Can videos work to showcase your business? When I started working with Appletree I had no idea how a small business could use videos to show what they are offering. As far as I was concerned YouTube was used for Funny Cat videos and young singers trying to be the next big thing. Working here has taught me that coaches and consultants can use them to promote themselves by posting short videos handing out helpful hints and tips.

However, I didn’t think this would work, as I know I would soon be bored of listening to a stranger talk for forty minutes about a topic I could easily read in a word document.

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley says ‘Keep it short.’ The average viewing time for a clip on the site is 2.5 minutes. That should tell you something. Viewers do not visit YouTube for an hour-long discourse.?

I’ve learnt that introductions are vital in keeping the viewer happy; if the start of the video is boring I soon felt myself drifting off.

People only watch around 2.5 minutes of a video, so if the first couple of minutes is just you introducing yourself you need to make that introduction the best it can be – see Ian Crocker of Absolute Learning’s video “ABCD of introduction“. Give viewers a reason to watch your video.

Over the last month I have learnt how to optimise YouTube videos by adding descriptions and tags, making sure the description has the businesses website URL and making sure it has a relevant and attention grabbing video name.  Adding all these details I have seen how a video’s views can improve and have also seen what affect it has on its Google ranking. Google owns YouTube so the more interaction your YouTube profile has the better Google is going to rank your website.

I knew that having a good home page on your website was important as it needs to attract your visitors but I didn’t realise the importance of a YouTube profile. Having the right background, profile picture and page name can be vital to how many views your videos get. You need to keep the viewer engaged as well as catching their attention. Having a YouTube profile can be just as beneficial to your business as its own website.

So what have I learnt in the first month about videos for businesses? Yes I think videos can work for businesses but only if they are done correctly. I have looked through quite a few business profiles and at their videos and the majority of them work. They give hints and tips that would encourage me to contact the company for help.