by Beth Harte

Have you decided to take your blog to the next level by including video? Hooray! Video logs (vlogs) can help communicate in a lot of different ways and they also add a “real” voice to your blog posts (and yes, I mean that literally and figuratively).

Vlogs are great and easy to do. And the wonderful thing about engaging in social media as a company is that it allows you to bring the human element into your communications. Employees, customers, prospects etc. want to see the “real” you (there’s that word again!), they don’t want to watch a corporate video that looks manufactured. So, don’t worry about spending thousands of dollars on equipment or a vendor to produce vlogs for you. There’s no reason to break the bank when you can produce great vlogs yourself with a minimal investment.

So go ahead and grab a handheld camera (there are lot’s of cameras under $500 to choose from) and let the wheels start turning. To help you out, here’s just a quick list of ways to use a vlog on your blog:

  • Introducing a new product, service or employee? Why not do a ‘videoment’ (video announcement)?
  • Press/news releases can be boring. How about bringing them to life with a video quote?
  • Have a new white paper? How about a video of the executive summary? (It might just capture some attention by those who don’t like to read)
  • Doing demonstrations at an upcoming trade show or event? Why not capture them for use on your blog?
  • Engaging the analyst community? A video could just be the ticket to getting that briefing that you need.
  • Do you have an internal blog? How about posting some employee news or training?

Excited to get started? A few things to keep in mind before vlogging.

Vlogs are a great addition to a blog post. But, there are people in the world with disabilities and having just a vlog could potentially leave out folks who are hearing impaired. Be sure to include everyone in your company’s outreach by providing a transcript for every vlog.

Not only does this keep your audience broad, it helps with search engine optimization and natural search rankings. How?

Well, most vlogs/videos need to be hosted on a site such as YouTube or Viddler so that you can embed them into your blog post. These sites give you the ability to add keywords and tags to your videos. So, now you’ll have keywords and tags in three areas:

  • Blog post copy (utilize your keywords within the transcript of the vlog)
  • Blog post (the keywords and tags you use when you post to your blog)
  • Vlog (the keywords and tags when you upload your vlog to YouTube, Viddler, etc. for hosting)

Grab a camera and have fun!

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Continue Reading: Blogs, Vlogs and SEO

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