Yet another interesting study revealed from HitWise. After April’s graphs related to Bing gaining more market share in the UK, this month’s data relates to how social networking websites are gaining/losing market share within the UK Internet users and main focus is on the most popular video sharing website – YouTube.

If in April 2010 YouTube had about 16.92% share of visits on social networking sites, this year it has grown and passed the 20% mark – 20.03%. Easier said, if in April 2010 1 of 6 visits to social networking sites were on YouTube, now it counts for 1 in 5 visits – in the United Kingdom.
However, Facebook is still the most popular social networking site from UK with around 54.80% share in April 2011, a slow growth from April’s 2010 53.84%. Although Facebook is way ahead YouTube, since 2008 the video sharing website has been growing steadily in popularity, going from 8 to

number 3 in only 3 years.
What these facts tell us: Facebook and YouTube should be used in each and any social marketing campaign due to their popularity. Even though from an SEO perspective they might not be so “helpful”, in the end it is traffic/conversions what makes a business grow and earn money and by using these 2 channels in an appropriate manner things can definitely improve in terms of visitors/popularity

As for any content that is placed online, whether we are talking about articles, guest posts or even photos, YouTube videos can also get some push if properly optimised. This video channel is very popular nowadays and can definitely be a good method for scoring some laser-targeted visitors to your website.

Here are some tips for optimising YouTube videos:

1. Use keywords in title and description

This does not mean you should stuff keywords and go on the darker side, just make sure you are using a title that gets some searches and use the keywords in your description as well.

2. Always use the URL in description

Using URL in description will not only get you a backlink pointing to your website but it can also get some clicks/visits if your video is worthy.

3. Always use keyword-rich tags

Do not forget that tags are still a powerful way of ranking in YouTube search and not only. Use them wisely and you will get some benefits from them as well.

4. Video name

Before uploading your video to YouTube make sure video’s name is made of the keywords you are targeting. Instead of having a generic name like video003.mpg change it to something more search engine friendly.

5. Backlinks

There are two main camps related to building links to a YouTube video: some say it helps, some say it does not. However, many voices claim that building links to videos helped them achieve page 1 rankings thus getting some good visitors through those. A definitely must try trick!

After being bought for $30 million by Yahoo! in 2005, Delicious – one of the most popular bookmarking services – found its buyers in the YouTube founders, Steve Chen and Chad Hurley. Although the sum has not been disclosed, online voices claim it has been sold for around $1 million, which is way lower than the price it has been bought for.

After selling YouTube for $1.76 billion 5 years ago, its founders seem to try maintaining and developing the online company Avos by adding this bookmarking service to its portfolio. According to their statement, they have one major goal in regards with this site and this is to “continue to provide the same great service users love and make the site even easier and more fun to save, share and discover the web’s ‘tastiest’ content.”

As personal information is a very sensible subject nowadays, once someone will login to Delicious starting Wednesday will notice a “permission request” for transferring all information over to the new team; if one does not agree on this, all bookmarks are to be lost.
The next step new owners will take is a mystery for anyone. Bookmarking services are very popular nowadays however they are not great money-makers, so it all depends on Chen and Hurley on how they will move further with it. Keeping a close eye on other Yahoo! services as well, services such as MyBlogLog or AltaVista.

Many YouTube users have become frustrated at the 10-minute upload limit for videos in recent years. In response to demand, YouTube has now upped the upload time to 15 minutes for all users.

A spokesperson for YouTube said: “We want YouTube to be the best place to upload video. Without question, the number one requested feature by our creators is to upload videos longer than 10 minutes.”

YouTube also reports that it has improved its ContentID system and other tools for copyright owners.

The spokesperson added: “Because of the success of these ongoing technological efforts, we are able to increase the upload limit today. We will continue our strong commitment to provide advanced technology and tools to protect the rights of small and large copyright owners worldwide. We’ll also do everything we can to release incremental improvements like this one that benefit our video creators.”

By the way, if you tag your videos with “yt15minutes” and upload them by August 4, YouTube may select your video to feature on the YouTube home page.

Speak to WebCreationUK for more information on integrating video in to your website.

We all know that videos are becoming an increasingly poplar option on a widening range of websites. And, of course, YouTube is one of the biggest players in this arena.

But did you realise that for every minute, a massive 24 hours of video is uploaded on to YouTube. That’s quite some thought.

Just last week it was announced on the YouTube blog: “Today, we’re announcing that you’ve done it!  In just 60 quick ticks of the second hand, more than a full, action-packed day in Jack Bauer’s life is now uploaded to YouTube.”

Just nine months ago, YouTube announced that the pace for video uploads was 20 hours per minute. So in less than a year, the upload quantity has increased 20%. That’s pretty awesome by anyone’s standards.

And, of course, YouTuber is keen to compile its own “top” list for 2009. It comes as no surprise to find that the most watched YouTube video of 2009 was Susan Boyle’s audition video from Britain’s Got talent.

The Year End Top Video Report for 2009 also revealed that Pitbull’s “I Know You Want Me” topped the music video category.  Here are the top five results:

Most Watched YouTube videos globally:

1. Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent (over 120 million views)
2. David After Dentist (over 37m views)
3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance (over 33m views)
4. New Moon Movie Trailer (over 31m views)
5. Evian Roller Babies (over 27m views)

Most watched music videos on YouTube globally:

1. Pitbull “I Know You Want Me” (over 82m views)
2. Miley Cyrus “The Climb” (over 64m views)
3. Miley Cyrus “Party in the U.S.A.” (over 54m views)
4. The Lonely Island “I’m On a Boat” (over 48m views)
5. Keri Hilson “Knock You Down” (over 35m views)