SEO and video: get better search results for your book

If you’re an author with a video trailer you’ll want to take full advantage of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques that can be used to enhance awareness of your video with the search engines. Optimization means utilizing keywords and other elements that add terms and tags to make your video more relevant for user searches.

Let’s say that you’ve just written a publication roasting coffee beans. Your SEO efforts would include specific words, like roasting, coffee and book, so that your video would be more likely to appear in Google’s search results. In addition, there are many other SEO steps that you can take to promote your book’s video.

1.  Title

Start with a catchy keyword title. Remember that catchy is different from obscure so try to avoid getting overly creative. Keep it simple and use keywords that can be directly associated with your book, subject matter and general content.

2.  Video Transcript

YouTube is evolving and this is a good thing. Word on the street is that it will begin to use voice recognition to capture audio which will then be made searchable. This will bolster the likelihood of your book video appearing in related searches. This technology is coming down the pipeline so prepare for it now by creating a keyword focused transcript to accompany your video trailer.

3.  Meta Data

Meta data is a fancy term of descriptive keywords, or tags, that are used to find your video book trailer. There are many free online tools available that can help you discover popular and relevant keywords that you can use in your meta data. Use single words, two-word phrases, even three-word phrases. A word of caution on meta data – try to limit your meta data collection to around 16 to 18 word, otherwise you’ll appear to ‘spammy’.

4.  Sharing

Put all your hard SEO work to good use and share your book trailer video on other video sites. Beyond YouTube, there are countless other video sites and uploading to each one can be time consuming. Try using a video distribution service like TubeMogul to get your SEO video out to the masses.

5.  Syndicate

Publicize your video by using RSS feeds like Blinkx. Send the URL link to your video and you’re done. Millions of people will now have instant access to your book trailer.

Viral Video For Book Marketing and Book Promotion

Earlier this year, Erik Qualmann’s book Socialnomics created international buzz when its video book trailer went viral. The book offers a fascinating look at the impact of social media on businesses and consumers, but the video does it even better. Hence its viral accomplishment. The questions are how did this video go viral and what has it achieved in doing so.

Understanding the transformation can provide you with some insight on how to take your own video trailer to the masses successfully. First off, the video wasn’t exorbitantly long, just more than four minutes. Although most video attention spans rank at one to two minutes, Socialnomics has a fast paced format that keeps the visuals coming quickly and creatively.

The content is condensed into eye-raising statistics that leave viewers feeling surprised and mesmerized at the same time. Each fact relates back to the book and a specific social media reference. Regardless of whether you’re a social media novice or a guru, the content that Socialnomics shares is exceptional. Plus, it’s set to a trend Fat Boy Slim song that creates a sense of urgency and movement.

So how does this factor into going viral and what can you do to tap into its power? Truth be known, most people want to be entertained. There’s a time and place for being conservative, but if you want to grab someone and shake them into a response, you’re more likely to get it done with something amusing.

Think about compiling tidbits and pieces in a unique way so that viewers will want to discover more. If that seems challenging, consider adding a bit of controversy by taking an opposing view point through your video. Anything clever is sure to get noticed and that’s what can bring you epic numbers of viewers.

Once you’ve accomplished what you want with your video, don’t rest on your laurels. Take a cue from Qualmann. Instead of deciding ‘mission accomplished’, he has created a reloaded version of the video to continue driving and building its momentum. Guess what? It’s working. Once you’re satisfied with your own video trailer, test it out and don’t be afraid to make adjustments and release fresh versions. There’s no right or wrong way.

Use Qualmann’s video as inspiration to craft your own and see where it will take you. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Video editing for social media

MAKING YOUR VIDEOS DELIVER

Multimedia is an integral part of both our online experiences and real life too. Sharing videos with friends, family, customers and colleagues is one of the simplest and fastest ways to communicate with one another.  As they say, seeing is believing.

Of course, using video to communicate marketing messages is not new, but using it as part of your social media marketing is. If you want to create one of those sought after viral videos, you need to deliver great content. But you also need to edit it just right. Since you wouldn’t sell your car without a good wash and wax, you don’t want to send videos without refining them for viewing. The results you want might just be a matter of details.

Well, finding a good video editing site just got a little easier.

SUGGESTED VIDEO EDITING SITES

First up on the online video editing list is Motionbox. Registration is required, but members have unlimited video storage, large file upload capability and easy-to-use online editing tools. A standout feature is Motionbox Pro. This is an affordable hosting solution for business and commercial users. Plans start at $24.99 a month and include HD video for large screen viewing and large file format playback for professionally produced pieces that may require more bandwidth to watch.

Another video editing site One True Media. Similar to other online video editing sites, One True Media has basic and premium membership options for members. What make this site different is that it allows members to edit video and photo montages with transitional effects, music and custom labels and cases for DVDs. This is worth checking out if you’re planning on sending out copies of your video to publishers or professionals for review.

With JayCut, online video editing can be conducted by integrating their application into your existing website or through JayCut’s community. An award-winning company, JayCut gives members the options to make videos public or private. Uploading edited videos to other platforms is made effortless with video tutorials to guide you through the process.

Next on the online video editing adventure is Intuitivlab’s MixMoov. The site lets you add elegant transitions, text and apply visual effect to imported media. It uses drag-and-drop storyboards to layout clips and assemble them into a final video. If you’ve ever used Windows Movie Maker, it’s similar.

Meet the ‘fairly’ new kid on the block, Pixorial. This is quickly becoming one of the most popular online video editing sites. At first glance, Pixorial appears to be a video version of Shutterfly. Making DVDs, sending videos via UPS, creating video cards and other features make this online editor robust and, quite frankly, fun.

Notable mentions for video collaboration: Photobucket and Stroome.