Comments on: Video Killed the Online Technical Writing Star

By: Allison Clark

Allison Clark — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:34:06 +0000

Yes, I agree with Gail on this point: “Some are stuck with either slow Internet access or access that either limits bandwidth or charges extra for it.”

Also, with videos, sometimes, you need to wait for the entire thing to stream before you realize that its not really the info that you need. As with text, you can easily browse the entire content within a few seconds. But don’t get me wrong about videos too, I think CJ has a point when he said it is a great “added benefit”.

By: CJ

CJ — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:36:38 +0000

Sally — I totally agree. The problem with jumping on bandwagons are that everyone’s going to bail sooner than later and in the meantime you’re still fighting to get seen in the midst of every thing else. As for indexing videos, I think it’s only a matter of time. In the meantime, I’m not on the video bandwagon and even should I decide to climb aboard, you can bet I’m still going to have a text version too.

By: Sally@debt consolidation help

Sally@debt consolidation help — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:57:32 +0000

Too many bloggers are using videos as the meat of their posts. It makes it easier for them and they think they are getting on the video bandwagon. But until videos can be indexed better text is still the better thing for search engines to crawl. And besides if I wanted to see a video on the subject I would have went straight to youtube.

By: CJ

CJ — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:58:32 +0000

Patty — welcome to the discussion. I think some of the appeal of today’s video blogs or tutorials is because the end user sees that it’s not professionally done. It gives them the confidence that they can not only do what the tutorial is saying, but even the confidence that they can be an expert in their field and not have to spend an enormous amount of money to do it.

I do agree, not matter your budget, a bad video will do more harm than good. In fact there are some sites I not only left quickly because of it, but recommended others not to bother with that company. There’s no excuse for a bad video, even on a small budget you can do a professional video.

By: Patty Mooney

Patty Mooney — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:17:32 +0000

Andrew, you have raised some good points about video in this post. As a video professional for the last 28 years, I’ve seen the industry grow from only a few people willing to spend large amounts of money on video production equipment to a time now when you can buy a decent video camera for under $1,000. However, trying to produde a professional video because the equipment is now more accessible is like me trying to plumb my house because I own a wrench. Poor video reflects badly on your business. Anyone who wants to go that route will quickly learn the lesson that you get what you pay for. I post articles about video production at my blog. Yesterday’s post is about working on a production with Speed-Skating god, Apolo Anton Ohno. Tomorrow’s will be the first in a series about how to produce video on a modest budget.

By: CJ

CJ — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:51:39 +0000

Gail -Thank you for your input. I didn’t even think about other people in the room when I wrote the post. Lucky me, I have headphones. And yes, at least at this time Search Engines don’t have the ability to index videos. I wonder if they’re working on that in some search dark algorithm room?

By: Gail @ Do Follow Lists

Gail @ Do Follow Lists — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:57:44 +0000

Amen to this! I prefer reading to listening to videos and can share many reasons why:

1) Some are stuck with either slow Internet access or access that either limits bandwidth or charges extra for it.

2) The audio on PCs seems to want to only work when it feels like it. If I have my PC up too long it quits working and most of the time I am not willing to clear everything and reboot just to listen to your video.

3) There can be other people in the room that would be disturbed by my listening to a video.

I know many love video blogging and that is great; however, we need a text version too. Double work I know but search engines only index text so if you want to be found you really need to do this anyway.
.-= Gail @ Do Follow Lists´s last blog ..KeywordLuv: How Using It Benefits Us All =-.

By: CJ

CJ — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:17:26 +0000

Andrew – no problem. I love what you say. It has been one of the most helpful sites I found out there. I love it.

No I haven’t seen the text based videos yet. I’ll hope on over there and check them out.

By: CJ

CJ — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:15:38 +0000

Ivan – Thanks for the tip. I didn’t realize that putting video in the alt tag would put it in the Video search results. I usually put a short descrption or name in the alt tag for SEO purposes. I’ll give that a go. Thanks.

By: Andrew @ Blogging Guide

Andrew @ Blogging Guide — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:27:53 +0000

CJ,

Firstly, thanks for liking and linking to my site.

Secondly, I’ve never thought about the point you raise – which is a very god point.

I shall start adding a text version of the post as well.

Have you seen my recent videos that are text based videos – what do you think of them?

Andrew
.-= Andrew @ Blogging Guide´s last blog ..The Pros and Cons of Social Bookmarking =-.