Opinion poll: do you like webmaster videos?

If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you might not know that for the last few months we’ve been posting daily free webmaster videos on our webmaster video channel. That YouTube channel has over 100 videos on it now.

We just finished up the most recent round of videos, and now the question is whether to keep them going, or try some new way to communicate with webmasters. Tell me what you think in the poll below:

(This poll is now closed, but I’m including a picture of what the results were.)

Keep doing webmaster videos?

Thanks for voting! Here’s a sample webmaster video, where I discuss what effect site load times may have on your site now vs. in the future:

Added: And if you don’t like the videos, how would you want to get the information?

143 Responses to Opinion poll: do you like webmaster videos? (Leave a comment)

  1. Your videos are really good, please continue with them.

  2. Late for April Fool’s Matt

  3. Dan, it’s a serious question. We could spend that time doing a webmaster chat, or trying something else, for example.

  4. I really like your videos, so do my blog readers, I usually post all your webmaster videos on my blog, the latest post being today!

    http://codefusionlab.blogspot.com/2009/07/matt-cutts-from-google-talks-about-seo.html

    🙂

  5. The videos are often informative, and often address issues I want you to address. But I’d much rather just read the information than have to listen to it.

    I know you’ve said it takes less time for you to produce so if that means less information keep the videos, but if you can keep up the pace in text I’d much prefer it. Video isn’t a great medium for this, I’ve never seen one of your webmaster videos where the visual part was important (I already know what ya look like).

    Maybe if you just provided transcripts in a central location (with an RSS feed) that would solve my qualms, but Google’s voice-to-text is pretty primitive if the Google Voice transcripts are any indication.

  6. Hi Matt,
    Voting question, making an answering video are great works. Keep it. But for many people, who really don’t have time to watch entire video, it would be better if you could put the answer too in the description of the video. Now by putting questions only, you are making other curious.

    Hope we can read answers too on next videos onwards.
    Cheers
    ~R

  7. I like them! Keep them coming!

  8. Please don’t stop!!!

    David

  9. The information in the videos are great, but I much prefer blog posts. I can scan a blog post quickly to see if there is anything of interest in it.

    I would much rather find an official blog post about a topic when searching, rather than a SEO website discussing your latest video. Google does not yet the content of videos 😉

  10. Love the poll, Matt. Maybe you could have asked two questions: Keep or stop the video, and how else would you like to get this content.

  11. Susan, good idea. I added a sentence at the end of the post to get peoples’ thoughts.

  12. Those are down to earth guidelines any beginning webmaster should spend time watching, straight from the Lion’s mouth. We do not have to depend on any Michigan SEO expert or any misguiding tips, plenty of which are available on the internet. If you stop them abruptly at this point, we would be really missing them and it would be a complete capital loss for all of us webmasters. Please, please continue.

  13. I voted for I like them! Keep them coming! However i also would like to see some other things. How about you discussing with some others SEO experts like Dan Thies in points where you see different angles or is it that you’re always agreed ;)? A webmaster chat in certain days of the week alternating with webmaster videos would be great. In any case i think you’re doing a pretty good work. Congrats!

  14. I would like to read the text and see some images instead of the videos

  15. I love the videos… it would be cool if Google publishes a weekly podcast for webmasters! (haha something to listen to on my way to work everyday!)..

  16. The content of the videos good, but the format is slow. There is lots of information to press these days and one cannot skim a video quickly for content.

    It should be in text format instead, or in both text and video format (though, I don’t really see the point in making a talking head video). Text is better, because it’s quicker to process, searchable and Google can index it too.

  17. The videos themselves are fine; I just wish someone would transcribe them (so I could search them!) and organize the transcripts into a single page that I could read at my leisure.

    … sort of like a blog. 😉

  18. I like them! Keep them coming! 🙂

  19. Lower the quality of the video so it loads faster for us in the 3rd world with slower connections. We like to have the same information as others but don’t necessarily have the same bandwidth…thanks!

  20. Hi Math. Please keep them coming. And I will appreciate if you can put subtitles into videos 😉

  21. Hi Matt,

    In general I am pleased to see that you are trying hard to help webmasters. I voted for “Keep them coming!”, though I think other communication methods can be quite as good as video. I like the fact that it is personal and the possibility for everybody to send in their questions.

