SHARING YOUR STORY

If They See It, They Will Come

How to increase your SEO rankings and sales conversions by utilizing videos. BY ANNA ZECK FOR FENDER BENDER MAGAZINE

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ASTING IMPRESSION: Having customized videos embedded into a website can be a great way to drive traffic and increase a shop’s search engine ranking, according to experts.

According to online research organization, Social Fresh, having short, informational videos aimed at customers on the homepage of your website can increase sales conversions – the amount of customers who take action after visiting your website – by 86 per- cent. And not only do they help inspire trust in your business and capture potential customers’ attention, they also help increase your SEO rankings organically. In fact, while Google is the number one most-used search engine, the second is YouTube, according to Google data.

“Many companies overlook the importance of hav- ing videos on their websites, blogs and social media,” says Rich Pannazzo, chief operating officer at AutoBody-Review. com. “We have become a visually stimulated and responsive society. We don’t like to read long messages, articles and documents. Most of today’s generation wants everything served up in a picture type info graphic or video. Top this off with the average attention span of today’s consumer and you are facing a completely different challenge.” And although creating a video that is professional, high quality and inspires trust sounds difficult, Pannazzo says it doesn’t have to be. There are simple steps that every shop can take to create videos that both capture customer attention and lead to high sales conversions.

1) Decide if you’re the best person to film the videos. First and foremost, truly consider whether you’re the best person to film the video. The biggest key to creating a video that inspires trust is making sure it’s professional. Carrie Goodrum, project man- ager at TruStar Marketing, says that if you don’t think you can get good video and sound quality with any potential camera equipment you have, don’t be afraid to go out and hire a professional videographer. “Every time I have created a video, I have used a professional to do it,” she says. “If it’s poor quality, I wouldn’t even post it. The whole point of this is to inspire trust and you’re not going to do that if you don’t have a quality video.”

In fact, hiring a professional doesn’t even have to

cost a lot. Goodrum says she generally finds free- lance videographers on Craigslist and has also used AV departments from local colleges, which only cost a cou- ple hundred dollars. Simply ask for past examples of their work and call a cou-

ple references to see what others thought of their work experience. “Really, I don’t think it should cost a lot of money to create a couple quick videos,” she says. “You could really create a new audience and customer that you didn’t realize you had the potential to get.” However, if you do feel confident in your ability to create a video in-house, Goodrum says that most DSLR cameras now have excellent video capabilities and could be used. She also recommends using exter- nal microphones for the best sound quality, a tripod and a simple video editing software.

2) When filming videos, think about your audience. More than anything, Goodrum says you want to create videos that speak to your target audience. “There are easy ways to create loyalty and create a customer base if you can create content that’s mean- ingful to the customer and that drives them to your site,” she says. “People are more likely to see you in person if they’ve gone to your website and you’ve already built a relationship with them.” Your videos should be both educational and enter- taining, says Goodrum. To get an initial idea, start by going on YouTube and watching similar videos that other shops or other industries have created. “There’s probably 10,000 of those on YouTube.

What’s going to set yours apart?” says Goodrum. “You could go on YouTube and you can look at five videos who have done this. What do or don’t you like about these videos? You don’t have to have a lot of experience to learn what you do or don’t like about this.” Next, create videos that your customers would want to see or that contain valuable information. That could include a facility tour, a video explaining the claims process or videos that answer common cus-

January-February 2016 | Automotive Recycling 45