Share your Hangouts on Air videos on Google Plus, YouTube and Your Blog
On May 16, 2012, The Hot Blog Tips newsletter was about the benefits of doing interviews and I want to add an idea to Brian’s news tip.
As of May 7, 2012, Google Plus has been rolling out Hangouts On Air to its users who are 18+ years old. The HoA option is available in 40 countries worldwide. This means that many G+ members can now hold a Hangout while they broadcast live. The live recording is then uploaded to the Hangout Owners YouTube account. The video can then be embedded on any web page for viewing. <–Can you say BONUS???
Now how cool would it be to do a live interview and then have it as a recorded video? As you know, a video is super easy for people to grab and embed on their sites so you could be seen in more places than if you had a text only interview on your site. <–Another BONUS!!!
Step By Step – I’ll Show You How To Hangout On Air
Ok, before you get all giddy and run off to do an interview on your new G+ toy, there are a few things you need to think aboutâ¦.
1) You must verify your YouTube account via SMS before you can do Hangouts on Air. I THINK that Google may be able to send an SMS to a landline if you don’t have a text enabled mobile phone.
2) If you don’t already have a YouTube account associated with your G+, when you start the verification, it will have you set up an account right there.
3) You will want to have a name or logo on your Hangout video in case people pick it up. Your webcam may give you the option to add a logo or you can use an app such as Hangout Lower Third. This app will need permission to access your account and you can disallow at anytime. Also keep in mind that when you use this app you can put in your name and or brand. The “logo” it shows will look backwards to you, but it looks fine to the viewers and others in your hangout! Can you say mirror?
4) You will want to name your Hangout something short yet specific so people will know what it is about if they just happen to pop in.
5) You can NOT just send Hangout on Air invites to the Public or Extended Circles! You will need to invite your circles or you can invite particular individuals.
6) The hangouts on air can only be associated with the YouTube account for your Personal G+ account. Pages do NOT have the HoA connection to that pages YouTube account! If you want to do a Live Hangout for your company or brand page there is an option to do so and not have it viewed on your personal YouTube account.
You will want to make a post on your blog where you will embed the video (I’ll tell you how to embed the live broadcast later). You can then send the link to that post to your people and tell them the date and time you will be broadcasting live on the page.
Once you are ready with your people in the hangout, then you can see the bar at the top of the page where it has a link to the video on your YouTube and you will also be able to get the embed code for the video. Now, grab that embed code and toss it on your premade blog or webpage so, people can watch the broadcast there. You will then start the Live Recording.
7) Once you are done and hit Stop Broadcasting, then your video will start processing. Remember that the longer your hangout is, the longer it will take to process. There is a 4 hour limit on recording!
8) You can go ahead over to your YouTube account and edit all your META data so the video is ready. You can also edit as you do any other video (if your recording is 2 hours or less). If you are going to use this video for a brand and do NOT want it available on your personal YouTube channel then mark it private!
9) Now, if you want the video on your brands YouTube account, then you can download the video and reupload it to the brands YT account. Just remember to go back to your web page or post and change out the embed code for the video so the views count on the brands YT and if you marked the video private on your personal account then no one can view it even on the web page or post.
And there you go, you are now free to go and give the Hangouts On Air a try. If you do not have the option of HoA yet, they are rolling it out, so just give it time.
Oh as an added note, if you are thinking about playing a video during your live hangout – don’t; the volume doesn’t seem to work. People can see it if you screenshare it, but no one can hear the video.
Over To You O’ Great Reader
Ok, now leave any comments or questions below or tell us whom you are planning to do your first Hangouts on Air interview with!
Google+: Broadcast Your Hangout To The World
Google Plus Related Posts:
- How To Increase Google Plus Views
- Ten Hard Lessons Why You Aren’t Growing In Google Plus – G+ Tips
- Using Your YouTube Username on Google Plus
- Send Google Plus Posts To Other Social Networks With Friends+Me
- Google Plus Content Recommendations For Mobile – Very Powerful
- Google Plus Is More Powerful Than Facebook – Your Online Reputation Counts: Part Three
- What Drives You Crazy On Google Plus?