    Keep op going 😉

  22. Angela Kristin

    Hi Matt,
    This is really really a very good Post and the question asked by u can be most important for those who follows u crazily but unable to see or understand your videos..
    As u have replies to Dan Thies that u can spend your time in webmaster chat and something else..If it is possible than please Increase quantity of these things and reduce videos..

  23. Keep the videos. One other option may be keep it as a podcast. I’ve been listening to a lot of stuff that way while driving.

  24. Hi Matt,

    I would appreciate the videos , cause for me these videos are like fullstop, I mean I don’t have to look around on similar question and find whom to listen and follow.

    I hope you see what I mean.

    Thanks & keep up the good work.
    Ali

  25. I like them!Listing is much more comfortable then reading in this case. Keep them going!

  26. I agree with “Robert Gentel” above.

    Personally, I don’t actually like video tutorials unless the topic really, really needs a video walkthrough.

    I am a very fast reader and prefer to skim down a webpage with the text and graphics.

    Not to say you should stop the videos, as they are fast to create and hence the volume of content fills a very real need. I just personally don’t like the format.

    Not to mention the “topic X for dummies” that comes out of the official google blogs 😉

  27. Your videos are excellent, I always look forward to seeing another one pop up in Google Reader. Inevitably not every single one will be immediately relevant to every single person, but something you have said in the past, may well be relevant in the future, and I have often gone back myself, or referred others to one of your past videos.
    People have different learning styles, and being able to see and hear you helps my learning – and I think even the different colour shirts probably help that too!
    A transcript bank would be useful, for search, but should not replace the videos, in my view.
    Keep up the good work.

  28. Honestly I was a little surprised that the question – whether to continue the video series – was even raised. I thought it was a huge success. Don’t you have Analytics data to back that up? 🙂

    Maybe webmasters overseas, if having slower connections, prefer other methods over video? Just a guess.

  29. Hi Matt,
    the videos are really good – whatever you’re planning for the future, please don’t make them longer than, say, 5 minutes (the current length of 2 to 4 minutes is perfect). For me your videos are always a good start into my working day 😉

  30. Thanks again Matt, very useful. I think what’s interesting here is you talk about user experience, many people get so wrapped up trying to please search engines and forget about the actual visitors and how to keep their interest in your site.

  31. The videos are great. But it’s not always convenient to watch them. Sometimes it’s easier to read it when the sound can’t be on. Having a transcript would be really good. Can’t you hire some student or something to type out what you’re saying? 😉

  32. Hi Matt,

    Stick to the videos, but please, please make the text (or the central message) somehow textually searchable, as Robert Gentel suggests. A feed with a link to the original video seems ideal to me. Thanks.

  33. While I can alway quickly read a blog post, in most cases I cant watch videos, so I usually skip them. 🙁

    How long it takes until Google will automatically add subtitles to YuoTube videos? 🙂

  34. In an ideal world – the videos, definitely. They’re well presented, they’re informative… what’s not to like?

    In the real world – text scans much faster, and time is ever more valuable (not because it’s money – because it’s the stuff life is made of). So a text summary of the video is often less “nice” but more effective. Having both is probably best, let each viewer choose (and they can cut and save the text for future reference, too).

    I’d suggest you try to do a series of videos that is defined up front as lasting exactly 60 seconds each (Call them “60 seconds with Matt” or something). People would be more open to viewing them, and it would force you to distill your messages to the utmost clarity and conciseness. Then add a text summary called “60 seconds in 3 lines”…

  35. There should also be a 2-3 sentence simple textual answer somewhere to the questions which can be read quickly. Videos are time consuming and unnecessary for simple answers.

  36. The videos are short enough that I can take time to watch. I also appreciate getting the kind of non-verbal nuance that a video provides.

    As the collection grows, it is becoming more difficult to find a specific video, which I often want to do for various people I communicate with. So I’d suggest that some kind of taxonomy, tagging, or information architecture could evolve soon.

  37. Videos, videos, videos all the way!! Great 2-3 minute video over page full of text any day.

  38. Videos are OK, but I really prefer text articles. Video isn’t always convenient in a work situation – access to youtube may well be blocked altogether in many workplaces.

    Plus, information held in text form is more likely to be picked up by search engines like, erm, …

  39. Although I enjoy the videos, I can’t always be bothered to watch them. I’d much rather just see brief answers to those questions in text. It’s quicker, I can scan over it and don’t have to sit and watch a video from start to end, unsure of whether I’m going to learn something new or you’re just going to say something I already knew.

