Have you made this common mistake with your YouTube videos?

youtube logo 1  300x154 Have you made this common mistake with your YouTube videos?You’ve spent critical resources (staff time and money) creating videos for what you hope will be a lively YouTube channel. You’ve uploaded a healthy number of engaging videos, and have even customized your YouTube theme. But there’s a problem.

After a few months, you still only have a couple of subscribers and not many views.

Check your titles and tags

One of the most common causes of low view numbers (besides boring content) is an incorrect use of titles and tags. You’ve busy (just like we all are) and quickly enter titles and tags (or not) as you upload. But there is a difference between “Billy Shore Speaking At Our Annual Conference” and “Can We End Childhood Hunger By 2015? Billy Shore Of Share Our Strength”.

Likes and Retweets

In an age of Facebook likes and tweets, titles are everything (FYI, we have left the age of sharing on Facebook). Titles are the the very heart of retweets, “likes” and click-thoughs. Before Facebook and Twitter, we shared everything by email. And more often than not, our friends actually read the body of the email – or at least the subheadings.

Not so much on Facebook and Twitter. Between streams of status updates and noise that’s becoming more and more like static, we have trained our focus on titles.

Homework: Go through your YouTube vidoes and edit the titles with these two tips in mind:

  1. Try using questions for titles. Questions psychologically beg for an answer. If we know the answer, we will click. If if we don’t know the answer, we will click.
  2. Bullet-point your titles. Watch your video and see if you can bullet point the content in the title. For example, a video of a nurse talking about dietary tips for cancer patients might contain a total of 5 dietary tips. The bullet-point title would be “5 dietary tips for early stage cancer patients”.

Google Is Still In The Royal Flush

Facebook has stollen the crown (should Mark get a @foursquare badge?), but Google is still in the royal family. If you’re like me, when you go to YouTube.com (directly, without clicking a link someone shared), it’s because you’re searching for something. Your constituants are doing the same.

When you upload your videos, think about how you would search for this video if you wanted to find it. Remember that people that don’t know about your organization yet won’t be searching for your events, jargon or acronyms (but do use these in your tags).

Last point here. Create a simple list of guidelines for staff on how to use titles and tags. Title it “5 ways to make your boss happy”. And send it out by email.

Questions? Comments? Hate mail?

  • wagnerwrites
    Ok, that makes it easy. Maybe I should upgrade. Thanks for taking the time!
  • I bet there's a YouTube video out there on how to use the Flip.
  • wagnerwrites
    John, thanks as always for posting reminders and tips that are often overlooked by others. I'm really a video idiot. I have a Flip but don't know how to use it. Is there video editing software "for dummies" you recommend so I can get started with YouTube? A nonprofit I work with has a march on City Hall next week and I need to film it.
  • The Flip comes with video editing software. And the new HD Flip has YouTube
    capabilities.
  • Excellent stuff, John! Thanks again (and always)

    :)
  • Thanks for stopping by, Allen!
  • edloessi
    Great post John, it's these simple bits that can be missed and bring down otherwise great intentions.

    Ed Loessi

    http://www.twitter.com/edloessi
    http://www.rapidinfluence.com
  • Ava Diamond (@feistywoman)

    Great tips. John. Thank you. I'm just beginning my youtube channels, now that my new site is up, so the timing is perfect! You rock!
  • Thanks, Ava!
  • Thanks John - I just forwarded to our videographer and our director of online communications (@minorjive - I think he follows you, perhaps?)
  • Thanks for forwarding. I appreciate the that. :-)
  • This is the kind of blog post I love: short and sweet with really useful information. Thanks, John.
  • Saundra - You're welcome. Glad you found it useful, and thanks you stopping
    by!
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