How To Vlogs Gaining in Popularity

There are some interesting numbers about the increasing numbers of “how to” searches and “how to” videos in a recent article at TVWeek.

According to the article, which references the internet marketing research firm Hitwise, 2.6% of searches in the U.S. are related to the “how-to” genre.

Video is cropping up in search results more and more. As well, a video how-to would seem to be the perfect answer for many how-to queries. The result, naturally, is more traffic being driven to video results.

The TV Week article states:

Of the top 10 how-to search queries, about 5% of Internet traffic from those queries goes to video sites, almost exclusively to YouTube, Mr. Tancer said. “There is definitely a market,” he said. “There is a desire to find information on the Internet, and the video portion is nascent.”

According to Hitwise (via TVWeek), the top “how-to” searches for the four-week period ending 1/26/08 were the following:

1. How to tie a tie
2. How to …
3. How to have sex
4. How to get pregnant
5. How to write a resume
6. How to win the lottery
7. How to kiss
8. How to lose weight fast
9. How to lose weight
10. How to solve a Rubik’s Cube

The how to / instructional video market is now taking off like gang busters. We are seeing more players in the space every day.

Some of the more popular video how-to sites are the following:

YouTube’s How-To Section … of course. It is also labeled “Style” for some reason and seems to be filled with with porn, semi-porn, Filipino soap operas, and political tripe. Maybe one day, when YouTube realizes the value of instructional information, they will seperate out the how-to from the … um, style.

ExpertVillage

VideoJug

Some Newer Players Gaining Ground:

Howcast

MonkeySee

WonderHowTo