Have you (or anyone you know) done any really stupid activities at some point in the past ten years?  If so, there is a pretty good chance that you are on YouTube.  That ubiquitous, user dominated site (which naturally sold for millions of dollars) is a prime place for a little cleverly disguised small business SEO.  But you have to think it through, and follow some common sense steps, if you want to get first page placement through the use of videos.

For one thing, you have got to have a plan.  Just like any other part of your organic SEO plan, your YouTube video has got to be a carefully, brilliantly orchestrated work of advertising art worthy of Andy Warhol.  You can not just turn on the camera, stutter for a minute while you think up something you want to say, and then start mumbling or slurring it out.  When it comes to making a great viral video, planning is paramount.

For another thing, you need to know who you are making this video for.  If you are trying to attract skaters, you would obviously want to go about film making from a wholly different mind set than if you were out to attract college professors.  While there is doubtless a bit of overlap between the two groups, you are going to want to understand how your target market thinks – and skaters and college professors likely think way differently.

And for possibly the most important part, make sure you use the right web presenter.  If you choose an actor who is completely alien to your target audience, you had better make sure that the person is alien in a funny and or interesting way.  If you are marketing to college students, for instance, you would most likely not want to employ a circus clown – unless you intended to have him deliver his lines in a completely deadpan way, which would add some subversive ironic value to the piece.

And finally, remember that a viral video is not just an ad.  It has to give some kind of value to your target audience.  People are super sensitive to “that’s just an ad,” and they have the power (and a good reason) to click away if they think you are just trying to sell them something.  While a video can give you great organic SEO, it can also hurt your reputation, if you turn into spam.