Too Many Options – Which Social Media Tool to Choose?
June 6th, 2010 
Posted in With the emergence of social media platforms many clients are confused about which ones they should use for their business. If not planned correctly Social Media can take over your life and return little results. The one key to remember is that Social Media is social and you are there to build relationships. Keeping that in mind will make the progress easier. Below I have listed the big four Social Media platforms and why you should use them.
The Big Four are:
- YouTube
I also recommend to my clients there is no need being on 30 social media sites and not spending any time on them. Pick a couple and work them through. If you can manage them, you can then add more later if needed. So what is the difference between Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & LinkedIn? Which one should you be on?
My favourite and the original. Started by a college student as a way to connect with students, Facebook now has over 500 millions users. 50% of these users log on daily for an average of 55 minutes. Facebook’s style is relaxed, fun and like a party. Users are of all ages with the majority between 25 – 45. The largest growing demographic on Facebook is 55 plus. Some users are business owners whist others are employees, mums and retirees. Users have the choice of personal profiles, business pages and groups.
Twitter is a micro blogging site where users express themselves in 140 characters (similar to an SMS on a mobile phone). Users can be individuals, businesses and celebrities. Users follow you to gain access to your Tweets (information you share). Most of the users with large followings are celebrities. It’s style is similar to Facebook – fun and relaxed. Your Facebook and Twitter accounts can be integrated together saving you time.
YouTube
YouTube is a video sharing website where you can upload videos. When uploading videos you can also add descriptions and tags that are used for search engines to find them. The best videos are the ones that go viral (spread organically through recommendations). Theses are fun and interesting videos. YouTube videos are now coming up on the front page of Google so make sure you add a link to your website in the description. YouTube has a mix of fun, interesting, professional, corporate and how to videos. Ideally all businesses can take advantage of videos.
LinkedIn is know for the professional, business based users. All users are either business owners, in the corporate world or have corporate clients. If you think of Facebook as a fun party where LinkedIn is a party where your managing director is present. So it’s more formal and business based, less personal updates and more business focused. On Facebook and Twitter people will share what they had for breakfast whilst on LinkedIn they are discussing business challenges and the economic climate. It’s not my favourite but it really depends on your business and it may be the best platform for you and your business.
If you aren’t sure about which category you should focus on contact us for a Social Media Strategy Session – available in person, over the phone or via Skype.
How To Upload Your First Video To YouTube
Ok, so you have created your own YouTube Account. If you don’t know how to do this visit our previous post: How To Create A YouTube Account.
Once you have created your own YouTube account you can upload your own videos. Make sure you have your username and password read for your Google Account and that you know where your videos are located on your computer.
If you have all that ready, follows these steps up to upload your first video to YouTube.
1. Go to YouTube
2. Sign into your account.
3. Click on Upload which is located in the top bar near the centre
4. Click on Upload Video Again – the yellow button.
You can also record straight from a web cam, however I wouldn’t recommend this.
5. Located the video from your computer and click upload.
6. Whilst this is uploading enter the details about the video – including Title, Description, Category. Make sure you include a link to your website.
You can choose to make your video:
Public – everyone can see it
Private – only selected YouTube Users can see it
Unlisted – only people with a link you provide them can see it. This link will automatically be provided by YouTube.
7. Click Save.
8. Your Video is now uploaded and you can embedded it in your website if you wish.
How to Create A YouTube Account
YouTube is great for uploading videos about your business, testimonials from your clients and any other videos your client would benefit from. We use YouTube to upload “How To” videos to assist people with their Social Media and Online Marketing efforts. Most often you are able to upload videos directly to your own website, however if you upload them to YouTube you get the benefit of increased traffic and potentially your video could go viral. It also means your video will load faster as it is on the YouTube servers not your own web servers and they are optimised for videos. In order to upload any videos to YouTube you first need a YouTube account. So here is how to create your own YouTube Account.
1. Go to www.youtube.com
2. On the top right corner – click on “Create Account”
3. Complete the form including: username, location, date of birth, gender and then click “I Accept”
4. You then need to login using a Google Account – if you don’t have one you can also create one here.
You can only link one Google Account to one YouTube Channel – so you will need to create another one if you want to open more than one YouTube Account.
After you create an account you will be asked to verify your email address and then your account is created.
YouTube for SEO?
Social Media is fast becoming the new Search Engine Optimization. According to website ranking’s YouTube is now the second largest search engine in the world. Google of course is number one, and many would think that Yahoo or Bing would take second place. But no, YouTube – a video site!! Who has only been around for 5 years has taken the number two position. Interestingly YouTube is owned by Google – which means Google is really competing with themselves for number one and number two position.
Many business owners don’t think of using Social Media sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for increasing their search engines rankings however, often using these sites can not only be a quicker way to increase your rankings but often more cost effective and can return better results. If you think, all websites are trying to compete in the traditional Google rankings, why not stand out and compete in a market which isn’t as crowded and as the potential to return higher results quicker. With 20 mins, and a little knowledge you can create your own YouTube account and upload your first video and already be on your way to increased rankings.
Google search results now include Twitter and YouTube Video (often on the front page). Why not use these medias to increase your rankings?
This blog post was prompted by an article I saw on The Age – My Small Business Blog – How to impress the number-two search engine (and it’s not Yahoo!).
David Wilson, the author, gives you 6 steps on how to use YouTube to increase your rankings.
Let me know what you think of the article. I would also be interested to know, how you are using YouTube in your business and what results you are receiving. Please leave a comment below.