Video marketing is becoming more popular for good reason: it works! According to Forrester Research, videos are 50 times more effective than text-only content when it comes to landing on the first page of Google for the specific keyword.

In addition to this, videos are a popular marketing tool for businesses today for other reasons, including the fact that they are inexpensive to produce. They also stay online forever, so the potential is there for them to continue receiving views for months and years to come.

Videos also go well with social media sites. Many social media sites actually encourage people to post videos.

Here are a few tips to help you optimize the videos you create to increase the odds of your videos reaching your target audience.

#1: Write a good title for your video.

In the same way that titles are important for blog posts, they are also important for videos, and help to increase traffic to your videos.

Titles are important for two reasons. First, they get people’s attention. Second, when keywords are used effectively in your video titles, they help your videos to be found in search engines, when people search for those keywords. A key point to remember is that YouTube is owned by Google, so there is a strong connection between videos and Google searches.

#2: Include great content in your videos.

Before creating your videos, take some time to consider your ideal viewer. Do you know what type of content they’ll find helpful? What types of things can you teach them? How-to videos are a great option because they not only provide helpful information to your viewers, they also help you to position yourself as an expert since they give you a great opportunity to demonstrate your skill and knowledge. Being positioned as an expert is an important part of branding.

Even videos with great content should be kept short, because if they are too long, you’ll lose the attention of your viewers. ComScore reported in late 2009 that the average length for videos is 3.8 minutes.

#3: Put your URL in your video

When you edit your video, be sure to include your URL in your video. You can do this by adding a text box with your URL to your video.

#4: Use video to build your brand.

For the purpose of branding, be sure to display your logo prominently on the video. You can do this at all times throughout your video, or during key times only.

#5: Always provide an HTML link to your website

YouTube videos allow you to include a short description of your video. At the beginning of your description, put a link to the place you want to drive viewers.

#6: Don’t stop with YouTube

Although YouTube is a great place to post your videos, be sure to always embed your videos on your own website. Videos increase help you to grow a captive audience and increase the amount of time people spend on your site.

In addition to this, Google algorithms look at the number of views your video receives, and everyone who watches your video other places, such as your own website, add to that number. This is important when it comes to showing up in Google searches.