How to Use YouTube to Be a Better Blogger [in 2021]

By: | May 1, 2016 | Tags: , , |

Be a Better Blogger with YouTubeAre you aware of the pros of YouTube?

If you were a store owner, would you advertise in only one place if money were no object?

Probably not.

Yet many bloggers don’t engage in widespread promotion of their blogs. They limit themselves.

Using additional platforms to advertise your blog sites will increase your chances of being found.

When that platform is a mega giant like YouTube, with over one billion users, your chances of having your blog discovered skyrocket.

This post will explain how to use YouTube to increase your blog traffic, improve your SEO, save time with blog promotion via such tools as Prodvigate.com, and help your readers.

Why Everyone is Using YouTube

Spread your wings. You don’t have to only stick to the top four– Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+– for blog promotion. I realize you may not even have time for all of those four sites.

If time is limited, you should promote where you have the best chance of a return on your time investment. One billion users could definitely bring you quite a return on your time invested.

Research shows that YouTube has the best ROI, more than any other social media platform.

According to blogger Daniela Uslan,

Blog posts are great. They’re powerful (when done right)
 But they’re just one tool in a huge arsenal
. When you only write blog posts and ignore all of the other marketing tools out there – like webinars, challenges, Facebook ads, email marketing, etc. – you’re essentially crippling your ability to grow your audience.

YouTube is one of the “tools” in Daniela’s “arsenal.”

Blogger Ileane Smith not only has blog posts and YouTube videos in her “arsenal,” she has podcasts as well.

Videos are predicted to rise in importance this year and in the foreseeable future. Since the majority of people are visual learners who learn by watching a video, this is not surprising.

Testimonials that YouTube is Valuable

One of my readers is YouTube star Amanda Russell who has close to  80,000 subscribers. She is also a marketing professor. If a teacher who gets paid to tell people how to market believes YouTube is valuable, that should be a convincing testimonial. We are all marketers. We are trying to sell people on the idea of subscribing to our blogs.

Michael Noker‘s testimonial that YouTube helps bloggers: Having videos is a great way to provide more engaging content on your blog, so if you have solid writing, great photos and graphics, AND great videos, you’re a lot more likely to keep visitors entertained and engaged. It’s also a good community for finding other people who share your interests. It is harder to get noticed on YouTube than other platforms (like Instagram), but it is possible, especially if you’re good with SEO since YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine.

MySnippetsof Inspiration blog also claims that YouTube is helpful for bloggers.

Reasons YouTube is Valuable for Bloggers

YouTube will help you in several ways.

  • It helps to advertise your blog so you can get visitors to your blog. Even blogging guru Ryan Biddulph claims that “videos convert like crazy.”

Blogger and marketer Mark Newsome explained videos will direct your readers both visibly and audibly to your blog.

He also has happy readers make him testimonials on YouTube. According to Mark, videos give you more exposure. He stated, “I currently have 427 mini sales reps, (aka) YouTube videos working for me 365 days a year, even on major holidays and weekends!”

  • Making videos is a quick way to promote your blog. You can make your videos as short as you want and still bring attention to your blog.
  • Since 65% of all readers are visual learners, you will help the majority of the people who visit your site by using it.
  • It will reduce your bounce rate. By embedding your videos into your blog posts that you make on YouTube, you will keep readers on your site longer, and your bounce rate will improve. It will take your readers much longer to bounce off your site.

Is Reducing Bounce Rate Important?

When asked if reducing your bounce rate was important,  Magnet4Blogging answered,

Yes absolutely, for SEO purposes for sure, it is said that the higher your bounce rate the further down the search results your posts and pages will end up, so having reasonably low bounce rate is important for improving your rankings naturally.

Facebook groups even have threads exist for the sole purpose of lowering members’ bounce rates.

YouTube Strategy

  • The strategy for getting people to come to your site from YouTube would be similar to what I’d recommend for Medium— give people a teaser. Make what you share brief. Then, if they want the added information, they need to click your link.
  • Give a Call to Action at the end of the video. Tell users to go to your site to get additional information about the topic.
  • People buy YouTube subscribers.
  • Annotate your video, so the name of your blog is always visible. Mark Newsome uses a special “landing page” for this, so he knows from his referral traffic if people are coming from YouTube.
  • Post engaging videos. Here are ideas: YouTube Video Ideas Generator.

Instructions for annotating your video:

I take the video with my phone.

I send the video to YouTube.

Then, I annotate it, so my blog site URL shows.

YouTube helps bloggers

Annotate by clicking the dialogue bubble.

Annotate Your You Tube Video to Get Blog Traffic

Make sure the red line is pulled all the way across the length of the video, or your blog URL won’t be visible during the entire video.

