Why Local Business Owners Should Market With YouTube

YouTube: A very popular place to host your local business videos for free.

However, it is not the only place. For example, Vimeo is another very popular option. With that said, why do I recommend placing your local videos on YouTube as your number one option?

Let’s take a look at 3 very powerful reasons.

Who Owns YouTube

Most people are aware that YouTube is owned by Google. If you happened to not have been in that camp, then now you are.

Interestingly enough I’ve never seen a local video from any other platform than YouTube rank organically on the front page of Google. Do you think there may be a reason for that?

You bet there is.

With that said, let’s say you are ranking a targeted local keyword phrase in the city where your business is located. You’ve earned a top ranking in Google’s snack pack and are ranking nicely organically. What effect do you think having a video show up within these same results have?

DEFINITION

Define Snack Pack: In terms of Google, these are the top 3 entries that show up on the Google Maps display on the first page of Google which is sandwiched between Google’s AdWords ads and the organic results that follow its placement.

Define Keyword: A targeted word or combination of words that you believe and research suggests will be likely to be searched on Google by potential clients and customers needing the type of services your local business offers.

It will without a doubt increase your local exposure. Click To Tweet

If all is done correctly, that in turn will likely lead to more people visiting your site which increases potential client and customer conversions which is an obvious win for your local company’s success.

But it doesn’t stop there.

The Power of Backlinks

Earlier this week I did an article on how important citations are for your local business.

I’ve yet to delve into this whole topic of building backlinks which I plan to do in a future article. What I can say here is that while Local MOZ ranks the importance of citations at around 13% backlinks (especially local backlinks) have 20% importance within that same study.

DEFINITION

Define backlinks: Links from external sources that point people to your property.

Define local backlinks: Geographical backlinks that are from sources within your given location.

NOTE: There is much more to backlinks than that which is defined above. I’ve simplified the definitions here to keep in line with how they relate to the topic at hand.

Not all backlinks are created equal. Depending on the source from where they are placed they are weighted differently.

Guess how much weight Google gives to backlinks from its own property of YouTube?

Multiple Backlinks from YouTube

By now you should be convinced about the importance of YouTube for your local ranking on Google. However, it gets better.

First, every time you create a new video you can place a link back to your Website within the description part of the equation. I generally place two.

Before anything else, I put a link to a related piece that is on my Website. Then I will give a brief identification of what that link is about. Next, comes, the heart of the description. Finally, I will conclude the description area with exactly what we stated with ending it all with the link.

NOTE: In case you decide to re-engineer my description process you will see that LinkedIn comes into the equation. It is a deeper part of my entire process which is beyond the scope of this article.

Did you think we were beyond the scope of creating backlinks on YouTube?

We aren’t.

How to Create Your Profile Backlink

YouTube allows your local business to identify one link and 5 social properties in the header part of your YouTube channel.

DEFINITION

Define Channel: Within YouTube users can create specific groupings of videos (ie your local business video collections) often made up of playlists that help people find all videos related to a specific topic.

Define Playlist: Laser-focused topically related segregations of videos combined together for viewers to gain a full understanding of a targeted point within an overall subject category.

NOTE: Playlists can go outside of the above definition, but it is offered forward as a general guideline definition rather than being all-inclusive.

I have found the process of getting to where you can setup or edit YouTube profile links a bit cumbersome. So that you don’t have to experience the same confusion that I did I offer the following steps.

First, you want to be on your own YouTube channel where the screen will look something like the following but branded to what you are doing instead of me. The top circle displays where your link that you are creating will show up.

NOTE: You need to be logged into the YouTube account that is associated with the channel that you are attempting to update links within for this to work.

The blue button that reads “customize channel” is what you need to select in order to begin the process of accessing the links location.

On the next screen, you will see absolutely nothing until you move your mouse into the upper right corner. Doing so will display a pencil with two options. For this activity you need to select “edit links.”

This is the really confusing part of the process in my opinion.

After selecting “edit links” you will be taken to a screen that displays all your link information as indicated by the red circle in the lower left. The problem is that none of these entries are able to be edited at this point.

To begin editing you first need to click the blue button that reads “customize channel” for a 2nd time.

You are now taken to a screen that includes this section where you are able to update your visible links. Along with your website link you can have up to 5 social media profile connections viewable.

Enter your details and select save. Once done your links will be updated and able to be reviewed like is displayed in the first image of this sequence.

YouTube as Your Local Search Engine

While Google is definitely where you want to be found as a local business in today’s online marketing world it should be noted that YouTube is a search engine in its own right.

YouTube is interesting.

I’ve heard it referred to as a search engine like I have done here.

I’ve heard it referred to as a social networking platform though some disagree.

Whatever the case, it cannot be denied that YouTube is popular and people are watching videos on this channel all the time. Click To Tweet Therefore, being found here is highly advisable because it will continue to increase the exposure of your local business.

Concluding Thoughts about Placing Your Local Videos on YouTube

We’ve seen 3 powerful reasons why you should consider YouTube as part of your local SEO marketing plan.

Increased exposure on Google for targeted keywords.
Creation of backlink power in two very defined ways.
Increased findability from YouTube direct searches.

While all 3 of these points are certainly important, I’m sure there are other reasons YouTube videos should be a strategic part of your local business marketing plan.

What additional thoughts would you include?

What questions does this entire conversation bring out?

Feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns in the comments below.

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Guy Siverson

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at ViralTNTeam

My mission is to deliver high quality online marketing information that you can easily grow your business by. Please use the comments below to ask about points I missed, provide further thoughts of wisdom or request new topics for me to cover. Thanks in advance. I look forward to being your one stop shop for all things related to the online marketing niche.