The Value of Video

Emily Creech - November 12, 2008

Incorporating video into your marketing efforts can prove to be an effective to way supplement search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) initiatives.

The popularity of online video has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years and with the help of video sharing sites, online video has made its way to the local advertising level.   According to The Kelsey Group’s US Local Video Forecast, local online video ad revenue will increase from approximately $10.9 million in 2007 to $1.5 billion by the end of 2012. Local video advertising is an emerging way to deliver a company’s message, showcase products, services and build credibility.

Many Internet Yellow Pages such as Superpages.com, Yellowpages.com, and Yellowbook.com offer video advertising as part of their advertising bundles and are continuing to expand upon their offerings. For example, Yellowbook.com recently entered into an agreement with YouTube, which will enable Yellowbook.com’s video advertisements to be displayed across YouTube, the world’s most popular online video community. This is a great opportunity for an advertiser’s message to be exposed to an audience separate from Yellowbook.com.

Videos can also be leveraged for SEO. It is common to see video results occupying the top spots on the search engine results pages as part of Universal or “blended” search. These videos can be a powerful differentiator from the common text listings. Tagging video files with relevant terms, adding videos to unique pages on the site with supporting content, and uploading them to sharing sites or social networks can all boost SEO.

Lastly, humorous, informative or interesting videos can increase interaction on a website and can become viral. An engaging site may lead to repeat visits, inbound links from other sites, and an increase in conversions.   With the considerable amount of growth potential, now is the time to take advantage of video because online video marketing will only become more competitive in the years to come.