    Whatever works best for you though – as long as you keep doing those quick Q&A’s so we can all keep up and learn things regularly.

    Thanks.

  40. The videos are great in that the information imparted is first class, but I’d much rather read it in a quick paragraph of text. Video is an excellent medium for communicating highly visual information, but for this particular purpose it is low bandwidth, ie I can read much faster than you speak, Matt 🙂

  41. I’ve never seen this before. But I just watched a bunch of those videos, and they are kinda good. Please do keep making them.

  42. I would much prefer if you wrote the answers down as text. Not only is this quicker to scan and read, but I cannot always watch videos at work. There is also a lot of bloat watching a video (sy on my iPhone) if all I want to know is the answer.. a text-based FAQ would be much quicker and more accessible.

    Saying that, there is no reason why you could not do both.

  43. I mostly skip them and prefer to read notes , but some times if I have found something just doesn’t click it helps to see the video with a demonstration so a bit of both really.

  44. Matt, you have not answered my two question about [link exchanges and YouTube] in the Grab Bag of Questions.

    But I still love to see you answering other questions that are so much useful for webamster. People predict things like: some will say that adding 100 pages in your site in one day is not good, others will say its good.

    You on the otherhand have clarified this via making a simple video.

    I will love to see more videos: I think atleast one video per day will be good. That way, we can hope that Matt will leak some secret info too 🙂

    However, it is disappointing to see you not answered my 2 questions even after months have passed.

  45. Though I like the videos, I would appreciate if you can provide the text transcript of them. Many a times it is not feasible to connect to and listen to your videos.

  46. If the video were in spanish….

  47. Videos are ok, but a text transacript would be useful for when I don’t have sound available.

  48. I vote to keep them. They are informative and have been a good source resource.

  49. What might be really useful is a critique of real websites, eg Today reviewing website X… things they do right, and areas where they could improve.

  50. When deciding between video and text you should also think of those who are not native speakers of English. A short English explanation text can be read more easily by a foreign speaker (probably using a dictionary) than listening to the same thing in video.

    Since lots of content is still in English we should strive to create it in a format which can be more easily digested by non-native speakers. Do not assume everyone speaks excellent English and is able to undertand a spoken video.

  51. Hi Matt,

    Your Videos are really good, keep them comming.

    Maybe you need to consult a stylist if you’re in front of some camera 😀

  52. For me, text can be consumed orders of magnitude faster and is far more useful. Video is just too slow.

    However, the occasional video is good to help build a rapport with your audience.

  53. I really love the videos, I could image further improving them by:
    – make the essence available as text (sometimes I would like to just read stuff or I am in an environment where sound is no good)
    – bring in a x day recap with questions and answers in one session, avoiding the nag screens and giving a better signal noise ratio 🙂

    What I especially like, btw, is that the videos are lively (voice, gestures, face expression), you really do a great mix of education and entertainment!

  54. I would make use of them if they were captioned. Unfortunately, I don’t feel I can have the audio turned on when at work.

    I’m sure they are very useful though!
    Nick

  55. It is important that videos come with some text or summary, I have always found the frustration of videos in blogs is that you often don’t know whether they are worth watching or not. If in doubt I just skip past it.

    It is also annoying when something looks good but I am not in the position to stream it – perhaps reading RSS on an offline device!

    A brief accompanying summary would always be appreciated and might help a certain search engine index it too ;)!

  56. I prefer to read text, so I can skim quickly and read the bits that interest me most. I understand that many people like the videos. Maybe you could post a link to a transcription of the video?

    Actually, transcription would be a great YouTube feature, in general. Google already uses transcription technology for Google Voice’s voicemail, so it doesn’t seem like it’d be a stretch.

  57. First, I think you should keep the videos. I don’t know how much effort you need to put in to them, but these videos are great because they are short and to the point.

    On the other hand, you say maybe a webmaster chat, do you mean live chat? Because I would say throw the F’in videos away for a live chat any day. But I feel that would be way more work than some videos…

    ON the chat BTW, I am not wanting a Q&A type of chat, because you would never get to leave, but a topic based chat. “Today we will be chatting about, why the hell I am out of the SERP’s again”, things like that..