- Finding Shared Circles on Google Plus
- Multiple Admins For Google Plus Business Pages
About Sheryl Loch
Yeah! So Iâve got the Google+ hangouts down and ready to start myvown business hangout! Great post.
Good for you Amrik! We look forward to seeing what you do with this cool new Hangouts feature!
Wow Great share Sheryl. I know you are expert on Youtube 🙂 Bcz your almost all article on Youtube 🙂 BTW Thanks for this step by step tutorial.
Thanks.
Thank you Amit!
I learn new things everyday and try to share things when I can.
I hope this How To gives you some ideas to get started…you may just find a whole new way of getting your message out!
Thanks for taking the time to read the post and comment!
Thats really cool information, i have multiple hangout videos and soon i will upload those videos on air from help of these tips, thanks for sharing this useful information. Cheers
Great HOA post Sheryl. I can see real potential in Google’s new Hangouts on Air. Interviews, webinars, tutorials, concerts, plays and anything the mind can come up with. Can you see a future for true interactive commercials? You heard it here first! Contests and giveaways? Hey, our newsletter brainstorm sessions if one of us get’s their sound working 😉
Hi Sheryl, Google HoA are a lot of fun. My friend Chris Lang was one of the select few who had access before anyone else, and about a month ago he invited me to be a featured panelist on a Google Analytics webinar. I like the screen sharing even though I got a little confused on how to select the specific window I wanted to share. I will be using HoA really soon to conduct my own webinars and I’ll be sure to invite you when I do. Thanks for the post!
Hi Ilene!
How exciting that you got to be part of a live hangout before most people even got the feature! As for the confusion on the screenshare…I watched a live hangout with the G+ people and they were confused, so it’s a trial and error for everyone.
I think there is a whole world of ways that people will be using HoA once they get the hang of it!
We will be watching to see what you do with your Live Hangouts!
Thanks for stopping in and commenting!
Hey Sheryl, I wonder if they introduced this feature because they cottoned onto those Aussies who started Kondoot a site that allows people to do almost the same thing. At least I think it allows you to record your live feed. I’ll have to log back in to check that out.
Nice to see Google still trying to keep on top of things. Great post Sheryl
Hey Sire, you know us Americans have to work hard to keep up with those danged Aussies!
I remember hearing about Kondoot a good while back. I never joined, so I have no idea how their live feeds work. If they did have that feature, I am surprised that it didn’t catch on quick…or maybe they didn’t have the $ backing them to push it hard enough.
Google seems to be working on new features all the time. My hope is that they take over Facebook so, I don’t have to go back there. LOL!
Thanks for popping in and leaving a comment!
They definitely have live feeds, it’s what they are all about. Last I heard they were headed over to the States because someone over there was interested in investing some huge amount in it.
That’s certainly a great feature introduced for Google+ users, businesses can take more advantage of their promotion and easily connect with audience.
Hello Aasma!
Yes, small business people will now have some of the tools that were only available to the “big boys”. It will even the playing feild and give so many people the opportunity to connect with more people.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Google has a great start to create good features on the internet world. Google users will be excited to have this.
Hello Isabel! You are right, Google is working hard to help bring people together from all over the world.
I’m sure people will have all kinds of ways they will use the hangouts, family gatherings to business.
Thanks for the comment!
Yes, You are right Sheryl. I am about to share many Google updates on my fellow workers to have a wide spread out too. Thanks for the reply. HAve a nice day!
I never really started yet, but going to have to look into it soon.
I heard some great results from it, and how it helps oneself.
Hi Samuel, be sure to check it out. You may just find a way to use it to help your business or you may just want to use it to connect with friends. Either way, give it a try.
Thanks for taking time to comment!
Good explanation Sheryl Loch , Google plus is trying hard to attract more users to their service . Especially google trying to overtake facebook.New hangout system really rocks on goggle plus .
Hi Sai! Hope the article helps answer a few questions about using Google Plus Hangouts on Air.
I think Facebook will be around for a very long time and that people will decide what network they want to use to stay or get connected to people. I prefer Google Plus over FB, but some people will probably never leave FB and that is fine.
