Every day, entrepreneurs put videos on YouTube that are full of potentially costly mistakes. When used properly, YouTube can be a source of enormous traffic, yet when entrepreneurs make the mistakes described below, more often than not their video fails.
Looking at the Screen, Not the Camera
It is very tempting to look at your computer screen when you are recording a video, but it is important to keep in mind that for the viewer, when you are looking at your monitor it looks as though you are looking down or off to the side. The only time it looks as though you are making eye contact is when you look directly into the camera. Therefore, if you are using a camera to record yourself, always look directly into the camera.
Bad Sound
Having shoddy video quality is one thing, but having shoddy audio will ruin your chances of success. If viewers can’t hear what you’re saying, that is infinitely worse than having a fuzzy video. Make sure your audio is not too loud and not too soft. Above all, make sure the audio is not too fuzzy. Get a better microphone before you get a better camera. Also try sound editing software to remove any background noise.
Poor Keyword Choice
If you are using YouTube as a marketing tool, it is crucial that you select good keywords to put into your title. That way, when people search for something related to what you are targeting, your video will come up.
Of course, just having your keyword in your title doesn’t mean you will rank for the search. A number of factors, including views, comments and video responses, all go into determining where you rank. That said, if you don’t have your keyword in the title, you almost definitely will not rank.
No Contact Information or Call to Action
Now that you can put links in your video, there is absolutely no excuse to not have a solid call to action included in your video. Even if you are not using it as a primary marketing tool, you want to be linking to your website to build your brand and build your list, so you can send viewers more videos and more content in the future.
If you don’t get them to your website, you’re wasting a lot of the trust and positive emotional associations you have created by showing them a great video. Put either your contact information or your website in your video. Better yet, link directly to it from within your video and in your description.
These are some of the more common mistakes entrepreneurs make when putting videos on YouTube. Above all, make sure you avoid these mistakes.
