Video is best viewed in Google Chrome or Firefox

Do you have a website? And if so, where does it rank on Google and other search engines? Are you on the first few pages or do you languish sight unseen way down the list?

As you know, many search engines will not allow you to search beyond the first 10-15 pages or so. This is to stop the harvesting of data. If the keyword(s) being searched yield say 400,000 results and you are not in the first 150 entries (15 pages x 10 search results per page) you are never going to be found by anyone doing a web search.

This clever tactic on the part of search engines (Google in particular) forces you to subscribe to the various Pay per Click (PPC) programs such as Google Adwords. In general, the more you pay the higher you will rank. There are exceptions. The ever increasing number of advertisers now being forced to use Adwords and other PPC programs to achieve higher rankings has resulted in a major transference of wealth meaning YOUR money is making the search engines (especially Google) very wealthy – without you necessarily getting any corresponding benefit.

Under a PPC program you pay for each and every click that someone makes on your advert. To get on page one of Google using major keywords you could be paying as much as £5 or more per click. And what do you receive for your money? Nothing really! Just a statement at the end of the month saying that you had say 200 clicks @ say £3 and debiting your credit card £600 + VAT. You are not given the names or any contact details of those who clicked. For all you know a number of clicks may well have come from your competitors checking you out – and you are paying for the privilege!!

Let’s say that after a while you have query and want to contact Google. You might even want to cancel. Now comes the fun part. Try finding a contact email address for Google on their website or even harder, a contact phone number. We did and gave up. Perhaps you’ll have more success. If so, let us know. The short answer is that for all but their largest advertisers, Google does not want to deal with you on a personal level. Everything is reduced to forms, and if for any reason your query is outside the box – well that’s just tough!

We figured there had to be a better, and less costly way (in terms of both money and frayed nerves) to feature on the first few pages of Google and other search engines. And the good news is that there is. It can be summed up in three absolutely magic words.

Google loves video. Let me repeat those again. Google loves video.

Through research and talking with industry professionals we have come to the firm conclusion that the easiest and quickest way to rank on Google and many other search engines is through having a short video about your company or its various products and services placed on You Tube, Google and other video sharing sites.

If you followed traditional paths to ranking on Google you would launch your site, optimise keywords, create reciprocal links with other sites, maybe place some articles with selected article directories – all of which are good and may eventually produce results if you are lucky. But remember, most of your competitors are probably doing the same thing and there’s only room for 10 websites on each page of Google and sometimes a well optimised business may have 3 or 4 spots on Page 1.

On the other hand, by producing a short, content driven video about your business, or individual products and services offered, with the appropriate keywords embedded you have a good chance of ranking well on Google and other search engines in a matter of days (sometimes hours for the very fortunate) rather than having to wait weeks or months.

Why is this? Simply put, Google is very much ‘customer focussed’. It wants the web user to have a good search experience because then he/she will return – time and time again – which is why Google at this stage totally dominates the search market and wants to remain the key player.

Google puts itself, not in your shoes, but rather in those of your potential customer. Over half of all online searches are now done through video even though the number of videos on the net is a minute fraction of the number of actual websites. Rather than reading a web page, evidence shows that many potential customers would prefer to see the real person behind the company, view some pictures or listen to a narrative about a particular product or service. Any of these approaches helps to build trust.

And if you can get your prospect to trust you, or see you as their friend, then you are at least half way towards securing a new customer.