Optimizing YouTube Videos – Part 2

Just in case you missed it, here’s the first part.

Next component you’d like to focus on is the Broadcasting and Sharing options. Make sure that Privacy is set to “Public”. Always enable Comments. This is a nice way to engage the viewers. You can always delete unwanted ones later.

As for Video responses, set it to “Yes, allow responses after I approve them.” Be a little more cautious about Video Responses since a lot of people tag their videos as response to other videos even if they’re really not. The reason behind this is that Video responses affect ratings. And Ratings have a direct impact on your rankings, so make sure you set this to “yes.” Another thing you would like enables is Embedding. Blogs and social media shares really boost views, and help your message get to new audiences outside of YouTube. And lastly, keep Syndication enabled. The more views, the better. You’d like to get the message out there.

Some things to note:

– YouTube considers a video “viewed” after eight seconds of runtime, so make sure your video has enough “pull” to get you past that hump.
– Embedding it in your church site or ministry blog can boost video views and encourage discovery. Most of our clients have a video page. Remember to adding the video. If the video is related to a ministry or a sermon series, try adding it to their page as well.
– Upload videos to Facebook. Make sure to put the YouTube channel link on the caption.
– Update Facebook and Twitter status by posting the video link. Social media integration is key. We want to touch all our social media audience.
– If video is relevant, you can also embed them in e-blast. Most e-blast service providers (i.e. iContact) make is really easy to embed videos. All you need is the embed code. Decide the placement of the video in the layout, go to HTML view and paste the code.

Well I hope this helps. I’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have. Just ask away in the Comment section below!