This new feature is amazing for Google users. I will take a look at it, as I really have great expectations.
Thanks for stopping in Jack!
The hangouts in general were great and now that you can do live shows and also record for later viewing just sweetens the pot!
I really wanted to try Hangouts On Air but it seems that I am in a country other than those 40 where it went live. I guess I will go play with my Facebook and Pinterest accounts instead.
I am sure Google will be trying to add more countries. You can still use G+ I bet and get some connections made.
G+ hangouts isn’t something that I have tried yet. It looks really interesting though. I don’t have a great following on G+ right now but this is definately a post worth bookmarking for the future.
Thank’s for the tips.
Hi Steve,
remember that having a great following isn’t always about the number of people who follow you…it’s the quality. And you want targeted people that have interest in what you do.
Thanks for stopping in and look forward to seeing you on G+!
I have been using Google+ since September of last year but I’ve never been thinking about starting a hangout. Being able to broadcast them live *and* save them to use on (a) your website is pretty cool stuff.
Especially when you bring them as a series on your website, let’s say interviews with fellow bloggers. Just one of the possibilities, of course and I am sure people will come up with thousands of different ways to use them.
“Everybody is a broadcaster”. Cant wait to see a series about poodles cooking, know what I mean? 😉
Hi Jan,
You should give the Hangouts a try. Once you get comfortable with them then you will be ready for the Hangouts on Air!
I am sure there are thousands of things people with do with the HoA and well, poodles cooking will likely show up in a stream near you! LOL!
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!
Hi Brian,
Yes, I did come here before! I just said I didn’t on Sonia’s interview of you, but I did. I remember now.
I love this post as I do not understand how Google+ Hangouts work at all. This is a whole new concept for me. I’ve got to save this post and read it again for sure 🙂 Thanks.
Hello Sylviane,
Glad you stopped by! I hope you will give the Google hangouts a try even if you just use it to talk with friends or family. You do not have to use the HoA if you don’t want. But, you can just invite the people you want to visit with and no one else. So, just invite a friend to Hangout and see how it all works…you may just find out that you can’t live without them. 😉
Thanks for the tutorial. I think HOA is awesome for any business, and I’m looking forward to trying it out soon.
Hi Haroun,
I agree that Hangouts are great and being able to broadcast and record just adds to the ways people can use them!
Looking forward to seeing what you do with the HoA feature!
Yes, I agree. Having the ability to broadcast and record will be a huge boost to any business. Especially with the Penguin update hitting web publishers hard in some cases and the growing number of YouTube videos in the SERPs
Thanks so much for this! I had a question. I will be doing my videos for my brand and re-uploading them to my brand YouTube account. You said you should download them and then do this. Do you mean download them from the original YouTube account it posts to? Thanks so much! Great article!
Sorry I missed your comment.
Yes, you will need to move it if you can’t record it on the appropriate Youtube Channel.
Videos do not YET, automatically load onto G+. You will need to write a post (with good SEO friendly text) and manually share the recording.
Also, is your video supposed to show up on your Google+ account or just YouTube? Because, I don’t see it on my Google+ page. Thanks!
You know, this is pretty amazing stuff. I hadn’t read it before but after Ileane’s post I just had to see this one. That’s still a lot of work to get it going, but I’m definitely going to have to look into this. You know, I think it would be cool to do a Google Hangout Live with the 4 of us that write the newsletter, with specific topics to address in the hour so we can stay on point. What say you?
That’s a tall order Mitch, us staying on point that is. lol Sheryl did a great job with this post and that’s exactly what I was thinking, a newsletter partner hangout on air. It would be pretty cool and entertaining.
Okay then, let’s get it done, or at least give it a shot. I’m game. 🙂
The thing is…we could do a “live” Hangout on Air and just not publicly broadcast it. Sure it would be live IF someone happened upon it. But, that would mean that we could record it and then embed it when we wanted.
And the thing is that we could all use the same file and put it on all of our pages; I’m liking this idea more and more.
We would also need away to edit the video before we used it wouldn’t we? Anyone have a way of doing that?
No, why would you edit it? That’s the purpose of having it be “live”. lol
If we wanted to put a Title Tile at the beginning we would download the video, edit in any tiles and then upload to what ever Youtube channel we decide to put it on.
