogging as we know it?
I think the next two years will be a stepping out period for video blogging. I believe you’ll see more video blogs on the rise. There will be good ones, bad ones, and mediocre ones. There will be a lot to learn about video blogging – camera angles, lighting, pacing, scripting, editing, and even SEO. But I don’t think every company online will need a video blog. It will certainly benefit some companies, but it won’t be a necessary element for all. It will be interesting to see how video blogging matures and whether YouTube will be the host of choice for videos that companies put on their blogs.
