I'm pleased to welcome today a guest post from Evelyn Parham of Become a Healthier You.
I started using YouTube in 2008. Back then, I was making videos for fun with no purpose. I had a large following but after a while, my passion and interests shifted. Long story short I closed that account.
I had another YouTube channel where I focused on healthy living topics. I wanted to connect with people who had an interest in what I had to share. At this time, I have around 933 subscribers and 107,612 total upload views. Not bad for someone sharing information about healthy living, vegan recipes, and hair topics.
Last year, I became interested in the YouTube Partner Program and applied for the program. I was rejected, but I have not given up on becoming a YouTube Partner. My total upload views look very good and I have recently reapplied. I’m just waiting on their decision.
I said the above to share with you that YouTube can help your blog in many ways. You are probably saying to yourself, “She has got to be kidding, I’m not interested in showing my face.”
You do not have to show your face to share information on YouTube. However, it is better to show your face a few times, to build that trust and to build your community.
Here is a comment that someone made on my Facebook page about a Raw Cheese Cake recipe that I made and the commenter is a fellow blogging friend.
“Just did a search in Google for raw cheese cake and guess who’s face is all over testing her raw cheese cake. That is so cool and yours looks great.”
I uploaded “How to Make a Raw Vegan Cheese Cake” to YouTube over a year ago and have since received 5,979 views. Not to mention I uploaded photos to my Flickr account.
Let’s not waste any more time. Using YouTube can help you gain more eyes to your blog.
1. Connect with others who really want to learn from you. Sometimes a YouTube subscriber will pop up on my blog and leave a comment showing their support. That is one of the best feelings because I know the subscriber is reading my blog.
2. Gain subscribers to your blog newsletter. One way you can do this is to hold a contest and ask your You Tube subscribers to visit your blog and subscribe to your newsletter. I did this when I first launched my blog and I got very good feed back.
3. Word of mouth about your blog travels fast. Can you imagine shopping in a store and being approached by a stranger who knows your name. The woman told me that she watches my videos on YouTube and that she reads my blog. I gave her a few cards to share with her friends. These are potential clients.
4. Good traffic source for your blog. Each time I upload a video, I make sure to hyperlink my website in the description box. I do get some traffic to my blog from You Tube. At this current time, You Tube ranks #14 for traffic referrals, but it use to rank a lot higher. I’ve been a little slack in uploading videos to You Tube.
5. Reply to comments and messages. Treat your YouTube channel like you do your blog. Whenever you receive comments on your videos, take time to reply to the comments. Even if it is a simple “thank you.” You will be amazed how much those two words mean to others.
Conclusion
I realize that You Tube is not for everyone, but it is a great way to get more eyes on your blog, if you are interested. You never know how helpful your videos can be until you try it.
Do you have a You Tube channel? If you do, how has it helped you get more eyes on your blog?
Author Bio:
Evelyn Parham blogs at Become a Healthier You (http://evelynparham.com) and is the Health Editor for Biz Chick Blogs. You can also catch her on YouTube (http://youtube.com/evelynprather). She enjoys writing, reading, singing and cooking.
This is something to consider. Thanks for the tips, Evelyn!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen. I can attest that Evelyn does a good job on her videos. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering about podcasts because I don't want myself all over YouTube. But I'm going to give this some thought. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Thanks for commenting. :)
Hi Carol,
ReplyDeletePodcasts are great too. I do those from time to time on Blog Talk Radio. A while back I did a few interviews and converted them into You Tube Videos. It is another way to do a video without having to put yourself all over YT. ;)
Take care!
Evelyn
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the video compliment. :)
Take care,
Evelyn
Great idea and tips for a good way to get more eyes on your blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks, ladies for weighing in today.
ReplyDeleteEvelyn, I'm so glad you wrote a post about this subject. I'm a new blogger, new at Twitter, made 2 book trailers to help promote my MG book, and put them on Youtube. I was required to start a Youtube Channel. Then I thought about maybe adding a vlog to my blog (haha! sounds funny) every so often and added a couple goofy videos to my channel. I'm surprised that this has opened up a whole new creative outlet for me. I've always loved to dress up in costumes, especially when visiting a classroom to read a story, so I'm having a blast being weird on Youtube, and I add my website address at the end of the videos. Thanks for the tip about add the blog site in the description box. I'm going to your Youtube channel right now! Thanks for this super cool post!
ReplyDeleteI haven't had many hits yet. Does it take a long time? I think I'm making a lot of mistakes. My channel is lynnkelleyauthor. I only have the two trailers and two silly videos but am going to make two more next week, maybe. If you have any more tips, I'm listening!
I forgot to thank you, Jennifer, for having Evelyn as your guest today. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
Hi Lyn,
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting and I am happy to hear that you started a YouTube channel. I've been to your channel and have subscribed. :) I have a young daughter so I am very interested in your writings.
I think vlogging is similar to blogging. You have to find people with similar interest. Subscribe to their channel and comment on their videos when you can and most of the time they will do the same for you.
It takes time to get hits, but just keep uploading your videos and being yourself. I have also found that when we show people how to do something or share some helpful information/tips, that usually gets them to subscribe and view your videos. They share you with their friends and that's how your channel grows.
Yes, I do have more tips. I plan to share those tips in the near future. Keep your eyes open! :)
Best wishes!
Evelyn
LynNerd,
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome. :-)
Had I not read this post, I never would have associated YouTube with blogging, and I log on to YouTube daily to listen to music!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the valuable tip, Evelyn. I definitely will keep that in mind for future consideration. And thank you for hosting, Jennifer. :-)
Glad to offer some blogging alternatives for you, Janette. I appreciate your time and input.
ReplyDeleteHi Janette,
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome and thank you for chiming in.
Thanks very much for those blog hints, im always looking for ways to make a better blog. Richard from Amish Stories.
ReplyDeleteHi Richard,
ReplyDeleteWelcome! Glad you found the blog hints helpful. Thanks for dropping by.
Evelyn,
ReplyDeleteAgain, thank you for this informative post. In closing, I'd just like to know...How difficult is it for someone who's not "tech savvy" to do blog posting through YouTube?
Are there tutorials online? Thanks!
Hi Richard,
ReplyDeleteYou're quite welcome!
Evelyn
Hi Jennier,
ReplyDeleteIt is not too difficult.
If you have a YT account, you can do a video on your computer and upload it to YT. Once you have the video uploaded you can either share the link or embed the video code in your post. And that's all there is to it. You have to also make sure the width and height are okay for blog content width.
Yes, I think there are tutorials online. There are probably some on YT.
Thanks for having me in your house. :)
Take care,
Evelyn