We could also edit in a watermark, but if we use the Lower Third app then we could use those name plates to Brand it. So that app actually removes the need for editing…unless something goes crazy.
Since the video would be on Youtube, anyone that wanted to embed it would just grab the code and go.
If we started doing these on a regular schedule then it could be promoted as live (once we got a bit use to it all). When you do a HOA people will ask questions during the broadcast and if you don’t have a person monitoring them it can get distracting.
Also, if it is not promoted as live then we don’t have to worry about setting up viewing on the blog before hand. So it would basically be like doing a regular hangout.
Moving the video to the HBT channel would be the only thing left to do afterwards. Do the video SEO and write a post to embed the video on and BAM…done.
PS. I charge by the hour for this service. ;-}
seem to be alot things we can do on Google plus hangouts. now onwards i m going to spend on hangouts so i can found new things.
Very informative blog! Thanks for sharing this information. I would agree that there are indeed a lot of people whose purpose is to deceive many just for their personal gain. I hope this blog could reach as many readers to share this worldwide.
Its Great tips, Now i have alot Hangout videos of my business and i will upload very soon by the help this tips. Now just find a way to use it to help your business.Well thanks for sharing these tips.
Hey i Got 2 question.
1. If i Start a hangout and add the circle friends. Do they all get a active notification ?
2. Is there a official hangout app Website. I just know http://hangoutapps.net or .com but they just have about 30 apps.
Hi James, anyone you invite should get a notification as long as they’re logged in. No apps are needed to start a hangout but once you are in there are several you can access right from the hangout. See https://hotblogtips.com/g-plus-hangout-on-air for a step by step tutorial on getting it started.
Thank you for answering ! I’d like to avoid a active notifications for friends that use Google+ App on the IPhone or android device. For me a hangout is not that important that it should make any noise on the Phone 😉 like a real call. Is that possible ?
Hey Sheryl
You’ve inspired a solution for my band’s Debut EP release. We are going behind the scenes for a live interview about the songs and the songwriters on Dec 12 at 12:12 pm CST Darwin Australia time. I reckon HoA would work great then embedded on our website http://wadefinn.com . Advertisement went out to 250K people last weekend and we get about 600 visitors per month to our site. I bet HoA could increase that exposure. Wanna be our tech support on the 12th? LOL!
Bill
Hi Bill!
I looked for you on Google Plus, but couldn’t find you. Are you hiding from us Yanks?
The Hangouts on Air are being used by a lot of musicians. You just have to watch playing any songs that you don’t hold copywrites to.
Your site was super slow when I went there. Not sure if it normally is or maybe just hit it at a bad time. You might look at putting a WordPress blog on the backend and then embedding Youtube videos rather than running an HTML script and the RealTime player. That might speed up your site and site speed is a huge factor in getting and keeping visitors.
I’ll try finding you again on G+ and be watching for that Hangouts on Air. I know how to chair dance with the best of them. 😉
Thanks for posting this all in one place. I’d been resistant to learn ONE MORE THING in technology but see the ease and intuitive nature of the HoA is calling me.
Running my first official hangout tomorrow for small business. What do do when IT isn’t working anymore? Fingers crossed and ready to rock n’ roll.
Hi Kathie, I hope your hangout went great!
I pick and choose what new thing I invest time in learning. I am way to old to learn every new thing…my brain would pop. 😉
The Hangouts on Air are pretty easy once you do it a few times. And the more people are doing them and sharing the tips…the easier.
Hi Sheryl
thanks for your article
i just did my first “real” hangout on air. It was supposed to be a great interview with two very famous authors here. And it was a great talk BUT the quality is just BAD.
I have a new HD-Cam so that cant be it
what is it I can do to improve the picture quality
i canNOT do this again like that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIukvr6_8A
as I want this to be a regular interview shop with experts… (youre welcome as guest when it works :))
plz help 🙂
thanks a lot Andreas
Hi Andreas, I will try to help and sorry this is so long, I just wanted to include anything that MIGHT work.
