Make YouTube Work for You

We've been hearing it a lot lately. Facebook and Twitter are two social networking sites that can help your business thrive.

But one very important Website is getting lost in hustle and bustle of new sites: YouTube.

Whether you're an individual starting your own private company, or a large corporation, you can make YouTube work for you. After all, it's called YouTube for a reason.

According to Mashable's Amy-Mae Elliott, there are 10 major ways to use YouTube to its fullest extent.

The first tip is all about your YouTube channel. Elliott suggests customizing it with company information, logo and colors. A second tip is to subscribe to similar companies' channels and appropriate content. Make YouTube 'friends' that have similar interests to what your channel will provide.

Next, go the extra mile and provide subtitles. When getting your company name out there, you don't want to exclude any particular person or group. However, tip number four suggests taking action to remove offensive material. If a user is continually posting irrelevant and inappropriate comments on your videos, remove and/or block them from commenting.

If you remove other users' irrelevant and annoying comments, don't post your own as well. Tip number five is a warning against too many annotations. Annotating your video is sometimes helpful, but having too many comments overlapping the video can be overwhelming for the audience.

If you really feel the need to tell your audience more about your videos, use tags. Tags are helpful because if someone is searching for a certain keyword that you tagged your video as, your videos show up in the search results.

Tagging is a great way to promote your videos, but don't forget about your other options. Use Facebook and Twitter to notify followers and friends of your latest video or content.

Tip number 8 encourages organization. Make sure your channel is organized and professional. You don't want visitors to leave because they can't find their way around your content.

Elliott also promotes using YouTube's analytical tools to stay on top of your followers. These tools can help you figure out who is watching your videos, how do they get there and how often do they revisit your channel.

Last but not least, don't let your hard work go to waste. Everybody hits a dry spell. Don't let it affect you and your channel. Keep it up to date, even if you don't have anything new to post. There is always going to be something you can update. So comment users back, post some pictures and accept those friend requests; just don't leave your channel dormant.