03 Jan Should I use video on my website?
In short the answer is yes. According to Cisco, 69% of all internet traffic will be made up by video content by 2017 and 80% of consumer internet traffic will be video in 2019.
It’s clear that video content is becoming more and more crucial for businesses to use in their marketing strategy. But, if these percentages are not enough to convince you, then read on.
Basically, the point of any website is to generate leads and sales for your business. So when a visitor lands on your homepage you will have written copy and posted images but does that home page really:
• Capture a users attention?
• Show your brand’s personality?
• Explain your services and products?
Visual experience – Making an impact
Imagine upon arriving at your website’s landing page a video immediately launches. What a great first impression, your home page will have really stood out and created an impact. The visitor will see your business presented as a professional, trustworthy brand with a distinct personality and they will not have had to read through 500 words to find that out. It goes without saying we are talking here about a sleek, professional video, as amateurish video content can in fact have the reverse effect and be detrimental!
• Adding video content is a creative way to stand out from your competition
• Generates increased targeted traffic to your website
• Engages your visitors and then converts them
• About 46% of visitors that watch a video on a website take action
• A web page with video is 53 times more likely to rank higher than text based content only pages
“Having video on the landing page of your site makes it 53% more likely to show up on page one of Google” Mist Media
Video is Good for your website’s SEO
Part of the reason video content can help your SEO is through retaining users attention. About 65% of people who watch video content, will watch three quarters of it, so it would be fair to say, you should have got your business message or product over to them by then.
“The average user spends 105% more time on a website with video” Bright Cove
Also, search engines like Google will look at the amount of time a visitor spends on your website to determine the relevancy and quality of your content. So, if you have visitors engaged with watching a video, it stands to reason that they will be staying on your website longer. Google will rank your website higher as it will be deemed you are offering a great user experience and it answers the questions users are searching for.
“Video drives 157% increase in organic traffic from search engines” Bright Cove
• Search engines prioritise video results
• Video content is likely to be easier found on the web when searched
• Users more likely to stay on a page with video content for longer
• Google likes keywords in your text content but it loves video much more
• About 65% of people who watch video, watch three quarters of it
“Where both text and video are available on the same web page, 69% of users would prefer to watch video to learn about a product or service” Wyzowl
Social media and video content
I have written previous blogs about the rise and success of social media for business, but the point I would like to make here, is it is true to say that social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat have really begun to promote and focus on online video. If you can design your web content to include video and social media then you will be onto a winning marketing strategy.
• Facebook averages eight billion daily views from over 500 million viewers
• 82 percent of Twitter users watch video content on Twitter
• YouTube users watch 5 billion videos daily
• This year Instagram extended the time limit of videos from 15 seconds to 60 seconds
If none of the above convinces you, then the following points should:
• Video will only continue to rise in popularity and demand
• Video has the potential to convert a lot more of your visitors which could mean increased profits
• Recent studies show 82% of marketers found video to be a highly effective marketing tool
• More and more businesses are using video on their websites, can you afford to miss out?