Adding a Vlog to Your Blog

Want to increase the popularity of your blog, gain more visitors and strengthen your relationship and authority with those existing fans?

One of the most effective ways to do all these things is to add video to your site. Not only is video highly engaging and difficult to look away from, it’s also highly persuasive and very personal. For building a ‘personal brand’ in particular, this is one of the very best ways to let your visitors get to know you.

Creating Your Vlog

The best way to create a vlog is by creating a YouTube channel, which you can brand to be in-keeping with your site. YouTube lets you upload videos which you can then easily share on social media and embed into your content.

Next you’ll need to create your videos. To do this, all you need is a camera (your phone camera is likely good enough if it can record in 1080p) and you’ll need a topic. In terms of topics, you can actually be very successful by making video versions of your most popular articles. You can even just read them out! You can then either upload your footage ‘unedited’ or you can upload it after making it look more professional with software like Adobe Illustrator or the free Movie Maker.

Tips for Creating Great Looking Videos

Shy to step in front of the camera? Keep in mind then that you can easily create content for your videos using PowerPoint presentations, or animated ‘whiteboard’ software.

Alternatively, if you’re going to film yourself talking, take some time to look at popular videos in your niche to see how they do it.

Some universal truths that will help you to be a success are:

* Think about lighting and ideally try to be lit from the side. This is called ‘Rembrandt lighting’.

* Consider your audio too – filming with a mic is the best option if possible.

* Dress smart but don’t look like you’re trying too hard.

* When reading, pause between each sentence. You can also just talk naturally which will come across as friendlier and more natural.

* Think about your background and try to set up a corner of a room that will look professional. You can even try hanging a poster with your logo on it for added bonus points!

Post a few videos regularly and upload them as articles on your site. You’ll find that it adds more to the site and brings in lots of new fans!