Video marketing has become all the rage. In fact, our 2022 survey found that 58% of marketers plan to incorporate even more videos into their marketing strategy in the future.
But what’s the right way to go about utilizing video?
Of course, you could share videos on social media and build a following, but one great way that often gets overlooked is adding a video to your website.
Doing this has the potential to increase leads, orders, and eventually profits.
Moreover, to improve your SEO and make your website more attractive—adding video is the way to go.
Here are some ways you can optimize your website with video.
1. Enhance video user experience (UX)
If you want to increase your website engagement, you have to create good video UX. Here are some tips on how to achieve that:
Get rid of auto-play
You should allow the viewers to choose to play the video. Although many platforms provide the auto-play option, you should give that control to your viewers.
Optimize video for mobile screens
If your website is responsive your video should be, too. This will make your web pages render well across a variety of devices.
Compress your video
An uncompressed video takes up a lot of bandwidth and may buffer if played. This is of course a major setback.
To avoid this, make sure the video on your website is compressed so visitors can watch it easily.
2. Use the ideal video codec
Codec is a technology that compresses your data. A video codec compresses your video so that it can then be stored and played back.
People tend to confuse video codecs with containers. Watch this video if you want some clarification.
The 4 most popular codecs
H.264 (AVC)
it’s an industry standard for video compression and supports 4K and up to 8K Ultra High-Definition.
It is used in most browsers and also works well for iOS and Android application development.
The best part is that compression is fast and file size is small, but some smoothing of the image occurs.
H.265 (HEVC)
This one’s a successor to h.264. The compression efficiency is improved and compared to its predecessor, it reduces the size of a video by 50%.
ProRes
The Apple ProRes codec loosely compresses the video using the i-frame approach. It produces high-quality images but the file size is large.
VP9
VP9 was developed by Google and it is an open-source, royalty-free video coding standard.
3. Select the right video format
MP4
MP4 is one of the oldest formats available and it supports HTML protocol.
YouTube recommends users pick MP4 for uploading on the platform.
AVI
Introduced in 1992 by Microsoft, this format can hold different types of data, such as Divx video and WMA audio. AVI offers good resolution and a medium file size for videos.
WebM
WebM is an open-source project. It provides good video quality but doesn’t work well with HTML5 browsers, however, it is compatible with Google Chrome and Android devices.
4. Choose a suitable video hosting platform
You can choose a video hosting platform depending on the purpose you want to achieve with the video.
If you want to drive more traffic and views, then consider uploading your video on YouTube, as Google ranks the videos uploaded on YouTube higher than those uploaded on other platforms.
If you have other marketing purposes, you can consider video hosting platforms such as Vimeo or Wistia.
No matter, what your platform is, the key is to embed the video to your website, so it also gets an SEO boost even if the video is hosted elsewhere.
5. Make an introductory video
You can optimize your website by making an introductory video where you tell your customers who you are, what you do, and how your business is different from the rest.
This video can be similar to a TV ad, but since it’s for the internet, it’ll be ideal for putting it on the website’s homepage.
Here is an example of Coca-Cola, where it tells its audience what the company is about in a precise yet effective manner:
“We are a total beverage company. From our passion for what people want, we bring people everywhere more of the brands they love. From one brand to over 500, we are Coca-Cola…and so much more.”
6. Add thank-you videos
To improve customer experience on your website and build up brand loyalty, optimize your website with thank-you videos.
This can pop up when somebody subscribes to your newsletter, makes a purchase, etc.
You can also use the video to further ask them to complete another task for you, such as fill out a quick survey, follow you on social media, refer your site to a friend, or recommend other resources.
Look at this example of Kroger, the United States’ largest supermarket by revenue and the second-largest general retailer.
In this video, they thank their customers and associates for their support throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. While also reassuring the business’ stability during the testing times.
7. Share customer testimonial videos
New customers discover a brand from its website, so putting up testimonial videos on your site is a great idea to build your brand’s reliability.
You can either embed these videos directly into your home page or create a landing page that hosts the video content.
Here is an example of Amazon Web Services (AWS). It gives the example of the CEE Travel System Travelport, which grew its portfolio of serverless solutions. This allowed the company to process streaming data four times more cost-efficiently than with its on-premises infrastructure using AWS.
Read more: 10 Questions for a Winning Video Testimonial
8. Put the video on top
If you want Google to index your video, then place it at the top of web pages. Generally, Google only indexes one video per page and chooses what it finds first on the page. So, be mindful of this when you put multiple videos on a single page.
9. Make attention-grabbing video thumbnails
One of the most effective ways to attract people when scrolling through your website or searching is to create video thumbnails. These thumbnails act as static ads for your video as viewers are encouraged to watch it. They also don’t have to be essentially within the frame to do their work.
Related: Tips for Creating a Successful Landing Page
That’s all
To sum up, adding a video to optimize your website is recommended. It helps you connect with your audience by giving them an engaging experience on your website.
So, think about what you want your video to convey. Ideally, you should have the video professionally made so it leaves a great first impression.
If you’re in the market for a show-stopping video, then you’re in luck. We’ve made videos for Fortune 50 companies and we’d love to help you reach your goals, too.
Want a video for your business?
