Are you using YouTube to it’s full potential to market your business effectively?
Did you know that YouTube
- Has 48 hours of video uploaded every minute
- 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
- 3 billion videos are watched every day and
- Over 70% of YouTube’s traffic comes from outside the US?
The number of YouTube search requests passed Google’s search numbers in 2011 at various points in the year.
YouTube offers great potential to small business owners to compete for viewers eyeballs but also, and most importantly in our view, offers a great way to get your business featured very high up in the search engine results pages.
3 benefits of YouTube
YouTube videos rank really well in the search engine results pages (SERPS) which should not be that surprising as Google owns YouTube.
If your business is in a tough, competitive market and your website is struggling to rank well in the search engines for the keyphrases or search terms that you need to rank well for then make a video.
Making a video is really simple with screen capture software and there are free versions of such software such as at CamStudio.org.
You simply need to make a simple PowerPoint slide show containing about 5 to 7 slides, record it with your screen capture software and upload to YouTube. It is vitally important though that you entitle your video with the key phrase or search term that you are trying to rank well for.
Once uploaded to YouTube be sure also to tag your video well with related keywords/phrases and be sure to fill out the description with a short paragraph or two containing the keywords/phrases that are most apt for your business and what you are offering.
And most importantly of all ensure that there is a call to action to visit your site in the video itself and that you have a hyperlink back to your own website in the description box.
So, number 1 make your video and upload to YouTube.
Secondly you can take the same video and upload it to various other video sharing sites such as
- Vimeo
- DailyMotion
- Revver
- Viddler
- Metacafe and many more.
This might be a time consuming task if it wasn’t for a site called TubeMogul.com which will do this for you for free once you open an account on their site..which is free.
TubeMogul will also allow you to distribute your video to sites like
- Facebook and many other social networks.
The net result of your simple, 5 minute video will be
- Great chance of ranking well in the search engines for your target keyphrase (and note that you have more than one chance as we have found that videos on DailyMotion and Metacafe rank very well in the search engines);
- Some great quality backlinks from top video sharing and social networking sites;
- More targeted traffic to your website.
The return on this strategy of using YouTube to promote your business is incredibly cost effective as it will take you all of about half an hour to do and won’t cost you a cent.
Filed under Online Marketing Ireland 
If you are wondering how to get more clients for your small business, the step by step process below will show you exactly how to get more clients through online or internet marketing.
What I am going to describe is not theory, not something I read somewhere and not aspirational; it is a true account of how I regularly generate new clients for a professional legal practice in Ireland.
This process can be applied to virtually any business but the key takeaway for you should be how to apply it to your particular business regardless of whether you are selling goods or services.
Steps to a new client
John (pseudonym) was caught speeding by the road traffic police last week and was charged with dangerous driving. Rightly concerned he immediately did a little research when he was released from the Garda station by doing a Google search to see what the penalties were for the offence.
When Google presented the search results this site (mine) came up on the first page of the search results as Google deemed it to be one of the 10 most appropriate sites to serve up for the searchers query which would probably have been “dangerous driving” or “road traffic offences in Ireland”.
John then contacted the site by email to make an enquiry about what he should do for the impending court appearance. I explained to John that dangerous driving was a serious offence which carried a mandatory disqualification of 2 years from driving. I did not have to sell to John, I simply provided him with the answer to the questions he had.
He then asked me to represent him which I am happy to do.
Whilst this process may seem incredibly simple (and it is) it is also incredibly powerful.
Searchers use the search engines such as Google and Yahoo for a lot of things but one of the main reasons is to find answers to questions and solve problems that they have.
If your site is the one that provides these answers you will generate new clients very quickly and in an incredibly cost effective way with no need for traditional advertising.
Your small business
If you want to generate clients for your business with a website you should spend a little time thinking about who your potential customers are and what solutions you provide to the problems that they typically have or the need that they are trying to fulfil (marketing 101).
Then build a website (or have one built for you) that provides relevant, useful information for your potential customers or clients. Done properly your site will feature very well in the search engine results pages for various search terms that people type into their favourite search engine for the problems that they have.
These visitors to your site are then the targeted visitors who are the bread and butter of your business.
Can you give away too much information/trade secrets? Not really-who wants to go to court and defend themselves on a dangerous driving charge with all of the potential penalties on a conviction.
As a small business owner your choice when it comes to online marketing is simple-you can put up what I call an electronic billboard (typically just 5 pages with your contact details) or you can go the extra mile, work smart and build a real asset for your business in the form of a content rich website which provides lots of great, free information for your potential clients.
It will repay you in spades..
Filed under How to Win New Clients, Online Marketing Ireland
Online marketing in Ireland is seriously under utilized by many small and medium size businesses in Ireland.
What is online marketing?
Online marketing can also be described as internet marketing and is simply the use of the internet market and advertise your business in a cost effective fashion in one of the fastest growing areas of world business.
Many small Irish businesses are failing to exploit the opportunities offered by the internet through the use of smart search engine optimisation services offered by internet marketing consultants.
Internet marketing is surrounded by a fog of confusion and is intimidating to many small business owners who are not familiar with how the internet can be used to raise the profile of their businesses and generate more leads, clients and sales.
Online marketing in Ireland can take many forms but primarily should include
1. A good, seo optimised website for your business
2. The use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites to communicate your companies message
Online marketing strategy
An online marketing strategy should start with a website for the business which communicates your message and/or offers clearly.
But the real benefit of a website to any business should be it’s ability to generate free traffic from the search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.
The position of your website in the search engine results when a user types a search term into their search box related to the business/industry of your business determines how much free traffic your business website will receive.
Search engine optimisation Ireland
The key factor which will determine how your website ranks in the search engines will be how your site is built or structured from the outset.
Keyword research
Keyword research is therefore absolutely critical to the success of your website from inception and a sound, well researched structure to your site will ensure that you rank well for the keywords or phrases that are most relevant to your business.
Internet marketing consultant
An internet marketing consultant, if he/she knows what he/she is doing, should be able to ensure that your site is well structured from the word “go”.
With a website that is soundly built with good fundamentals from the outset, fundamentals in compliance with the guidelines laid down by Google in their Webmaster Guidelines, your website can become the most cost effective advertising that you can buy for your business.
However you do need to ensure that anyone claiming to be an internet or digital marketing consultant actually know their stuff.
Setting up accounts on Twitter, creating Facebook pages for your business and promising high rankings for your business’s best search terms is not enough.
Don’t tell me-show me.
Ask for demonstrable proof of their claimed expertise.
This could involve asking them to show you a website that they have built or search engine optimized which now has a good volume of organic(free) search engine traffic.
It might be a site they have created from scratch and sold for good cold, hard cash.
It might be a site that has significantly increased sales for the owner.
Good online marketing can ensure that your silent salesman-your website- will work 24/7 at very little cost bringing new visitors to your site which you can then convert into sales or serious enquiries.
It can also be an expensive, cash sucking folly.
Only a well built, properly structured website which focuses on content marketing will provide the maximum return on investment for small business owners.
Bells, whistles, fancy design, flash video and other baubles are to be avoided.
Filed under How to Win New Clients, Online Marketing Ireland
