Tagging
Tags are simply labels to help people find and sort your information. If you can make it, you can tag it: text, blogs, bookmarks, audio, video, photos and even code snippets can all be tagged. The tags are used by sites like YouTube, Flickr, Technorati, and del.icio.us.
Leverage Other Services
Using services like YouTube and Flickr isn't only to save on bandwidth—it's also a great way to put your content and ideas into new places. The key is to follow a set of simple rules to achieve maximum impact:
- Make a dedicated account
Consider this like having a business bank account: you'll want to make an account on each site that is separate from your personal account in every way.
- Use labels and descriptions
The more completely you can describe a video or picture, the more likely searchers are to find it. Add text, keywords, tags, titles and anything else that you are offered on the site.
- Organize your information properly
Group your media together in logical ways, just like you would organize your own websites into a hierarchy. Consider having a professional landing page which gives information about your company as well as displays the thumbnails in your collection.
- Participate
YouTube and Flickr are social networking sites themselves. To aid your marketing efforts, you can make comments on other people's photos or videos, add your media to group pools and other activities, or encourage other people to embed your content on to their own site. (Remember to put your URL into any photo or video that might be hosted remotely!)
Use Novelty
Using new methods of reaching people instead of just text is a great way to create novelty and get people talking. Some examples of this are:
- Use graphics
One of the greatest uses of graphics that come to mind is Kathy Sierra's charts and pictures on her blog, Creating Passionate Users. Instead of just putting text on the screen, she used some really funny and creative imagery to get her point across and make the site lively. These graphics also get linked to often because of their originality.
- Try another medium
Are your pages too boring? Try adding video, audio/podcasting, or sketchcasting to your pages. If you make this content available to embed on other web pages, you can also have your readers market it for you! As an added bonus, you can reach a wider audience now that you are attracting both visual and auditory learners.