Video content poses many benefits within web design and can be an ideal choice to ensure your audience is engaged and remains interested. This can have a positive impact on lowering your bounce rate and encourage your users to further explore your website. In fact, Social Media Today states that using video content rather than text and images alone can increase user stay on your website by 60%.
Video has become a more favorable form of communication by many users and integrating it within your website offers many benefits.
Engaging communication
Rather than relying on text to communicate important information concerning your company or product, a video can be a more engaging form of communication to guarantee your audience doesn’t lose interest. Video offers a more convenient approach for your audience who will often not have the time to read lengthy information. It can give your flexibility in terms of how you communicate this information, whether it be through animation, graphics or storytelling. Overall, by using video content you are improving user experience and this will be well received by your audience.
Phuket Island, a Thai massage studio based in Newcastle upon Tyne, use video content to inform their audience of the history and benefits of Thai massage. This convenient method of communication allows their audience to quickly decide whether they are interested in their product or service.
Improves SEO
Including video on your website can have a positive influence on your search engine rankings. Video content causes users to spend more time on your website by retaining their interest for longer and this helps to improve your SEO. Additionally, using keywords in headings, descriptions, and tags can further help with your SEO. Video content, therefore, is a low-cost method for improving your SEO.
Brand personality
Including video content can provide your audience an insight into the people behind your brand. Personalising your website with video content can increase a sense of trust between consumer and company. Video marketing offers an opportunity to tell the story of your brand. With a more humanistic approach, user’s can gain a better idea of your brand’s values and personality. In a competitive market, this can be an important factor when a user decides between your company and your competitors.
Increase engagement and conversion
It is no surprise that users prefer video content over written. It is beneficial for the user in many ways and again improves their overall experience. A happy customer is more likely to buy into your product or service. This is why viewers are more likely to convert to leads after viewing a video, according to The Digital. It may even be worth highlighting your call to action as part of your video content.
Competitive advantage
Despite the increase in the popularity of video content, many companies and marketers are yet to take advantage of the opportunity to improve their engagement and conversion rates. Currently, it is an ideal method to get ahead of the competition and appeal to your target audience.
The Disadvantages
The right tone
Although video content can provide many advantages for your company, it can also have disadvantages if not executed properly. Balancing your professionalism with your ability to connect with your audience on a human level is crucial. An informal and conversational video can be effective, however, if this is at the expensive of your professionalism this could damage your brand reputation. Your product/service can very much dictate the most appropriate way to communicate with your audience.
Video length
According to Omnivision, the average viewer will stop watching a video after 32 seconds. It is therefore important to keep the length of your videos short. Too much information can be as uninteresting as images and texts.
Responsive design
A significant amount of website traffic now comes from a smartphone or tablet. Statista released statistics this year that shows that mobile devices account for approximately half of internet searches. It is crucial your video content is compatible with a mobile device and does not have a significant loading time.
Loading time
As mentioned above, the loading time of your website can have a significant impact on bounce rate and video content can increase this time. Videos can have a negative impact on your website’s performance and according to Unbounce, sites that load in under five seconds can expect 70% longer average sessions. Optimising your website for video is therefore incredibly important to ensure the performance of your website is of high quality and users remain interested.