I have had some worse issues that you have on your video, so you are not alone. Even the Hangouts team has tried to figure out what may help and I know there are a variety of things. I am not sure if any of these things will fix the quality, I sure wish I knew an exact answer.
My personal best guess is you and your background are to far away and so your camera is trying to focus on to much. Try moving closer to your cam and if possible, position yourself where your background is closer (you could even have someone hold a sheet or board close behind you and “move” your background closer).
The suggestions I have gotten when my end of the video is not showing clearly isâ¦
Your image is not very clear for sure. You have enough lighting, so that should not be it.
Clear all cookies and cache before starting the Hangout,
Close out all the programs you can that may be causing your CPU usage,
Try using Chrome if you aren’t already (My HoA’s work best on Chrome as Firefox was pulling to much just to run the program).
Check your cam setting to see if you can get better results by turning on/off things like follow your face, auto lighting, zooming in or out, auto lighting… Some of those things can really kill the video with so many other things going on.
It could be that your computer just can’t handle processing that much data at once.
If you use a separate cam and mic, they could be causing a conflict with each other.
Try plugging your cam into a faster USB port (yes, some USB ports are faster than others). Also do not plug it into a USB extension as they tend to slow things.
When your guest are speaking you sometimes have a little feedback of their voice. I would guess that is due to your mic picking up them speaking through your speakers. You may need to turn your speakers down just a little or move them a bit farther away from the mic (which could be on your camera).
A couple of other tips for your videoâ¦since I can’t read your description or even know what the video saysâ¦these are general tips. ;-}
Write at least 100 words for your description (the 1st sentence needs to grab a searchers attention as to what they will see),
You want to add tags that are relevant to your video (right now it only has the default Hangout tags),
Be sure to add the names of the quest in as tags and include your own name and brand name as a tag in each video you make. Also and these same words in the description.
You may want to include timestamps in the description since it is such a long video.
Ok, that is all that I can come up with off the top of my head.
Please let me know if it helps or what you do find that helps.
Sheryl Loch
First of all thank you for your tipps on how to possibly improve the quality.
the cam is this one here, I was told it is one of the best on the market as it has a hardware encoder inside (for h264) autofocus etc http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/01/logitech-c920-webcam-review/
i really have no clue, i thought maybe a driver problem? i will try chrome maybe that helps.
and concerning tags, how do i change the keyowrds? usually i know it but in this hangout on air recording there is no field to put them?!
i guess i’d have to switch to another webconference system, because this quality is not something i want to offer my blogreaders/watchers and not to my (sometimes quite famous) guests. My PC is quite old, maybe thats a reason? (i guess 2007)
that is why i dont use skype recording because then my PC would have to do all the work, and in hangouts they provide you with that… if you have a third (free) alternative you are very welcome
yes the video might be even too long, how timestamps work i dont know yet bu certainly will find out
as i am a blogger for over 5 years now some thousand readers, but quite new to the videomarket 🙂
so far, Sheryl 🙂
best wishes from Innsbruck
one addition
this is what the picture is like when i record normally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNul1XAf9_w
🙂 again
Is that with the same camera and setup as the hangout video?
yes its the Logitech C920 HD 1080p etc… lots of features i hoped i would help to support the quality as it has its own h264 encoder included… but google doubts this 😉
I’m having a similar issue myself Andreas. I went out and bought a brand new, and expensive, HD, wide angle cam and the quality is much worse that the cheap one I was using before. It looks perfect with crisp, amazing colors on my screen but the recorded version looks horrible.
hi Brian
oh then you know that feeling especially when you find ot about that after an interview with quite important people… what is your solution to this?
greetings 🙂
Hi Andreas, your c920 cam is used by many people, I also use it. I don’t think it is your cam, because I see others getting awesome video using it.
I also find that the more people in a Hangout, the worse my image. I do think that is due to my connection speed and my computers ability to process all the info.
I know that the Hangouts team is working on improvements to the program. Hopefully, we can figure out why some of us have more grainy images (I bet it is on our end though).
Adding tags is the same for an HoA as it is for any video on Youtube.
Here is a short video – How to Add Tags, Title and Description on Youtube Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_FuY5XJKmk