• File format: MPEG-4, MPEG-2, or H.264
• Resolution: 720p or 1080p
• File size: Up to 2GB
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 widescreen
• Audio format: MP3
• Length: Up to 15 minutes
• Frame rate: 30 frames per second (FPS)

Bear in mind that these are the recommended specifications but YouTube will accept just about anything you upload.  It does pay, however,  to work with the original format you have created your video in rather than converting to something such as MPEG-4 before uploading, as each time a conversion is made, the quality of the video deteriorates somewhat.

It is important also to be consistent with the resolution and specification right through the production process.  If you change resolution when your move the video from your camera to your video editing software, you will again suffer degradation.  Always maintain the original frame rate, resolution and codec.

To get the sharpest video quality after upload to YouTube, create your videos in the highest resolution available to you. YouTube cannot upgrade a low resolution video but it will downgrade a higher resolution video.

Converting Other Video Formats For YouTube

If you are creating your video from scratch, you should have no problems configuring your video to the recommended specifications for YouTube.  However, if you already have video in different formats, what is the best option for converting for maximum quality in YouTube?

For this task, you’ll need to use video converter software.  These specialist software programs will automatically convert your video between various file formats and resolutions with minimum loss of quality.  Some of the most widely used programs include ;

• AVS Video Tools
• M2Convert Professional
• Power Video Converter
• Movavi VideoSuite
• VIDEOzilla
• Xilisoft Video Converter
• RER Video Converter

Using video converter software is a quick and easy process, perfect if you have lots of videos that you want to covnert for maximum quality on YouTube.  Making the conversion is a simple as browsing to select your video file, choosing your desired file format and clicking on covert.

Having the highest possible quality video on YouTube is vital for your success, as it speaks volumes about your level of professionalism.  Most people now won’t tolerate degraded, low quality videos and will simply click on in search of something better.  It pays therefore, to take some time to ensure that your video meets the specifications required by YouTube.

Let me explain why video marketing is so important and why you absolutely need to factor a video marketing strategy into your marketing agenda.   Businesses are now spending more money advertising online than they are on TV.  Over 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.  Over 1 billion videos are viewed on the popular video sharing website everyday and people now spend more time watching video content online than they spend watching TV.

It’s not surprising then that video marketing is the fastest growing area on the web. Nothing else comes close to the effectiveness of this medium as a marketing tool.  If you are not promoting your business now using video marketing you are in serious danger of being left behind by your competition.

So what exactly is video marketing and why is it so popular?

At it’s simplest level, video marketing involves taking video content and distributing it widely on the Internet in a very focused and very structured way. The popularity of video as a viable marketing strategy is largely due to Google’s universal search feature.

Universal search was introduced by Google in 2007. Universal search meant that when you typed your query into Google the results the search engine delivered were not just webpages, but a mix of webpages, photos and video results. Type any search directly into Google and you are likely to find that image and video results rank at the top of the page, often ahead of heavy-weights such as Amazon. This prominent placement of video clips right at the top of Google’s search results has contributed to the explosion in video marketing.

Using video to promote your product, brand or service is one extremely low cost way of promoting online.  Production costs need not be through the roof.  There are many free tools available to help you create video content at zero cost.   The popularity of video has exploded over the past year and is only set to grow in the future.  No other medium has the global reach you get with video at such a low cost.

Video is a powerful SEO tool but the point is that not only Google and search engine loves Google but people do too. So why is video so popular with viewers? It’s simple. Video is far more engaging than text.  Whatever you want to explain you will explain much better with video. Whatever you’re selling, video will show your customers how it works and explain it better than any other medium.  Provide high quality interesteing content and you’ll start to bring viewers into your sales funnel and build relationships with them.

Video marketing is an extremely cost effective way of ranking highly in Google’s search results and therefore a low cost way of generating new sales and inquiries for businesses. It is also an effective way of raising your reputation, and pushing ahead of your competition. It’s not surprising then that many businesses are now taking advantage of the competitive edge they can gain from video marketing.

If you’re not yet using video marketing, ask yourself this important question.   Would you prefer the 1000′s of potential customers you wish to attract watching what you do or watching the videos of your competitors?