    Thanks!
    :~)

  58. Definitely keep them coming! They are very useful. I love going back and referencing them for a client. Thank you for taking the time to do them.

  59. I love the videos and a regular watcher. I’m also in huge favour of suggesting questions via Google Moderator (and the feeling is priceless when your question gets answered!). You have helped bust quite some myths and at the same time, gave some valuable information. Please do carry them on 🙂

  60. Personally, I prefer the text ones 😀

  61. Matt, you’re the human face of Google for many of us, keep on what you’re doing.

  62. Videos take an inordinately long time to watch vs reading.

    I don’t mind having videos, but only if there are text transcripts too. You could pay one person minimum wage writing them up for an hour or two each week, that’s all it would take.

  63. Arthur D'Antonio III

    I would definitely favor text over video, however I wasn’t aware of the videos either so I’ll definitely check them out. Perhaps my opinion will change, but in general I much prefer text as a learning medium over voice/video.

    Personally, I seem to learn more from reading (and occasionally re-reading) than I do from listening & watching video, but that is likely just personal preference & learning style.

  64. No doubts, quite informative.

  65. Love the videos. They augment the Help center SO MUCH. And I’m a Qualified GAP, too. Please keep the coming, on a single topic and less than 10 minutes if possible…though I would love the occasional in-depth video running 30-60 minutes as well.

  66. I can’t watch the videos at work, we have our sound muted permanently. It’s annoying, because it’s AT work that these sorts of thing are the most useful. As a minimum I’d like to see text transcripts available.

  67. Videos are great, but a notification system would improve the usability. It seems to me you’ve solicited questions a couple times and I’ve submitted two, but they get voted lousy and after weeks or months go by, I give up on checking to see if you’re a majority rules guy.

    It would be more useful if on that voting form, you added a check off for “notify me if this question is answered.”

    Morris

  68. I voted for “Videos aren’t my thing…” option because I prefer text over videos. Text is easier to scan and get faster the exact information I’m searching for.

  69. I think the videos are nice but the information they contain isn’t that accessible. I’ve always found that text is a much richer way to get the answers to the problems I need. If anything include a transcript of each video along with it so that I can skim along to see if I can find my answer.

  70. I don’t normally get the time to watch videos online, but I find the Webmaster Tools ones to be short enough to be easy to digest and watch inbetween another task, and long enough to be informative. Keep ’em coming, I love ’em!

  71. I like them but would really like them transcribed also. I feel like I am back in school having to take notes when I watch them.

  72. I like videos, but I can’t watch ’em at work. So I’m missing most of the Information that you share in you videos…

  73. I would personally suggest not using video at all for one very simple reason: post facto commentary. This post inadvertently provided a very good example.

    You made a post.
    Susan Hallam quite correctly made a suggestion.
    You, also quite correctly, went back and edited the post in about 2 minutes to accommodate the suggestion and then commented.

    How do you do something like that with a video quickly and easily so that everyone can see it? The only way to accommodate suggestions/alter the video so that everyone gets the same content would be to edit the video, and that’s not really your game (not that it should be, either.)

    Unless you’re going to get into full-on broadcast-level production with videos and you’ve got the time, patience and resources to deal with them, scrap ’em.

  74. Why don’t you use Google Moderator for the questions and answers? Text is better and it’s your product.

  75. Love the vids. I have them being fed onto my Igoogle page, which is my “home” page when I open up the laptop.

    Thanks again,
    Rick

  76. 1. Reading is way faster than watching. 2. I can’t watch video on my Blackberry while stuck in an airport.

    Feel free to offer video as an alternative format. Just don’t make it the exclusive format.

  77. hi matt,

    Maybe making some videos with a twitter integration would be a good thing : taking some questions on twitter integrate them on the video and give an appropriate answer would be a good thing … things like that would give a new interest for twitter’s addict.

    Anyway thanks a lot for the videos.

  78. the video format is good, but there is no opportunity for follow-up questions. what if you had a round table or on the spot video where the person asking the question could follow up on your response?

  79. Keep them going no matter what.

    Video and audio is much more easier to soak up. Its better than staring into huge and sometimes too complacated texts…

    Watch and listen – as simple as that!

  80. This is good but my number 1 wishlist item for this and all youtube videos is the ability to watch videos at 1.5x speed (like the PS3 plays videos). You’ll probably sound like a chipmunk but it definitely makes things speedier. The only reason I prefer text over videos is that I can skim through the content quicker.

