You’ve got to have video on your website. It’s social, interactive and engaging. And there’s research out there from Forrester Research among many others telling us very good reasons why it’s a no-brainer. So we’ve put together some of the key highlights of this research...
If your website has video on it, then it’s 50 times easier to rank on the first page of Google than a standard web page. Speaks for itself, we think.
There are some very detailed findings on learning styles and how people absorb your messages. We’re a video production company so certainly no experts on this, but in a nutshell Forrester Research claims that 1 minute of video is the equivalent of reading 1.8 million words. So however best your audience takes onboard information – be it through text or visual representation – video clearly ticks more boxes than other mediums.
30% of web traffic is currently video. Cisco reckon by the end of 2013 that will increase to 75%, some as high as 90%. There’s no way that we at Lewin Hall can prove or deny this. But just think about how you use the internet these days and what percentage of your usage involves video? It’s probably a lot more than it was a year, or even six months, ago. So add on another 16 months and you’ll get the (hopefully moving!) picture.
And it’s no longer just about people falling off white plastic chairs or disastrous wedding videos. 75% of users said they watched videos on business sites at least once a week. 65% of users said they visited a vendor’s website after watching a work-related online video and of these 42% made a business-related purchase. So online video is not just for a five minute muckabout in the office to give yourself a break from a heavy day. It’s part of that working day now and a key business tool.
In terms of reactions, one in three people comment on videos, two in five upload and one in two regularly share films and videos. Plus video email messages have two times more click through rates than other email links. So spreading the word isn’t difficult if you’re looking for an impact.
But of course we’d say all this. We’re a video production company so why wouldn’t we want people to make videos and use them on their company website? Well, we’ll be honest and say, of course – it’s good for us and our industry. But it’s also good for you. There’s no better way to get your “story” across than with video. Video is the next best thing to talking to your audience one-to-one and is a far more personal connection as it can convey emotion and personality. And it’s not just something you “have to do” to tick a box. Video can be used in so many places – websites, events, training, video sharing channels, Facebook and Twitter to name a handful – so it’s cost effective and far reaching.
Online video also grabs attention like nothing else. While people generally won’t read everything you’ve written on a web page, they are very likely to click play on a video if there’s one to watch. Besides, for decades we’ve taken in vast amounts of information through the medium of television so we’re very used to absorbing messages this way. It gives the viewer far more insight in a much shorter space of time. In fact, instead of writing this… we should’ve just made a video!!