We’ve been emphasizing the importance of keeping things on your blog fresh: unique content attracts readers and keeps them coming back.

Using video blogging is one great way to mix things up and increase your audience.  Websites like YouTube are a testament of how popular video is, and including it on your blog may help you appeal to a new audience.

Video blogging can open up a whole new set of possibilities, in addition to attracting new readers.  For example, some things are just easier to explain with video, like how to knit a sweater or how to use PhotoShop.  Video is a very versatile medium, and when you use it you have more flexibility with how you portray your thoughts, ideas and content to your readers.

By using both video entries and writing, you are giving your readers options.  Maybe they’re tired and don’t feel like reading.  Instead of leaving your site, though, they can watch something.

The next few posts will be part of a 4-part series about using video on your blog.  It will cover:

1. Introduction to Using Video (that’s this post)
2. Reasons to use Video – weighing the pros and cons
3. Video ideas for your blog
4. SEO Tips for using Video on your blog

In these posts, we’ll explain in further detail about why you should use video on your blog (and why some people choose not to).  We’ll also help you brainstorm for ideas.  Not all kinds of video will work on all kinds of blogs: some subjects lend themselves to video blogging, but for other subjects, you may struggle to think of appropriate video ideas.  Lastly, because video lacks text, it can sometimes be tricky to optimize a site or post with video content, so in our final installment you can find some SEO tips for video blogging.