  81. Matt, the videos are great. Concise, clear, informative and at times humorous. The search community is laden with text so it’s refreshing to watch a video. Please keep up the good work and thank you for doing it.

  82. I don’t typically watch videos at work; take too long to load, and it disturbs everyone else. And by the time I get out of work, I’ve forgotten. The consensus seems to be go video, but for me personally, I’d rather read. I’m getting videoed out everywhere else too.

  83. I like the videos, i find it a great and time saving way for you to communicate.

    BUT… I’d like to know more about the content of the video without having to watch them.
    Consider this the equivalent of what people do when text scanning. So a better alternative text wud be really appreciated. Isn’t it kind of a gudeline for web usability? 😉

  84. I don’t like to watch videos, I love either text which I can read quickly, or audio (my favorite) which I can listen to while doing something else, like driving or walking. Video chains me to my computer for however long it takes for someone to make their point.

  85. I can read faster than I can watch a video, so I’d rather read something. That said, I do think you are a very enjoyable and good speaker. 🙂

    Maybe you can do a weekly or bi-weekly list of your videos in this blog for non-Twitterers?

    Thanks for asking!

  86. I like the information in the videos but rarely watch them. I would really prefer a text version. I find it much easier and quicker to digest information when it’s written down vs. watching a video.

  87. If we don’t have the videos we won’t get to see the +ve effect of all this cycling and healthy stuff you’ve been doing 🙂

  88. reading partial results seems clear that you need to work on the long tail 🙂

  89. Voted for, “huh, what vids?” but count me in the keep em coming group.

  90. Hi Matt!

    Yesterday I was looking for some information about using one or more H1 on a single page. I found your video on youtube by chance. I find it really really useful. Thank you very much!

    Furthermore I’ve shown it to a client to explain him why 8 H1s on their homepage are not ok. I hope this is ok for you. If you disagree, just tell us and we’ll use your videos only internally.

    Thanks again!

    Bye bye from Swiss mountains 🙂

  91. The videos are fantasticlly informative. And I’m sure I speak for nearly everyone, when I say that really we enjoy your dashes of humor throughout. The only thing I might suggest is to maybe provide a transcription of the videos so that people could read the information as well.
    I’m sure you can find an intern to torture. 😛

  92. The questions and answers are wonderful but the fact that they cannot be referenced or searched for easily is perplexing. I’d think a text-based search engine would take that into consideration when putting out information, unless we’re just waiting for all the relevant anchor text to build up so the videos rank based on off-site factors.

    I reference Google documentation all the time, I quote it, I link to it, but I don’t memorize it, scrolling through a list of 100 video titles and hoping my memory is jogged to find the right one I think the answer is in, watching it again, and then sending someone to it is not ideal.

  93. I personally hate videos on the web. I want to read text, that way I can read at my own pace rather than having to sit there and wait for the person in the video to get on with it already. Videos are too slow basically.

  94. I truly love your videos. Concise and informative.

    My only complaint is that it often is to lame in the sense that you rather hand out Google policies than what is actually working IRL. And that obviously is a problem.

  95. Matt you have to keep doing the videos! I love the short sharp burst of google and seo information. Most of the questions raised are usually interesting. Cheers.

  96. I like them mainly because they’re short. Normally I prefer text content because it’s easier to skim to see if I really want to spend time reading it. These videos are short enough that I can get good information without spending a lot of time. It’s also nice to have a break from reading for once!

    That said, having a text transcription or even a brief bullet-pointed summary might be useful.

  97. I like them, but I think you should switch them up from time to time with more advanced questions. Maybe advanced questions on certain days like the analytics blog. Specialization would add value!

  98. Please stop the videos. They are useless. I want it in text. I want to read it or skim it. i can’t skim a video. Plus you are talking there is no action and thus no reason for a video.

    It’s obvious that Google which owns You Tube would like professionals to use You Tube. Considering that currently most of You tube is junk made by kids.

    I would be very interested in disclosure from you regarding how Google has encouraged it’s employees to use You Tube to distribute content.

  99. I love the videos because they’re informative, short and sweet, thus making me hungry for more.

  100. Comparing too?

    Well I can see it being a good thing for webmaster and Google. But still sitting and waiting through the slow time it takes to say something that often can be said in a few lines isn’t something I see that I have time too do.

