Did you know you can link directly to a specific time in a YouTube video? If you use online video as a way to get your nonprofit’s message out, make sure you’re taking advantage of YouTube’s deep linking capabilities. It’s super-easy, and you can do it right now.
Let’s say you have a five-minute video about volunteering abroad in Brazil on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3mVea-XWPk
That one video, though, covers a whole bunch of different topics related to volunteering in Brazil, like what kind of volunteer work is available starting at 1:45, interesting cultural activities you’ll enjoy starting at 2:53, ideas for what you can do in your free time starting at 3:45, and other distinct video segments—each of which represents an opportunity to provide targeted, relevant content for your constituents. To create a deep link directly to the video segment about cultural activities, for example, just use the following syntax:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3mVea-XWPk#t=2m53s
That’s it! When the video loads, it will start at the 2:53 mark. Deep linking to particular video segments like this is particularly awesome if you have pages of content on your website that also relate to those segments, like a page about cultural activities that spans multiple countries in which you can volunteer, for example, because then you can take advantage of linking to that segment on cultural activities in Brazil and create a great experience for your constituents.
Now, you should start thinking in terms of video segments instead of whole videos, too. Here’s how to get there:
- Do a video segment audit. Review each of your videos for opportunities to slice-and-dice it into distinct segments.
- Keep track of the segments by noting the time they start, and give each a descriptive title. I’d recommend a spreadsheet for organizing this (and what self-respecting geek doesn’t delight in a good spreadsheet?). The more videos and segments you have, the more you’ll need to be strategic about how to keep all that juicy content organized in such a way that makes linking opportunities easily identifiable.
- Find linking opportunities. Now that you’re thinking about video segments and enjoying the afterglow of uncovering content you never knew you had, start linking! Your constituents will thank you for it.
A WIN for targeted content. How are you taking advantage of deep linking to YouTube videos?
