How to Improve Your Website With Videos
Creating a new website is an initiative that takes an incredible amount of time and resources. But it also adds incredible value to your business. A new website can make it easier for prospects to find and learn about your business. It can keep them engaged by spending more time on specific pages or spending more time on the site overall. A way to further increase that engagement is to include video on your new website.
With the ever-increasing popularity of video content, incorporating video into a corporate website has become an essential tool for businesses to engage with their target audience. As brands desire increased awareness, faster conversions, and fiercer loyalty, they turn to video to help them achieve these objectives. To further punctuate that point, here are some ways video has been proven to realize ROI.
Objective: Increase Awareness
We know that video can be used to establish a brand’s personality and help connect with a target audience. Further, pages with videos are 53 times more likely to rank on Google’s first page. Of course, you’ll also want to ensure the text on the page also includes valuable SEO content. It’s hard to confirm, but it is a well-established theory that Google loves videos, often because videos increase the amount of time users spend on your website, thereby improving your ranking on Google.
Objective: Increase Engagement
Video content has proven to be more engaging than text and images alone. According to a study by Wistia, visitors spent about 1.4x more time on pages with video than without, on average! If you want to increase engagement and have them spend more time on the new website, consider video.
Objective: Increase Conversion
Video allows businesses to showcase products and services in an entertaining, engaging, and visually appealing way that can increase the chances of converting visitors into customers. According to a study by Wyzowl, 88% of consumers have been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video. A study by the Aberdeen Group found that companies using video achieved a 54% higher lead-to-sale conversion rate than those that don’t.
Objective: Reduce Costs
Thinking of videos as a tool to reduce costs is antithetical, but it is true. Videos can be used as a cost-saving tactic for some business areas, including recruiting or support. For example, by creating videos that answer common customer FAQs or other repeated inquiries, businesses can save on those support costs or reallocate them to areas of support that add more value.
Improve Your Website with Video with tips from this Infographic and tactics from Tipping Point Labs.
A Video Strategy for Each Page of Your Website
Videos add tremendous value. The question now becomes how to employ video effectively on your new website. Of course, your objectives, audience, and personality will come into play, but below are some high-level suggestions for how to incorporate video into your new website:
Homepage
A homepage (above the fold) brand video is an excellent way to introduce yourself, showcase your company, explain your key product/service, or highlight your unique value proposition.
Product/Service Pages
These interior website pages are where prospective buyers get to know more about your specific offering. Take advantage of their interest by rewarding them with informative and engaging videos. Create product demo videos, explainer videos, or customer testimonial videos that help to move the prospect through the buying journey more quickly.
About Us Page
People love a good About Us page! It’s a great place to showcase personality, a unique origin story, or the company’s vision, which all make for compelling story-driven videos. Use a brand video, company culture, or mission video to build and solidify an emotional connection with your audience.
Careers Page
It’s hard for job applicants to fully understand an available position just by reading a job description. If you want to show applicants what it’s like to work at the company or in a specific role, create “A Day in the Life” videos for some of your most popular job positions. These can be quick and fun but must be authentic and deliver a compelling reason to join your team. More importantly, you will capture more qualified applicants, weeding out those who will not be a good match from skills and cultural points of view.
Support Pages
As discussed above, create videos of your most common FAQs to alleviate that repeatable burden from your support team. Or build a library of how-to videos that provide step-by-step instructions on using a product or solving a problem.
Be Creative with Video to Help Your Website Stand Out!
Finally, videos allow brands to be creative about their approach to storytelling, design, graphics, music, and more. Bring creativity into how you display videos on your new website as well. Think beyond the 16×9 typical frame for a video. Think of vertical or square video alignment that feels fresh and unexpected. Use moving images in place of large static banners at the top of pages or as section breaks, or as a background. Get creative and have fun with it!
By strategically using videos on corporate website pages and selecting the right type of video, brands can increase engagement, conversions, and brand awareness. Videos should not be an afterthought when architecting a new website. Incorporate spaces for video into the website design to ensure they are visible and arresting.
When done correctly, incorporating video into your new website can help you to stay competitive, engage with your target audience, and achieve a significant ROI.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rebecca Garnick Ast, Vice President of Client Strategy at Tippingpoint Labs, is a content marketer who champions strategic campaigns and results-oriented initiatives that help strengthen brand credibility, reach, and influence. She has created hundreds of hours of unscripted videos that help brands achieve their desired objectives. She produces engaging, entertaining, and inspiring video programs encourage the audience to act. Rebecca has worked with global brands, including Rolex, David Yurman, Harvard Kennedy School, Breville, and Keurig.