    In another world I might had that time. And I have more time I had in years but still even the process of leaven responsibility takes time.

    But I do think Google have started to find a good balance and in this regard:

    1. A short text introduction.

    2. Film-clip.

    3. The important message.

  101. PS

    Should I vote on the third option? I do know they exists. Although they if searching for information answered by same videos they do not appear in Google (although I haven never search Youtube specific). But I do better like the key information in bullet points.

    Still I can not say I care.

  102. Videos take too much time. I can read 1,000 WPM (and much, much faster if I’m scanning).

    You can’t talk anywhere near that rate.

    People who can’t read like videos – great, give ’em videos. But give the rest of us at least a written transcript.

  103. I love the videos and I recommended them to my friends and acquaintances.

  104. Keep the videos coming. From everyone, not just you. You’re great onscreen and all, Matt, but the other Googlers should make themselves known.

  105. Videos are really useful but I agree with others requested the text version for quick search.

  106. In theory, videos are a great way to learn, but my employer blocks http://www.youtube.com altogether so I can’t watch them. I’m willing to bet that many other big companies block it as well. Even if you embed them in your site, I can’t see them. For people like me, you should definitely incorporate the transcript somewhere other than on youtube.

  107. The content should be textual so it can far more easily be scanned / searched / skimmed by computers and humans. If you keep making the videos, then please offer full text transcriptions. If it’s either/or, please do text.

  108. At risk of sounding like some neo-Luddite curmudgeon, I loathe video blog posts and video instructionals. I know they’re quick and easy for bloggers/content creators, and suit some people’s expressive strengths better, but I–and I’m sure I’m not alone here–prefer the written word.

    An exhaustive rhetorical defense of this position would require a higher level of investment in this blog than I have, but doubtless if the “video post lol” blogosphere trend continues I’ll be provoked into making it eventually. Suffice to say I think that if you’re going to post a video, a transcription ought to be included with it. The e-world isn’t composed entirely of 15-year-olds with gnatlike attention spans.

    Cheers.

  109. Hello, very good videos. You also speak very clearly, so I can understand everything, since I’m not a native english speaker.

    Greetings,
    Alex.

  110. Nice Matt, but I’m kinda disappointed that you did not mention a tip or two, like for example using HTTP Compression, there is no excuse for not using that.

    On my site for example I have my own simple cache/template system made in PHP.
    If a page is considered stale it’s regenerated, or I manually clear cached files.

    The thing is that when the page is generated it is stored compressed,
    so I avoid the overhead of compressing when serving the page.
    Max compression uses some CPU but since it’s done once at generation only it’s load is miniscule.

    In the rare cases a client do not support HTTP Compression the cache script will decompress and serve the page, decompression is much faster and cpu friendly than compression.
    And since most clients support HTTP Compression (including Google Bot for those that did not know) my script almost always ends up serving pre-compressed content.

    How good is HTTP Compression? Well it uses zlib’s deflate in either the deflate/z stream mode or the gzip mode, deflate has a a tiny bit less overhead than gzip.
    Compression ratio is on average around 70% or so for HTML pages.
    So a 10KB page ends up 2-3KB in size when transmitted.
    Decompression of deflate is lightning fast and hardly uses any CPU, I believe AMD was said to possibly including deflate support into future CPU’s.

    If you know of a site that does not use realtime HTTP Compression or precompressed content when they serve you pages, then notify the webmaster and tell them to use HTTP Compression.
    If every site on the net did that then bandwidth use would decrease and speed would increase by probably 50% or more.

    I’m sure Google has some stats on HTTP compression use among all crawled sites,
    any chance of pulling that into out Matt so we could see how many use it?

  111. I really like them I just have to watch them in bursts every now and then because I am often working in a location where watching video is not possible.

  112. I know you find the questions from Webmaster Help and other areas, but it would be nice if we could post our questions right in the YouTube Webmaster Video area.

  113. Hey Matt,

    I’m glad you’re changing up the shirts now, but how about a more exciting background? I know the Googleplex has some pretty spiffy rooms that are much more exciting than the plain wall you’re up against.

    Keep em coming!

    Kevin

  114. While I like the videos the information is, often, quite important and it’s easier for me digest info. by print (as the web has made me hyper-speed reader, typer by sheer necessity).