If you make a mistake, it’s easy to delete the video.

When you go to your YouTube Channel, Click Video Manager. This will bring up a list of your videos. Click delete.

YouTube brings blog traffic

Screenshot: Courtesy of Mark Newsome

Note: In order to send YouTube videos from your computer to YouTube, you may have to download software.

Mark Newsome recommends Jing, a free tool.

How to Embed a YouTube Video in Your Blog Post

These instructions are for WordPress users:

When you are in edit mode, click Add Media.

Click “Insert from URL”.

Conclusion

In conclusion, video creation as a form of advertising is definitely the current trend. Even Facebook has gotten into the act with Facebook videos. Someone recently left me a video message on Twitter.

Video creation will help you advertise your blog and increase your chances of being found on search engines. It will save you time since making a short video has the potential to bring you massive blog traffic. Sharing your content in the form of a video will also help your readers who learn by looking at visuals.

I am sure you are thinking that you already have enough to do, and now I am suggesting you make videos. Did you see how short my video was? It was 42 seconds long. I recommend just giving one tip. Then tell them if they want more information, to go to your blog.

Do you have 42 seconds to try to tap a market with one billion users? I think so.

Please share so other bloggers and site creators know how to use the power of YouTube to get visitors to their sites.

What do you think readers? Is video creation something you might try? I look forward to your views in the comments section.

Related Posts:

How to Create Content Your Blog Readers Will Love– Guaranteed

Here are 29 Great Reasons You Should Medium to Blog Now

How to Make Your Bounce Rate Look Amazing

http://pixlrtemplates.com explains how to get a banner image the right dimensions for your YouTube account.

  1. John Doe

    Thank you. Doing something on YouTube seem so complicated before, now you’ve made it seem so easy. All your students must think you’re great teacher

    • Janice Wald

      I read a lot. In this case, Mark Newsome was pretty inspirational. He used it often.
      Janice

  2. Clarissa Wilson

    Hi Janice!

    Great information as always! I started making Youtube videos a little while ago but didn’t think to put my blog URL in the video. I will have to look it up to find out how to add a blog URL with Blogger. Thanks for this information! Very helpful.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Clarissa,
      Thanks for the visit. I am glad you enjoyed the article. I would think annotating a Blogger URL would be the same as annotating a WordPress URL. It’s the same as typing into a text box in a WordProcessor.
      Janice

      • Clarissa Wilson

        Hi Janice,

        Thanks for the information. I will have to try it for my next video. Great information as always! You are an inspiration to all of us bloggers! Keep at it. 🙂

          • Clarissa Wilson

            No, thank you for this blog post and every other blog post you write. They are always so helpful!

          • Janice Wald

            Thanks!!

  3. Michael Noker

    Wow, that Michael Noker guy seems so insightful! I’m totally gonna have to check out some of the YouTubers you mentioned – I feel like our shared taste in blogs gives us an automatic connection.

    Brilliant article as always!

    • Janice Wald

      Awww… Thanks Michael! And thanks for providing the testimonial I used.
      Janice

  4. Carolann

    I made sure to sub to everyone’s YT channel you mentioned here. Thanks again for all of the awesome tips! I have a few vids up and intend on really kicking it up on my YT channel this year. You always hit the nail on the head!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Carolann,
      I subscribed to your YouTube channel! I am looking forward to seeing your videos. Thanks for the kind words about my article and supporting the people that helped me with the article by subscribing to them on YouTube.
      Janice

  5. Susan Langer

    Great information. Not sure I am ready to use youtube yet but info is useful. 🙂

    • MsLazyplay

      YouTube is a wonderful medium but it is difficult to be “seen” on there. Some “secrets” I have learned in my six years on YT :
      1. YT is a social site. You will need to watch, rate, and comment on other people’s videos if you want the same in return. It is the rare channel that can just upload a video and get thousands of views.
      2. An attractive thumbnail photo for your video is essential. If the thumbnail is boring or hard to see, no one is going to click on it.
      3. Make sure to use “tags” or keywords when you upload your video. This helps your video show up in searches.

      • Clarissa Wilson

        Wow! Great information you just shared. Thanks for the tips! I am definitely going to try them to get my videos seen more. 🙂

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Susan,
      I am just beginning to explore YouTube, but so many people rave about it. If you read these other comments here, YouTube as a tool is getting glowing reviews.
      Janice

  6. Mark

    What an excellent post Janice!

    As usual, you are extremely thorough and you provided a ton
    of excellent resources!

    And I couldn’t agree more with you and & the other experts assessment, about
    strategically using youtube!

    As you pointed out, a billion users is a proven resource you can’t easily ignore!

    Great post and many thanks for the mention!

