Do’s and Don’ts Of Adding Video Into Your Website Strategy [Film School For Marketers Podcast, Ep. 14]

Ready to add video to your website? Need to find a place for all those shiny new videos?

In this episode of Film School for Marketers, we're covering common concerns and questions regarding site speed, website video types, and quality of production. 

Whether you’re happy with your site and want to find ways to incorporate video or you’re kicking off a website redesign and want to make sure video is a piece of it -- we’ve got great tips for you.

Listen to the full episode here (or scroll down to watch the video):

What Website Pages Should You Add Videos On First?

You should first start with your major product/ services pages and pages on your site that convert leads.

Reason being if people are on your product/service pages people are close to making a decision.

Also, look at your pages that are monumental to converting leads so landing pages, contact us page.

Third priority would be your team page with bio videos.

You can also check out this article from Marcus discussing seven strategic areas to put video.

Animation Style Videos vs. People Focused Videos

Both types of video serve a purpose, but we believe animated explainer videos are a good option if you have a difficult concept you’re trying to explain.

For example, software that isn’t camera worthy or a complex manufacturing process might be better suited for an animated video.

It’s important to be aware, however, that animation videos can be pricey.

Human videos, on the other hand, are great for building trust with your audience.

They allow your viewer to connect with an actual human and connect on a deeper level than they could with animation.

Even if you’re mostly doing animated videos because you have complex products or services you should find a time to bring in human focused videos. These could be on your team page or even having a team member walk through a complex explainer with a whiteboard.

How Does Video Affect Load Time and Site Speed?

A common misconception is that a video that is embedded on a website page will slow down the page loading time.

If your video is hosted somewhere the video host is loading the embed independently of loading on the page so it shouldn’t be impacting load time. What will slow it down is if you have sliders or large banners that have video looping in the background.

We talk about the different ways you can add videos whether that be player or plugin and the load time implications.

What Are Video Hosting Platforms People Should Consider

When you’re looking at a hosting solution for an SMB there are about five big names right now you can consider: TwentyThree, Vidyard, Wistia, YouTube, and Vimeo.

We talk about the differences between free and paid video platforms and what you should consider.

Should You Have Captions On Your Website Videos?

Of course!

It’s important that you tailor the video experience on your site to anyone who wants to access it.

If there are people on your site who are hearing impaired or aren’t able to listen to it you should allow them to still interact with the content via captions.

If you’re relying on video to communicate key value propositions or important information you want to ensure the user is able to consume the content if they aren't able to listen. If you don’t you’re missing out on an opportunity.

Luckily, many video hosts automatically generate captions for you.

What Are Evergreen Types Of Video Content?

This brings up a larger discussion which is whether you should be constantly creating video content/ revisiting content or if you should film content that can be used for a couple years.

We talk about how, just like websites, video content should be a living breathing thing that you constantly improve upon.

Using the same principles of growth driven design for your site, you should also use for your video strategy.

With that being said, we know there are organizations out there who don’t have many resources and might only have enough to work with a video production company every so often. If that’s the case you’ll want to focus on evergreen video content for your site which would be:

• Landing Page Videos
• Contact Us Page Videos
• Philosophy About How You Do Business
• Product/ Service Explainer (That won’t be changing)

How Should Companies Handle Videos With Employees Who Are No Working For There?

We first talk about the importance of adding something into your employee contracts that gives you rights to the content whether the employee is in it or creates the content.

Make sure you connect with your attorney to know exactly what should be included to protect yourself.

We then dive into how to handle videos that past employees are in, if you should keep them up on your site or take them down. Instances where you should no longer use the video vs. when it isn’t as big of a deal as you think.

Should You Add Video To Your Site That Isn’t Highly Produced?

We talk about whether or not organizations should use 1:1 videos on their site if they don’t have the resources for produced videos. We talk about how to improve the quality of webcam recorded videos if that is your only option via audio.

Two Bonus Items!

To wrap up the episode we leave you with two bonus items.

1. We created a new inbound success scorecard that shows you where you stack up against the most successful organizations who do inbound. A part of the scorecard focuses on your website. You can learn more about it and take it here.
2. We do a monthly website throwdown where two team members from IMPACT and a guest panelist review five handpicked sites and provide free strategic website advice on Facebook Live. You can learn more about it here and submit your site for a chance to be picked.

We’d Love To Hear From You!

First, subscribe to our Film School For Marketers Podcast.

Second, leave us a review on iTunes or share the love with fellow marketers and sales professionals who could benefit from our content.

Lastly, have a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know!