I was checking out my site ToddBrannan.com with my iPhone 4s and noticed that my videos were not able to be played. So I surfed over to some other sites and the same thing happened. My videos are embedded using HTML5. So that wasn’t the problem.
I found the problem to be with my iPhone. to fix this problem you need to do the following:
Go to settings->safari->Clear cookies and data, it will fix the problem. Or so it has for me.
If there is another solution I would love to hear it in the comments.
Once you have a good base of articles, you need to start thinking about traffic to your site. This is not as easy subject to condense into a simple blog post. This is an introduction to my future lessons. You will need to think of how much time you can devote to your traffic plan. and pick a technique that is simple for you and easy for you to master on a consistent basis.
There Are No Tricks, There Are No Secrets, There Is Only Great Information.
The Number 1 Best traffic strategy is: Organic Traffic.
You’ve heard me say it all the time. you can not do any better that great articles on your site. You will rank higher and longer than any other technique. Of course it will take longer for you to get the rankings, but the rankings will be rock solid and last. And again I repeat nothing is better than ORGANIC TRAFFIC.
ORGANIC TRAFFIC = is defined as: Web traffic which comes from unpaid listing at search engines or directories is commonly known as “organic” traffic. Organic traffic can be generated or increased by including the web site in directories, search engines, guides (such as yellow pages and restaurant guides) and award sites. Anything else is just temporary traffic.
I had a traffic system i was working on my site for over a year, And without going into much detail, it was generating 3/4 of my monthly traffic. I was using a special automated software I had spent over $100 for that would bring targeted traffic to my site, and one day the software owner decided to shut down. I lost all my traffic that was generated by that software. I had to figure out another technique. so I had to find a new system for Generating my Site traffic. And so the cycle continues… Not anymore.
Now I will give you a break down of the 3 Organic Traffic Strategies, Fastest and Easiest to the Slowest and Difficult.
#1 Written Content: These are your blog posts. Your content on your site. Each post should be at least 300 to 800 words. Contain at least one picture. Your post must be orginal information, and if possible be ground shaking in its impact on your readers. (According to who?) It doesn’t matter who. It matters that you shoot for this goal. Some post will be truely great and some will not. But over time you will have more great than not. You will be successful.
Here are a few examples of where you can use your written content:
Blog Posts
Article Marketing
Guest Posting
Blog Commenting
Email Marketing
Social Marketing: Twitter or Facebook
#2 Video Content: These are videos you add to your site. You will host theses on a video sharing site and embed them on your site. The most popular being Youtube. There are others, but this is where you want to be. You can video yourself talking about your info or make screen casts on your computer, or powerpoint presentations. Make the videos like show and tell clips. Keep them short and packed with information, not fluff. You have already written your script for these…. remember your blog post? After researching your blog post when the information is fresh in your mind is the perfect time to to make a video. Your mind will be well organized, and you will have more excitement to make the video when it is fresh in your mind.
#3 Audio Content: These are audio recordings that people can listen to at home or on the go on their smart phone or on their car radio. Yes you heard me right, they will listen on their car radio with these recordings. People that commute (like myself) listen to podcast from the itunes directory while driving. These are know as Podcast in the file format as MP3. This medium is for people that can speak information easier than writing. This is by for the hardest and most time consuming to do right. But it will bring the most traffic and interaction for your site.
All of these traffic Methods will bring you organic traffic, AS LONG AS you don’t relay on Automated software to do it for you. Here is a break down of the Methods in amount of traffic that will be created.
#1 Written: Everyone has a blog it seems. You will be competing with sometimes thousands of sites. Can you write better than 90% of them? or 75% better? only you can determine that. So this method will be the hardest to rank for in Search Engines.
#2 Video: Less people have a Youtube Channel. Youtube is the second most popular search engine. (Google being #1 for written) If you search for your topic there will be less competition for you. So it will be easier for you to get noticed on Youtube than on Google. Also you will show up in Google for video. Have you ever noticed that on Google searches that on the first page you will see “Shop for Blank on Google” and also a video listed and also “Images for Blank” listed (the reason for putting at least one image in your posts). Just do a search for “go kart” and you will see what I am talking about.