    I know your readers will get value and benefit once they apply your proven advice!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Mark,
      Thanks, as always, for being my YouTube coach. Your successful use of it inspired me to explore it and write about it. Thanks for providing the screenshot that shows us how to delete a video. I hope you saw I gave you credit for proving it.
      Janice

  7. GiGi Eats

    As you may know, I am the YouTube blogger 😉 Every week I post a YouTube video with my blog posts (unless they’re guest posts or I am traveling)… I am known for my quirky, outside of the box videos – and I feel naked if a blog post doesn’t have one included! ha ha!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Gigi,
      I just subscribed to your YouTube channels. You have thousands of subscribers! Congratulations!
      Thanks for writing and giving support that YouTube is a great medium to use.
      Janice

  8. Jacqueline

    It makes sense to spread one’s reach as much as possible. Great information ?

    • Janice Wald

      Thanks, Jacqueline. I made a new YouTube video today, and that is exactly what I said in my tip of the day. There are people who advise only focusing your promotion on just one site. I believe you should maximize your reach as much as possible.
      I met a friend of yours this week– Dehan. I saw you at her site.
      Thanks for the visit and for writing.
      Janice

  9. Janice Wald

    I wanted to let everyone know that you can put the annotation anywhere. It does not have to be at the top like in my example.
    Janice

  10. Tracy Campbell

    I personally love watching YouTube videos. I learn so much more. Janis, the problem is I’m camera shy. This post was excellent! 🙂 You look great on video too.

    • Janice Wald

      LOL, Thanks Tracey. Great to see you. Thanks for the compliment on my post and how well I look on video =).
      Janice

  11. Ryan Biddulph

    Hi Janice,

    Thanks for the mention!

    Videos create that personal touch that’s tough to achieve thru the written word. Even if you whip folks into a frenzy thru your written articles, sure helps to drill the point home with videos.

    I am a writing and video ham. So love to churn out eBooks and videos at a break neck pace.

    If I was not so busy writing eBooks I’d do a video a day. Alas, I’ve not found the 25th hour 😉

    Signing off from kinda sunny NJ.

    Ryan
    Blogging From Paradise

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Ryan,
      I am excited you dropped by!
      Your comment, that you would make a video a day if you were not so busy, inspired me. I read your comment and made another video! Thanks for the inspiration. I think many of us want to step up our “YouTube game” after this post.
      It was my pleasure to include you in my article. Thanks for sharing it on Twitter.
      Janice

  12. dgkaye

    Thanks for this helpful info Janice. This is something I’d definitely want to try out in the near future. I think we are given a youtube url when we sign up with Google? I can’t seem to remember how to get it, lol. My bad. 🙂

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Debby,
      I am sorry, but I am not sure. I have had a YouTube account for many years and don’t remember. I thought I made an account, but I may not have had a Google account yet. It’s pretty easy to make one if that’s what you need to do. I don’t remember any problem with it.
      I saw you shared the article on Google+. Thank you so much!
      Janice

  13. Cathy Lawdanski

    Great instructions! I have done a few videos and posted on my FB page,then did a few FB lives. They really increase my engagement! I need to get my YouTube Channel set up, since I’m doing videos anyway. Thanks for showing me how!

  14. Victoria

    Thanks for this! Adding videos is on my To Do. Bookmarking. Visiting from Saturday Sharefest.

  15. Kimsea Sok

    Janice, another awesome article as I always found it here.

    We, blogger wrote tutorial and many awesome content. You know? Mostly, I love to watch the video for any tutorial I want to improve my skill. Video make better understand and real practising.

    Always, I understand YouTube is great for syndicate the content. I plan to convert my article to Video and get more traffic from what I’ve work.

    Thanks for sharing!

  16. Katie Jenkins

    Hi there, Janice! This is such a terrific post. I love how you clearly showed us how to annotate our videos! I absolutely need to go back and do that for my small vlog collection. Speaking of, my YouTube page is PA. THE. TIC. I have TWO subscribers. Yup. Two.

    I’m sure my main problem is the trouble I have promoting my own videos. Sharing a video of myself across all of my social media kinda makes me feel braggy. The funny thing is, I almost never look at someone else sharing their own video and think they’re full of themselves. Yet somehow when I do it, I feel like I’m some snob trying to be the center of attention.

    I guess the only way to get over that is to suck it up and do it anyway…OR maybe you have a tip for that up your sleeve??? 🙂

    This post, along with many others you’ve written, is one I’ll read again and again. Thank you so very much for this awesome resource.

  17. Mary Grace Faulkerson

    Great article! I think that in gaining YouTube views; it’s the title, content, description and thumbnail that matters and of course, the viewer\s interest.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Mary Grace,
      I have tried those things, but sadly, my YouTube following is still small.
      Janice

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