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Question: How many times does the word "video" appear in these 13 popular "blog traffic tips" posts?

1. SEOmoz - 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic
2. Problogger - 5 ways to Increase your Blog Traffic
3. Seth Godin - How to get traffic for your blog
4. WebProNews - How To Build Traffic To Your Blog
5. WebProNews - The 12 Main Sources of Blog Traffic
6. JohnTP.com - How to increase your blogs traffic (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4)
7. PaulStamatiou.com - HOW TO: Boost Your Blog Traffic
8. SEO Book - 101 Ways to Build Link Popularity in 2006
9. Daily Blog Tips - Blog Project: 30 Traffic Generation Tips
10. Copyblogger - How to Attract Links and Increase Web Traffic – The Ultimate Guide
11. Performancing - 10 Tips for More Blog Traffic
12. StevePavlina.com - How to Build a High-Traffic Website (or Blog)
13. Sizlopedia - 9 Golden Tips For Bloggers To Get Unique Traffic

Answer: Zero.

Is it that difficult to use videos and video sharing sites to improve blog traffic?

"YouTube is an underdeveloped tool for most bloggers." - Anthony Lloyd

Marketing Experiments Journal recently conducted an experiment to test the theory that viral video clips can drive targeted traffic to your website:

"We created a total of 28 videos ranging in length from 15 seconds to 8 minutes. Each video had a 3-5 second promotion at the end of it, specifying a URL which indicated that there was a website that may be interesting or relevant to the viewer.  Videos were placed on YouTube and Google Video, and where possible, a link was provided on the same page as the video, which drove traffic back to the main website.  All of the video clips we shot were deliberately "amateurish" in their approach and production."

 They conclude:

"Although the video clips had no promotional message or content, 1.49% of viewers went on to become newsletter subscribers. In Just 60 Days, our videos were viewed over 324,000 times at no cost to us.  KEY POINT: With no additional work or money spent, we are projected to generate 382,444 views for October, which is more than we generated in the previous 2 months combined."

YouTube videos can help you get more blog traffic.  Here are 10 ways how:

1. Embed a YouTube video in a blog post.  People like videos.  Embedding a YouTube video is easy and free.  Blog readers are likely to return for more if they see that you pick interesting videos for them to watch.

2. Share a YouTube video link in an email.  It's a great way to grab someone's attention and form or strengthen a relationship with them.  You could also add a YouTube video link to your email signature.

3. Create your own video and share it at YouTube. Gunnar Berglund has some good tips on this.  Display your blog URL at the beginning and end of the video and in a video watermark if possible.  This will encourage people to visit your blog and discourage copycats from using your video to drive traffic to their own blogs.

4. Use your YouTube account to showcase your blog.  Your YouTube username, account homepage, video groups and individual video pages can all lead YouTube users to your blog.  Many bloggers use YouTube to spread awareness of their blog by mentioning and displaying their blog URL and name as frequently as possible throughout their YouTube videos and user pages.  Jim Kukral is one example: 

5. Use your blog to showcase your YouTube account.  Why not?  BlogTalks has a good case study.  Blog about your YouTube account.  Share your YouTube RSS feed via your blog.

6. Become an active YouTube user. Watch, rate and comment on other YouTube users' videos.  Contact them personally to ask for feedback on your own videos.  The more familiar you become with YouTube, the better your sense of how to use YouTube to drive traffic to your blog will become.

7. Tag your YouTube videos carefully.  What do YouTube users search for?  Add tags to your YouTube videos that relate to the video and reflect popular search terms or phrases to help YouTubers find your videos.

8. Post YouTube video links to your Twitter account.  Like this.  Again, a simple way to increase others' loyalty to you because of the content you produce or share.

9. Sponsor a YouTube video or user.  Approach the video blogger with a simple offer to pay for your blog URL to appear in their video(s), on their account page, or in the video information and tags area.  Think relevant.

10. Broadcast yourself.  Right now, grab a digital camera, camcorder or webcam and record yourself.  Go to YouTube, get an account if you haven't yet, and upload your video.  If you're bashful, that's okay - keep the video private.  But get familiar with this process.  Practice makes perfect and repetition improves speed and agility.  You'd be amazed how many people might appreciate seeing you describe yourself and your blog in a simple video.  Besides, it can't be any worse than my first YouTube video: 

The video cuts off prematurely, the sound isn't synchronized, the lighting and video quality are bad, it's tough to really tell what the point is - ain't it great?  It's called getting out of your comfort zone, making mistakes as you go and being human.  Come on in; the water's fine.

Examples of blogs that get more traffic with YouTube:

1. OurBollywood - Tanya Palta frequently embeds YouTube videos about Bollywood in her posts to encourage repeat blog visitors.
2. BlendTec - Who hasn't seen a "Will It Blend?" video?
3. WeblogHits - Excellent tips on how to use YouTube for blog traffic.

I hope these basic tips make you resolve to turn YouTube videos into blog traffic generators.

While this post focuses on YouTube, you should apply its principles to other video sharing sites as well.

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How else can you use YouTube videos to increase blog traffic?  Please leave a comment below.

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