The Importance of Video on your Web site

According to a recent Pew Internet American Life Project report, online video now reaches a mainstream audience. Young adults are the most voracious video viewers with three in four having watched or downloaded online video.

If you are contemplating the addition of video content to your web site and looking for real examples, please see AIB’s video testimonials.

In addition, here are some tips to make your video content successful.

Our interactive director and video expert, Craig Schanbacher, says:

• Choose topics your customers care about. Don’t waste time producing video content that provides little value to your customers. Instead, make sure you understand your audience and have clear goals. Then, produce content that is educational in nature.
• Understand video technology. Be sure you know your audiences’ playback capabilities. What operating systems do they use and what video player comes standard? Are they typically using a dial-up connection at home or a high-speed connection at work? Should your video be a streaming or a progressive download file?
• Don’t forget about the search engines. Video content, like all content, can improve your organic search position, but only if you use good meta data in your video files. Older video encoding software does not allow for this, so make sure you or your video editor is using the most current versions.
• Add a call to action. Think about what you want viewers to do after they watch the video. Fill out a form? Forward the video to a friend? Go to a webpage? Rank the video? Respond to a survey or poll? A call to action allows you to engage your customers and provide something more than just passive entertainment.