Reasons to Make a Video for your Website Landing Page

I often stop and wonder why video content on websites is still not popular these days. The reality is that adding video to your website can do more good than harm to your business. By video content, I’m referring to any visuals used, as well as animation. Generally, this content must show all the benefits of your products or services. If done correctly, watching your video will allow prospective customers to see why they need to purchase your particular service or product over your competitors.

1. Video service prices are falling

Once upon a time, about 15 years ago to be exact, if you wanted to make a 5-minute promotional video, it would cost you several thousands of dollars. However, times have changed completely with technological innovations. Digital cameras and smartphones have turned the industry upside down by allowing users to carry a mini video and photo studio in their pockets. Now, you can get a video about your company for a few hundred dollars or less; it’s practically for free compared to the added value videos can generate in customer revenue.

2. Video content and conversion rates

Overall, the conversion rate of websites with video content is significantly higher than those without. Based on my research, the numbers average to be about 31% higher. To prove my point, I’ll share a brief story. I recently got a motorcycle license. Instinctively, I visited the websites of several companies before choosing a driving school. In the end, I purchased my driving lesson package from the fourth website that came up on a search because they had an excellent video about their school on the homepage. This is a practical example of the difference a video can make. Having a video presentation on your company’s website will almost immediately allow you to begin receiving at least three times more buyers with the same traffic.

3. Behavioral factors

Behavioral factors are crucial in search engine optimization (SEO) and for your website’s promotion. They refer to the way users engage with a website, their browsing and search patterns, how long they spend on a site, what they click on, etc. If you place any video, even one of poor quality, on your web page, you will notice that a user’s session time on your page will increase. Google loves websites and pages where users spend much of their time; they’ll actively promote these sites. Also, you’ll see your website’s position rise in Google’s search engine results pages (SERP) as soon as you post a video on your page. In fact, the better the video, the longer visitors will stay on the page. In turn, the higher the behavioral factors, the more traffic you will receive.

4. People prefer watching videos

Let’s agree that, if given a simple choice between reading a text or watching a video, many of us will choose the second option. There’s something about seeing and hearing what a product or service does for us, that reading text on a page simply can’t. Videos eliminate the big problem we often have with misinterpreting instructions, or understanding a product’s purpose. In actuality, if there’s only text on your website, visitors, in the best case scenario, may skim through it. On the flip side, videos leave little room for missing out on vital information.

5. Effective product presentation

Text cannot describe your company, product, or service better than visuals. Video and animation depict your services and products in a vivid, engaging manner. Imagine, you want to buy a car and you select one based solely on what you hear about it. In many cases, all cars might appear to be the same because they serve the general function of transporting someone from one point to another. However, if you watch videos about various cars, you’ll be able to choose one more suitable for your specific needs after seeing how it performs.

6. Alternative traffic

When analyzing how users make their search inquiries on Google, you will see that they often search for videos. Also, many people have started conducting searches directly on YouTube for videos relating to their needs. By having a video on your website, you get access to a new audience you may never have known existed. Furthermore, Smart TVs with built-in applications such as YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo are in high demand. To stay on top of current trends, you must be part of this fast-growing market..

7. Increased Internet speeds

Twenty years ago, websites were only text-based. However, once the Internet became faster, pictures appeared on sites. At first, there were small pictures, but they eventually grew in size. The improved quality of telecommunications allows uploading high-quality videos without a problem (even from smartphones). This has changed everything. Forget about speed limits. The number of videos you can upload to your website is limitless (relatively speaking).

8. We conducted an experiment where we added videos to several dozen web pages. The picture below shows the results.

As you can see, we added a video to this page in June. Within one month, from June to July, the average number of page views spiked from 293 to 464, and time sessions rose from 02:13 to 03:45. This is the power and increased traffic adding a video to your website can deliver.

9. Tips on how to make an incredible video

If you don’t have enough money, make your video using your cell phone. It’s okay if the video appears like it was made by an amateur because having a video is better than having nothing. Studies prove that audiences are more trusting of videos that aren’t professionally packaged with post-synching, lights, graphics, etc.

• To quickly capture users, the video must be placed on the first screen and occupy 30% of visible space; otherwise, you won’t achieve desired results.
• The title sequence should not exceed three seconds; or else, you risk losing most of your audience.
• The video shouldn’t last more than three minutes. Hold this as a hard and fast rule; very few people generally watch videos longer than this.
• Include a call-to-action at the end of the video urging people to do something. For example, “If you call within 15 minutes, you’ll receive a 10% discount”.
• If your business provides several products or services, you’ll need separate videos for each.

10. Are you convinced?

At Direct Line Development, we make video content standard on all landing pages. If you have any questions, leave your comment and I will personally respond.