#3 Audio: Even Less People have a Podcast. Being listed on Itunes will rock you with traffic. When I did the research for starting a podcast there was only 25 other podcast I would be competing against for traffic. Whoa!!! not thousands or even hundreds. So I will definitely get noticed. This is by far the most difficult to setup, but also the most rewarding and the most interactive with your community. This one I have yet to accomplish, but it is definitely in the works for the near future.
With these methods I have been able to take a break from my blogging for months and my traffic has not decreased. Think of it as building your foundation. At first you will be adding content to your blog weekly or even daily. After a year or two you will be able to take a break and not lose anything if you have built a rock solid foundation relying only on Organic Traffic.
If you need a personalize plan of attack for any of the 3 Methods, Just email me todd@toddbrannan.com and I will write you a strategy based on where you are. Believe me you can do all three and all the options under all 3. A great plan would look something like this:
1st and a must – Blog – chose one of the three: Written Blog, Video Blog or Audio Blog and post everyday or week.
2nd choose one of the four: Blog Commenting or Guest Posting & Twitter or Facebook and do this everyday.
3rd repeat this, over and over.
This is simple and doable. Won’t take much time and can be done daily or weekly. Of course the more frequently you do it the faster your traffic willl grow.
If you would like to read a Great Book on this, grab a copy of
Gary really know his stuff and knows how to keep it simple. Really a Must Read!
My Step by Step process that will guarantee you more Youtube views.
Step 1: Title
This is the most important part of ranking in the search engines for your video, because it describes what your video is about.
Chose 1 primary and 1 secondary keyword for your title. The primary keyword is put at the beginning followed by your secondary keyword. Then put your secondary keyword at the end again.
Example: Video Optimization – Step by Step Optimization
Remember your Title is your Headline, It must grab your readers attention and get the click.
Keep your title 8 to 10 words and 50 to 80 characters.
Your title must describe your video precisely.
Use the dash (-) and pipe (|) symbols to make your title easier to read.
Step 2: Description
Your Description needs to be keyword rich article with your website address at the beginning. write about a 200 – 400 word article pertaining to your video. Treat it as a mini blog post. End it asking your viewers to comment. Engage your audience, ask advice, ask feedback, ask for criticism, ask for their story, ask for their experience, ect.
Example: https://www.toddbrannan.com Step by Step method how to rank better with Video Optimization. If you take your time and approach it with a formula, you will see that you can rank much better than just throwing up a video and not taking the time to optimize it. There are many ways………..
In the description box on the video page only the 1st line is visible unless the viewer presses the “show more” button on the description box. So the first line of the article must show your website address and a opening sentence that pulls your reader in more.
Step 3: Tags
Tags need to be relevant keywords. You may need to brainstorm for keywords or use a keyword tool to complete your list.
Example tags: video optimization seo ranking optimize
Step 4: Additional Tips
Your video needs to be interesting enough so your viewers will watch the whole video to the end. The shorter your video the better to get your point across. A short video has a better change of being watched to the end. If people bail out after watching a few seconds it won’t rank high for your keywords. Because the search engine with think it is not relevant to your keywords.
Leave some information out of your video. When you come to the end of your video leave a point or a tip incomplete and tell the viewer that they need to go to your website to get the answer. Or promise them a free gift download if they go to your website and sign up for your email updates.
Real World Proof
Now I want to tell you of a little experiment I did for a friend of mine. I posted this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzydnVn5NS8 on Feb 16, 2010 and it has only gotten 102 views as of this writing.
What is the difference? Just compare the title, description and tags. Also, I embedded the website address at the top of the 2nd video. That doesn’t change the rankings but it does give the website address more visibility.
If you are looking to make some videos for your website and want the best possible results with the smallest investment, I have some ideas for you. The equipment I use to shoot my videos:
The lights I use get very hot, so you can probally substitute compact flourescent bulbs and get the same results. I have my studio set up all the time, so it is very fast for me to create my videos.
So now on to the videos. The 1st video is shot with my 2nd Generation Iphone. This video shows you how I have my studio setup.
The 2nd video is shot with the Canon PowerShot A560 at the larger size setting and as you can see it has very good quality. 640 x 480 video size.
The 3rd video is shot with the same camera and at the smaller size quality and as you can see there is not much difference. 320 x 160 video size.
Ok that is how I do my videos. If you have any other ways that you do yours leave a comment.
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