Videos on Your Website
Compared to today, the Internet of five years ago was a dinosaur. Connections were slow and technology was limited. Online video was a luxury that few websites could afford and few users could successfully view. But all that has now changed. For basic video content, budget is no longer a restricting factor. Broadband connections are now the norm. The quality of digital recording equipment has shot way up, while prices have fallen drastically. This makes it easier to create professional looking content without breaking the bank.
By adding video on your website to complement your written content, you’re catering to a wider audience. Some people respond better to a video message, and some messages are best expressed using video. Perhaps it is no longer about whether or not to use online video, but rather how best to harness this powerful technology for your website.
Using video in the right way
The right video can spark a debate to life, give a vivid extra dimension to your company’s personality, help explain complex issues or products, and generally help your business to expand its communication channels. The temptation for a lot of companies is to simply to put up a video version of their homepage. Perhaps get the CEO to say a few words, explain how the company was founded…and so on. However, people are unlikely to tune in to a half-hour episode about your latest widget or your quarterly sales figures. Keep your videos short, punchy and entertaining if you want to use the web to its best capabilities (i.e. – delivering short “jolts” of information).
Don’t be boring
According to web usability expert Jakob Nielsen, “broadcast video feels boring on the web”. Obviously, that’s not something to aspire to. Viewers of online video are easily distracted. Nielsen claims that many web videos are produced for TV broadcast or with those principles in mind. A talking head newscast on the television for example, does not perform well online. Make sure that your videos take full advantage of the dynamic and active nature of the Internet. Use video where it’s useful – not just because you can. Clearly, different types of website will require different forms of video content. Any web design agency you work with should understand this.
How to provide video content
You’re faced with many choices of how to deliver video for your users. You could offer clips for download via Windows Media Player. You could host and stream videos on your own site using QuickTime or RealPlayer. You could embed video code from YouTube or similar site. Each option has its benefits. All of these options now make it easier than ever to integrate video content into your website.
Using sites such as YouTube, MetaCafe and GoogleVideo can be a good PR strategy and release your content to a wider audience which hopefully generates a bit of buzz. This works best when you’re creating “virals” – distinctive little bits of footage that spread through the Internet by recommendation – like a cultural virus. This can be great for driving web traffic, and even sales.
Add value, create useful content, reap the rewards…
Of course, if your video content is badly produced, poorly integrated into your site or just plain uninspiring, it could do more damage to your site than not having it in the first place. It’s usually best to work with an established web and multimedia consultancy to ensure that your web videos hit the mark every time.
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