For website owners searching for new ways to drive traffic to their sites, video is the next big thing.
The drop in the price of hardware and software needed for creating video has made it possible for anyone to make their own short films or commercials. You could be the next Steven Speilberg or M. Night Shymalan.
Faster internet connections and the popularity of sites such as YouTube allow you to share your video creations with the entire world.
Even better, you can use them to drive lots of free traffic to your site. Let’s think of a few different ways we can use video to get more people to your site.
Say you run a merchant site that sells shoes. You can make your own commercial for shoes and post it on YouTube. Of course, you’ll need to be creative to make your videos stand out from the masses.
Post a video that’s really funny or different and it may start spreading virally. Once a few people find it they’ll send it to their friends, family, and co-workers to enjoy.
Or perhaps you sell an innovative product that is new to the market, something unlike anything ever seen before.
Video is the perfect way to get your message out because you can actually show people how your product works rather than explaining it to them. A picture (or video) really is worth a thousand words.
Let’s say your site offers clothing and dress for women. You can create a video tutorial that demonstrates the software in action.
Walking prospects through a few transactions so they can see how easy it is to use will be more effective than just saying, “My clothing and dress are perfect for your body.“
Plus, you can create a whole series of video tutorials to serve as customer support. You’ll spend less time and resources helping confused customers if you have videos that teach them to step by step.
In order to create these types of tutorials, you’ll need some special software that lets you record screenshots and add your own audio commentary.
You have two basic options.
Camtasia is the best but it costs a few hundred dollars (you can take a free trial to feel it out before buying).
Or you can use CamStudio, which is free. It’s not as powerful as Camtasia but it’s fine for most of your video needs.
