There’s no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to online success and you never know what’s going to happen after you’ve released your site into the world. For all you know, someone else might release a mega-site targeting exactly the same keywords as you as soon as you release yours. Or you may find that the niche you’re writing for suddenly becomes incredibly unpopular… anything could happen. So sorry if the title here was a little bit bombastic, but it got you here didn’t it?

And while this strategy might not actually be sure fire, it’s certainly one that is pretty effective and which many webmasters could use to great effect. It involves using YouTube. Let me show you why you’re not getting the most out of the video sharing site…

Why YouTube?

Many webmasters will focus on targeting keywords in Google and will completely forget the power of YouTube. Actually, YouTube is a great way to promote your site and a lot of people click those links in the descriptions: especially if you mention them in your articles. YouTube is after all the second most used search engine in the world after Google, and the best thing about this is that it doesn’t have anywhere near the competition. If you want to rank for ‘make money online’, then you have a much better chance of doing that on YouTube and you’ll benefit from almost all the same results.

Also important to bear in mind is just what an impact a YouTube video can make. People like getting information through videos because it lets them do other things while they listen/watch. I will only rarely read a review if there’s the option of watching one on YouTube.   And in the time I spend watching that video, I’ll get a much better idea of that site’s style and approach and will be made far more aware of the branding. Plus the subscription feature means that I can very easily find my favourite sites again which isn’t an option when you use Google – that’s almost like free advertising.

How to Use YouTube

So how do you use YouTube effectively? Well first of all you need to think about the videos you could make to add value to your site. For a tech site for instance this might mean making video reviews, or demonstrating how to do certain things. For a fitness site it might mean making videos of different training plans. You could do Q&As, music videos, ‘let’s play’ videos or anything else.

Now make sure that the videos are made well and with high production values. Making your video in HD will make all the difference to the way people see your site and to how often they end up watching you. Include your links in the description and make as many of these videos as you can – volume will help you to get noticed and to luck upon hit.

Now watch as your subscribers swell, and as more and more people start visiting your site to see what it’s all about. There you have, web success through YouTube.

Today’s feature writer, Keith Terrell, enjoys sharing his knowledge with those who could benefit from it. He owns a link removal company called Orp Media, which specializes in Google penalty recovery services.