  115. I do appreciate the videos. I’m a visual person!

  116. I agree with Tony Lawrence but still the videos could be an important way for good information for a lot of websites.

    And I do think the solution at least some Google blogs have started to use their they first write a few lines about the area (but maybe they should if possible state the problem that will get solved very clear), “show” the video with imbedded Youtube player and end with an good enoigh explanation in text which is very effective using bullet points.

    I do here I think write the same things twice. But doing this is such a good thing of the Google blogs so…

  117. Transcriptions please. Videos are very inefficient in terms of time and bandwidth, and don’t really add anything to just answering the questions in textual form.

  118. Thanks for the videos and your blog. We all came know lots of information about SEO through your webmaster videos and blog. It’s funny that you are changing your t-shirt for every 10 mints to make viewers happy while doing webmaster videos 🙂

    Thanks
    Sankar

  119. No doubts, add on visuals as well as smartness 🙂

    BTW, many have doubts on rel=’external nofollow’ and rel=”nofollow” and I clear them all if they ping me through various sources and it would be great to have the video of yours on this for public reach 🙂 What do you say?

    Best,
    Jag

  120. I like the videos, BUT simple written blogposts answering questions from webmasters / SEOs would be even better for me… I could read them on the road on my mobile phone (which with videos is still not so great…). Also it´s easier to search and jump to the part of the post, that´s interesting for me…

  121. Well I like the videos as when I am doing some repetitive task i can have the video running in the back ground so i can listen to what your saying – I also liked the longer video when you did a site review.

    Have you considered going on Cranky Geeks or TWIT ime sure Vanessa has some contacts.

  122. >> And if you don’t like the videos, how would you want to get the information?

    man google_webmaster_doc 🙂
    Then I could say to my clients: read the f***ing manual 🙂

    Ok, I would like to find the information on the Google Webmaster Help Center under the point “Guidelines” or somewhere else.

    That would help me to create more userfriendly sites, because I could easy link to an official Google site and say to my clients: “Look at the Google Help Center, chapter 3, paragraph 1.”

    Best regards from Germany,
    Robert

  123. videos is good, some things i dont’t understand in th written form, but when i am wathing the video everything is ok

    keed doing them

  124. THREE answers on a simple YES/NO question????

  125. Videos are a huge waste of my time. I can’t skim a video. My time is exceptionally valuable and whenever a blogger or company posts a podcast or video instead of writing out their content they immediately lose me to a faster source of information – the written word.

  126. Hi Matt – Great video. One question I’d appreciate your explanation on would be the effect of landing page load times on quality score for AdWords – i.e. when an advertiser receives notification that their landing page load time has dropped versus the average in their region, what sort of a change does that actually translate to in QS terms? (understanding, of course, that LP load time is just one of the factors involved)

    Stephen

  127. The videos are entertaining, but I would prefer having access to the information in text format also.

  128. The videos are really good, perhaps being able to read the full title would help users identify the ones that are of interest but without doubt they’re really useful.

  129. Your videos are great. I think using an erasable chalkboard during the videos may be of some benefit. That way, you can have a visible outline of the topic you are discussing. You can also keep some basic notes or important points up on the board to reinforce what you are talking about.

  130. Yes Matt I do actually like webmaster videos as l have watched all yours, also did an article that you like to read, l have also included you in it and a link to your website check it out, http://www.prowebdirect.co.uk/blog/2009/07/seo-overload/, let me know your thoughts.

  131. Personally I prefer to read rather than watch video’s, I think I absorb the information better that way, but everyone learns in different ways so I woudn’t say that video is a bad idea for blogging, just not my preferred method.

  132. Matt,
    Multimedia is all well and good, and simply cannot be replaced for some instructional purposes.
    However, talking-head informational videos simply take more time than they are worth. I know that video is the all-important _new thing_, but I promise you I can read several times faster than you can talk, even if you hail from the New England states.

    Another draw-back to informational videos is that I can’t make notes in the margin, or highlight items that are important _to me_. Yeah, I can take notes, but w/o the video running, those notes don’t always have meaning – unless I physically create a transcript: hey, I can read fast, but that don’ mean I can write fast.

