Question: Should you use video on your website?

This has become an increasingly pertinent question that businesses and individuals have to ask themselves.  The Internet is getting more saturated with consumers and videos each and every day.  In December 2011, 182 million U.S. Internet users watched online video, averaging 23.2 hours per viewer. Just one year prior, 172 million users watched a measly 14.6 hours on average.  This is interesting because that means the number of viewers increased about 6 percent, but hours watched increased almost 59 percent! [1]  Bottom line, people are seeking more and more video content on the Web.

Naturally, the most common way people found videos online was through Google searches; they led the way with 157.2 million unique viewers.  This, of course, makes sense, considering that Google owns YouTube.  According to datasphere.com, “Google LOVES videos. Studies show that businesses with videos on their own website are 50X more likely to appear on the first page of Google results! (Forrester Research, 2009).  And because your video is also on YouTube, you are more likely to rank higher than your own website.” [2]

Here are a couple more statistics, this time from Nielsen:  “On the Web, four-in-10 respondents rely on ads served alongside search engine results, 36 percent trust online video advertisements, and one-third believe the messages in online banner ads—an increase of 27 percent since 2007.”  Also, “Display ads (video or banner) on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones are trusted by one-third of global respondents, which is slightly higher than the reported consumer trust level of text ads on mobile phones (29%). While the reported consumer trust level in mobile phone advertising is still low, it increased 61 percent since 2007 and 21 percent since 2009.”[3]

Without a doubt, videos make a website more interesting, dynamic and eye-catching.  They keep viewers on your site longer, and encourage them to explore more, as well as being able to convey multiple messages quickly.  Video can be a tremendous tool in showing who you are as a company or as an individual. On camera body language is a seriously powerful tool.  It’s human nature to want to relate to someone, and when you can relate to someone, you’re more likely to want to do business with that person.

Here is a great article on About.com that explains different uses for website video, and how each type can benefit you:

http://desktopvideo.about.com/od/webvideosforbusiness/tp/use-video.htm