Blog Tipz

Today, it’s extremely easy to incorporate video content into your blog. Whether you have a simple hand-held camera or a professional-grade camera, you can have video content uploaded to your blog within a matter of an hour or two after transferring it off of your camera, into an editing program, and embedding it into your blog.

Despite the fact that it’s easy to add video to blogs, there are many bloggers who have never even thought about adding video. I’ve added video to posts to help illustrate how features can be used. Most recently, it was in my review of the Retreat Theme. While this video isn’t necessarily one that I created, I placed it in the post as it is related to the content and can help someone get a better idea of how the feature worked.

I’m by no means a professional video editor or producer, but I want to share some tips with you to help you become more acquainted with blogging with video.

1. Understand the Limitations

Depending on what type of computer or video recorder/camera you use, you may face some limitations. For example, if you are recording directly off a laptop/monitor webcam, you may face some limitations in terms of quality. Much of the video online is now in high definition, so you may want to look for this feature if you are shopping for a new camera.

Another major draw-back of video recording is the fact that it’ll take more time to produce and publish the post than a similar text-based post with the same amount of content. For example, while it may take you thirty minutes to write, edit, and publish a one thousand word post, it may take fifteen minutes to do a single take of the video—you’ll likely need to start over repeatedly—plus the time to edit and upload the video.

Many online video hosting services let you annotate, or add notes, to the video ideal for adding links to resources you are mentioning or to the post where the video can be found. However, you’ll want to look for this feature when you choose a service (or two) to host your videos.

2. Realize Videos Won’t Work for all Content

There are essentially three main types of videos bloggers incorporate into their posts – interviews, screencasts, and personal speeches. Each of these has a key purpose, and you’ll want to evaluate what you want to accomplish in your video.

Once you have chosen what you want to talk about or mention in your video, you should follow these quick tips to ensure your video doesn’t bore your viewers/readers.

1. Edit the Video – Add transitions to the video so breaks or pauses between topics aren’t as evident, especially if you take a break between part of the video or if you make a mistake.
2. Add Creativity or Humor – If you simply create dull, boring videos, readers will likely avoid them the next time you publish them. It’s always good to add an interesting take on certain topics.
3. Rehearse or Write Down What You Want to Say – It might be good if you drafted the main points you want to say before beginning the video, or you’ll end up restarting the camera multiple times because you forgot what you wanted to say.
4. Keep the Video Short – Sure, you can go on and on about something, but most viewers don’t want to watch a video that’s an hour long about a product. Generally, a three to eight minute video will do.

3. Editing and Enhancing the Video

Like I already said, it is a good idea to edit the video to make it more appealing by the time it reaches your blog. There are many great programs available to edit videos with, whether you want to do it through a desktop or web-baed client.

• Screenr – This service has been built with integration into Twitter. You can quickly create a five-minute screencast through the service then embed it into your website or share it on Twitter.
• ScreenToaster – Similar to Screenr, this service lets you record screencasts, tutorials, demos, and more without downloading any application.
• Pixorial – Designed to help you edit and share videos all through one site, Pixorial is said to make the editing process “a marvel of simplicity.” 10GB of free storage is included for hosting your videos.
• Mac Users: iMovie is a free application that makes editing videos easy, accepting a wide array of video formats.
• Windows Users: Movie Maker also includes the ability to quickly edit and share movies or add simple transitions.

4. Getting the Video Published

Now that you’ve made edits to the video, it’s time to bring it online and share it with your visitors. This is sometimes one of the most challenging ideas to decide upon. For example, you can host the video through your own site if you have a powerful web server (and want others to directly host the video through your site), or you can choose to use an alternative service to do the hosting for you (and reach a wide audience this way).

• YouTube – As one of the most popular video sharing sites, it may be a good decision to host your video through YouTube. There is a good chance the site will still be around years from now, as so much media is hosted through the site.
• Blip.tv – Blip.tv is aimed at content producers who create independent shows, and has been around for nearly five years. You are given more control over how you license your content through this service than YouTube and you can also upload more than ten minutes per clip.
• Viddler – Similar in some respect to Blip.tv, Viddler also encourages content producers to upload and share content, and they also offer the ability to bring your content to Podcasts/iTunes as well as RSS. The video player is brandable, and you can also generate a profit from ads served through your videos.
• TinyPic – I can’t really recommend TinyPic too much, as you are given no control over your video. The only benefit is that you can upload videos without an accounts (although accounts are available), allowing you to eliminate the need to create a new account.
• Vimeo – Vimeo has a more elegant interface than some of the other sites, but you pay for that in the limitations – you can upload up to 500MB per week (unless you upgrade to a Plus Account). This won’t be a problem for most users, unless of course, you want to upload more than a video or two per week.

5. The Post Content Itself

When you publish a post focused on video, it is a good idea to also include some type of content to explain what is included in the video. This doesn’t have to be an in-depth review of the video, but an outline. For example, you can state that at minute two, you mention how to upload video, then at five and a half minutes, you explain the pros and cons of the service.

Otherwise, you can embed the video (although in a small(er) size into the sidebar or another portion of your website. Many of the themes I’ve showcased here include this ability.

Now that you know some of the basics about creating, uploading, and editing video, try it yourself on your own blog and let me know how it worked for you!

If you have any questions about uploading and sharing video, please feel free to ask in the comments area below.