During the past 18 months nothing has received better results in Google for us than Online Video Ads. We have seen some of our videos get in the top 10 Google search within hours of posting them. We have also seen our videos receive 5 or 6 of the top 10 listings, dominating a search term.
Google has recently changed how they are listing videos, so you will not see results like this anymore, however Online Video Ads remain one of the easiest and quickest methods to get top results in Google.
Google now limits videos to just 2 of every 10 websites listed. So you can no longer receive 4 or 5 of the top spots, but it has become more important for you to get those two video spots before your competitors lock them up. It also is taking a little longer to see your videos listed in Google, but we are still seeing results in a few days to a week. Last summer we were seeing videos listed within hours. Now it takes a few days, but that is still faster than any other type of webpages.
Creating Video Ads
Keep your video ads short! 20 to 90 seconds are best. You certainly don’t want your videos to be over 3 minutes. On the Internet it is too easy to click off one page and on to something else. If your video is too long you may loose your customer before they have a chance to go to your website.
There are four different types of videos you can create to market your store, and two of them don’t even require a video camera. The four types are:
Slide Shows
This is the easiest of the four types to create and yet one of the most effective for retail jewelry stores. All you need to create this type of video is some still pictures of what you want to promote. These can be photographs that you took of your jewelry, your store, your shop or employees; renderings from a 3D design software program; or photos from one of your suppliers. Load the picture files into an inexpensive video editing software, make transitions between videos, put in a title slide to begin and end the video, and add some background music if you want. Then the software will create the video in a compressed format needed for putting it on the Internet.
More expensive video editing software will allow you to ‘Pan and Scan’ across your still pictures giving your videos some added motion.
Screen Capture
Screen capture software such as Camtasia or Snag It, allow you to create a video of what is happening on your computer screen. If you use CAD to design your jewelry, this is an easy way to make a video showing your customers how you can design a special piece of jewelry just for them.
Talking Head
This is a head and shoulder shot of a person talking directly into the camera (and ultimately directly to your audience). This is the type of video you see on the evening news of a reporter sitting behind a desk or standing at the scene.
These are surprisingly easy to create with a camcorder and external microphone, and a very effective form of advertising. These videos help personalize your message and make it easier for the viewer to trust you and to purchase from you.
There are many ways you can make these videos, including but not limited to:
- A bench jeweler sitting at their bench showing off a new piece of jewelry they just finished.
- A salesperson standing behind a counter and pulling out a new ring from the case as she describes the ring and shows it off.
- A store owner standing outside the showroom at a large trade show explaining that they are there picking out the latest in jewelry design and to stop by the store and see what they picked out just for them.
Full Motion Video
This is the more difficult of the four methods, but can also be done very effectively without a full production crew. Examples of this type of video are:
- Show a ring being sized, other jewelry repairs, or how jewelry is made and stones are set to promote the repair and custom design services you offer.
- Give a tour of your store. (Be careful not to reveal any security cameras or other security devices.)
- Show off your gem equipment and explain how you test and appraise jewelry.
If you are really creative you might even make up some stories related to your products and services that will help sell them, such as videos showing different ways guys give an engagement ring to his girlfriend, or how excited a wife is to receive jewelry for an anniversary gift (or how upset when she doesn’t).
Free Video Hosting Websites
Once you have made your video you need to upload it to video hosting websites for potential customers to see them and Google to list them. YouTube (with over 100 million unique visitors a month) is by far the largest video hosting website, and posting your video there will get it seen by the most people.
However, even though YouTube is owned by Google, videos posted on other hosting websites regularly get better rankings than YouTube in Google searches. In fact with all the videos we have posted, some other video host has ranked higher than YouTube. Our videos on YouTube receive many viewers because of the lager number of people that go directly to their website, however those video have never received top rankings in Google searches.
Video Hosting websites that have done well for us include: Vimeo, DailyMotion, Veoh, MetaCafe, Sharkle, Guba, BoFunk, Kewego, LiveVideo, Revver, Odeo, AtomFilms, & others. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to which video host gets the best listing. One video will get top listing from one of these websites and the next video we upload will receive top listing from one of the other websites. The best plan is a shotgun approach, loading your video on a majority of them.
The problem with this approach is the time it takes to upload your videos. Uploading your video one at a time to all these video hosts can take several hours. The solution we use is www.SubmitVideosOnline.com. Here you can upload your video once to their website. They then submit your video to all the video hosting websites where you have set-up accounts. They submit them randomly over time making the submission look natural to the search engines and not from an automated service.
There is a monthly fee for this service, but the cost is less than paying even minimum wages to someone to submit your videos by hand. They keep track of all your usernames and passwords for the video hosting website so you don’t have to look them all up every time you want to submit a new video. Plus they have their own submission templates so that once you upload a video you don’t have to spend time writing and entering descriptions, tags and other information. Their template fills it all in for you.
In addition, their Member Tutorial Section includes some of the best information on creating videos and using online videos as a marketing tool. This training alone is worth the $100 a month membership fee. And if you go to www.SubmitVideosOnline.com now you can receive your first month for only one dollar to try it out.
Online Video Ad Services
We understand that many retailers are too busy running their store to create and post their own videos, but want to take advantage of the enormous advertising potential of Online Video Ads. Therefore we have developed several Link Building Services including Online Video Ads. In the link building services we offer at: www.internet4jewelers.com/services/marketing.html the services starting at $250 a month includes a Video Ad.
We will edit a video for you, either from video footage you shoot or from your pictures of your jewelry. We will then post that video on different accounts we have created on over 30 video hosting websites such as YouTube. We will post it randomly 4 different times during the month optimized for a different keyword phrase on each host. That means you will receive in total over 100 new video posts each month all linking to your website pages. In addition to the videos we will perform other link building activities to keep your incoming links in balance.
For more information on marketing your jewelry store on the Internet, getting higher search engine rankings, or using the Internet to keep in touch with your existing customers visit www.Internet4Jewelers.com You can follow Brad on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BenchJeweler.
