by: Jassica Mendez
Businesses will often adopt various approaches to stand out and reach their target audience. Online marketing used to rely on banners and PPC ads, and while these forms of advertising are still used, we have seen a significant rise of online videos being used for marketing and promotion. In this article, we will look at why you need quality videos for your website content.
How to make a quality video for your website?
For your video content to be truly effective, it needs to meet some quality standards. While the definition of “quality” will vary on the budget, you can use the following points as guidelines when looking for quality videos for your website:
1. Professionally made
The video needs to be produced in a way that will make you proud to share it. Unfortunately, quickly recording something in an afternoon on your phone probably isn’t going to cut it. Your competition probably has video content filmed using professional cameras, tripods, stabilizers, and drones. What’s worse is that low-quality videos can often do more harm than good and turn away potential customers. If you aren’t sure what you are doing, we recommend hiring a professional production company.
2. Subtitles
Make sure that your video can be viewed without sound since not everyone is going to be able to turn up the volume and listen to the audio. There are plenty of reasons why this can be the case. Imagine people browsing
your website in loud and noisy environments, or perhaps in quiet places where they just can’t play the audio. Don’t sabotage your videos and make them useless without sound. Instead, you should include subtitles whenever someone is speaking so that people can follow along even if they can’t hear the audio. Also, remember to have detailed written explanations even when there is no voice-over.
3. Relevant to the topic
Some creativity is expected, especially for marketing; however, avoid making your videos too abstract or unrelated to your company. An occasional fun video or some short footage from your latest team-building event are welcome to keep things lighthearted, but most videos should be about your company and products. Make your videos easy to find by including tags that users can search with to find the videos they need. Give your videos memorable titles instead of just uploading a generic mov004.avi so that users will be able to locate the same video again if they need it.
4. Can easily be shared
Google, the largest search engine, also owns YouTube, so it makes sense to create a dedicated, fully optimized channel for your company. You can upload your videos there, complete some search engine optimization steps, and include links for sharing. One-button sharing and cross-platform integration have become the norm, so don’t close yourself off from a large segment of users by adhering to a less popular format of video. YouTube videos can also be easily embedded into website pages, both on your site and on other pages as well.
5. Structure your videos
YouTube recently included a feature that allows videos to be indexed and separated into chapters. You can also have your own timestamps and separate chapter navigation; just make sure the relevant content can be found.
The benefits of having quality videos on your website:
1. Improve SEO
Google rewards user engagement, and watching videos directly prolongs the time visitors spend on your website. However, a large part of SEO isn’t merely appeasing the algorithm. Nowadays, Google listens to what the users are demanding, and that is quality content. If you want to build a unique marketing strategy, video is definitely the way to go. Just to be on the safe side and make sure that search engines will take note, you should include keywords in the title, description, and video tags.
2. Attract a younger audience
Unlike previous generations, members of Gen Z get most of their information and consume most of their content in video form. If that’s your goal, producing videos will surely help you attract a younger audience. An added benefit is that videos get shared more than any other type of content, so it’s not a bad idea to jump on that bandwagon. Modern social media platforms are shifting their focus, and we will see the rise of even more video-sharing features on existing networks.
3. Email marketing
Most companies make the mistake of thinking that they need quality videos for website content and just leave them on the site’s pages. However, videos are extremely effective for email marketing. Instead of packing your emails full of images, you can keep the emails light by including links to videos that users can open at their own convenience.
4. Videos are perfect for guides
Guides and how-tos are some of the most searched queries in Google. Videos are the best format for explanations since users can have the video playing in the background while following along with your tips. Helpful explanation videos will build trust in your brand and help you position yourself as the leading authority in your field.
5. Demonstrate your products
A boring PDF manual isn’t going to catch anyone’s attention. On the other hand, a direct video demonstration is a fantastic way to preview your products for an interested audience. Even if you hire someone to shoot the video, it will most likely be you or an employee showing how your products function. It may take a while to get comfortable in front of the camera, but that is nothing out of the ordinary. Prepare a script in advance and keep things short and to the point.
In conclusion
Videos represent the best way to engage a modern audience. This trend is only going to increase in the future, which is why you need quality videos for your website content. Producing quality videos isn’t overly complicated, and the gear you need to get started won’t set you back too much. Of course, there is always the option of hiring a professional production company to do most of the heavy lifting for you. As you can see, there is no excuse for not having videos on your website, so it’s about time you started recording.