• Reel SEO , Thursday, October 9, 2008 3:15 PM

YouTube recently rolled out "click-to-buy" ads for music (and gaming) videos that let viewers click over to Amazon.com or iTunes and buy the music (or game) featured in the clips. Unfortunately, the ad units are geared toward YouTube "partners," which typically are larger, more established companies. Smaller businesses seeking to use the video property for e-commerce and search benefits need to try alternative measures, one of which Grant Crowell outlines in this post.

"For your YouTube Description field, lead with a hot URL to your Web site," Crowell says. "It serves as a direct call-to-action with good proximity to the video and how people's eyes normally go from left-to-right." Plug your call-to-action in on the first description line. A blender video, for example, could say "Buy our Super Ice Crusher blender here," and then enter the "hot" URL to the product page on your Web site next. In the following lines, add more product descriptions, relevant keywords and if there's room, details on what people will see when they click on the link.

"You can take this strategy even further," Crowell says. "Do a video for each individual product or service you have, and any popular and targeted subject matter. The Hot URL becomes your call-to-action landing page for every single video, allowing you to track your YouTube video-to-on-site conversion."

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