Everyone knows that video is a great way to get attention, spread the word, or keep your reader’s interest. A while ago I talked about wrapping your video in great content to give the search engines something to find. We also talked about adding value to your posts with video, but we didn’t address how to find a great video and how to share it.

One of the best places to find a good video is on YouTube.

You can create your own video, of course, and post it to YouTube without too much trouble. You should give it a try; it’s actually quite fun and relatively easy if you have a few basic tools, including a webcam and some editing software. Most newer computers come with everything you need.

Finding a video on YouTube is pretty easy to do. Just visit YouTube.com and perform a search in the box at the top of the screen. You can search for anything such as a product or company name, an event, or keyword. Expect to get a lot of hits and to weed through a few videos before you find the perfect one.

If you are looking for a company video, you can usually find them posted to the company channel, which will feature a group of videos from the same company or sponsor.

Once you have located your video, there are a couple of options for sharing:

First, to include the video on a blog page, all you’ll have to do is copy the embed code from the YouTube page and paste it into your post. To do this, look to the right of the video and click on the box marked ‘embed’. This will open a drop-down section that allows you to select from a handful of options including whether or not to add a frame to the video, what color the frame should be (to match your site) and a size that will work best for your template.

Make the appropriate adjustments and simply copy the line of code in the ‘embed’ box. Paste this code into your blog post and you have now added a video. The video will play right on your site and your readers won’t have to leave your page.

The other way to easily share a YouTube video is to click the ‘Share’ tab just below the video. This tab will open a few options including one-click links to share to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

When you click a share link you will be given an opportunity to add a comment to the video that will appear with the link on your social network page. Easy!

Sharing video from your company is a great way to spread the word, and is a great way to get a corporate message out without having to repeat it yourself. This can open the doors to a more engaging conversation after your readers or friends have seen the video and have a visual background of your products or services.

If your company doesn’t have a video posted to YouTube, take the initiative and create one yourself. Be sure to get the usual permissions for copyrights and trademarks, and be sure to stick to the features and benefits of the product without extending your liability.

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