    Final drawback is network congestion. No matter how good my connection to the Web might be, I’m still at the mercy of the video server and all the servers ‘tween it and me. So I get a jerky, choppy, presentation that is really difficult to view. OK, I can download it, run it locally. (Well, that is, if I’m on a fast connection. Depending upon which statistician you read, the US is still anywhere from 60% to 40% POTS dial-up.) Takes time, and my time is worth more to me than _your_ time is worth to me .

    Audio/Video is all well and good, but should not be the only source for some of the valuable info you provide … an alternative should be available. I realize your time is constrained … but, so is mine.

  133. Its much easier to understand things through video I find, I think you retain more of the info. Just been watching a few on my blackberry whilst away for the weekend, again much easier than reading tiny text.

  134. Videos are slow and painful and rarely work properly until Cached.

  135. actually, video is good media for tutorial. But for me myself, who live in Borneo (Indonesia), we are very difficult for internet connection. Normally we get 4 KBps (kilobyte per second), but if lucky, it could 10 – 15 KBps.

    So, it’s difficult to download or to watch streaming video.

    thanks

  136. I personally like video even if you can read faster mostly because I recognize the way I learn and as long as I hear it once it’s in there for good.

    If I can stray off the reservation for a minute though since I can’t seem to find anything relevant to comment under. Today I spent about 2 and a half hours on the webmaster channel on You Tube and once again has me on this topic.

    Video syndication…

    What is deemed appropriate for syndicating video I run a site that uses lots of video that are hosted on s3 however I use You Tube and 30ish other video sites also.

    I’m sure there’s a right way and a wrong way to put your video content on these sites too.

    Since I haven’t really found anyone talking about traffic geyser dot come can you weigh in with your thoughts on this service good and or bad or if there is a place for such service that’s of value. It’s really easy to see how it could be abused, but is it a bad thing to re-title as long as it’s relevant and post your one video to 30 video sharing sites that links back to your main post?

    Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated I’m trying to run a good clean site in order to keep the stress level low and know that I can wake up tomorrow and still have all the traffic I had yesterday.

    Thanks
    Dave

  137. I think these videos are great for webmasters such as myself who are lost in the world of Search Engine Optimisation. I have just spent a solid hour looking through the videos in an attempt to find an answer to some of my lingering questions resulting from rumors that are flying around the SEO world. I wouldn’t have had the patience or the mental stamina to read for that long without losing interest. I find it a more personal and medium and easier to absorb information than large amounts of text. Some people argue that the pace is dictated and you can’t easily flick to pertinent parts of the video like you can a book but in this instance, where one video directly answers one question, the argument is null and void.

    Keep them going, and keep educating us – it’s important…This is a step in the right direction – bravo!

  138. I think that videos are quiet interesting then text information, it saves your time and interesting too. Keep going, looking forward for more videos.

  139. Hey Matt, why is the Microsoft-Yahoo deal poll coming up here instead of the Webmaster video poll?

  140. I was made aware of these videos because you posted one about our site, Experts Exchange, and the infamous ‘cloaking’ issue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9T6LNMvpvw). We have been doing our best to comply with Google quality guidelines in this area and seeing your video was a nice confirmation of our efforts. In fact, hearing directly from the source via the webmaster videos has been valuable for most other SEO questions/concerns as well. Your insight amidst a sea of contradicting opinions and guess-work has helped clarify and focus our work. So this is great, IMO, keep it up!

    On a slight tangent: I am a fan of Google’s motto, “Don’t be evil.” As the Marketing Director here at Experts Exchange, I would like to get in touch with you regarding our company’s desire to follow the same path. We’ve spoken a couple times before at SMX events but I’m not 100% sure how to get a hold of you. I understand that you get a million of these, but figured that because you know who we are and you know the public sentiment about us, you might be inclined to entertain some dialogue to this end. If you are interested, my email is jonathan at experts dash exchange dot com.

    Thanks for all you are doing and keep up the videos, they are exactly what the SEO community needs!

  141. I like Webmasters’ video, but some of them are so techy that I have to run away due to so much jurgon overloaded.
    But most part of these videos provide pure gold info and i have a lot of trust to them.

  142. I hate webmaster videos and do not watch them. I like reading. If a webmaster does not understand by reading, he/she should try to get another job.

    A normal video lenght is 5 minutes. But i can read a text that has the same informations in 1 minute.

  143. Keep it coming Matt, frickin’ love your insights and the way the ‘top dog’ interacts with others to help them. Top man!

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