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5 Questions to Ask When Using Video in Web Design

by | May 20, 2014 | Articles, Web Design, Web Development | 0 comments

Using Video in web design

Video embeds on a website can make the page or break it. Ask yourself a few important questions before deciding to put video on your site.

To Intro Or Not To Intro?

There was a time when Flash intros were all the rage. Flash intros have given way to video introductions on websites. Unfortunately, videos that begin to play automatically can sometimes be just as annoying as poor flash intros. They slow down the user experience and often do not get the users attention fast enough. Remember that you only have about 4 seconds to let the user know what your site is about. Most videos take longer than that to get interesting. Use a short, straightforward video intro and leave your more in-depth videos for other pages. High-quality stock image and footage sites like Shutterstock offer downloadable royalty-free stock video and have made it easy to create an eye-catching opening video for a domain.

Is It The Main Idea?

Think about marketing. Everything on the page needs to have a central, integrated marketing message. If the product attached to the page is videography, online fitness routines, or a nature channel, your videos are the most important thing on the page and should be placed top and center. If the video aspect of what you do is not the core theme then make it a link to your video page.

Can You Find Them?

Web designers often mislabel videos. Search engines like Google have different algorithms for video compared to text. Google pulls keywords from text automatically. This is not an option for video content so videos need to be tagged properly. When videos are embedded, there is a descriptor associated with it. This information needs to be placed manually, the manner being dependent on the platform. There is some new technology in the works that will bypass the text descriptors and “read” the video for content, according to research by Springer.

Can You See It On A Phone?

The question is a no-brainer, but the answer is a little more convoluted. A good web designer will make sure that the site is mobile optimized but that does not make the video recognizable on a small screen. That is the job of the videographer. Make sure that your mobile content only includes videos that play well on a small screen or else you risk losing users. Assume that you only have one shot at engaging your customer so make it count.

Does It Work Without Sound?

According to a Salary.com survey, 69 percent of people surveyed waste time online looking at non-work related things at work. Whether at work or late-night internet surfing, many consumers watch videos without the sound. This means that your videos need to be as engaging with the volume off as it is with the volume on. Likewise, it needs to deliver your marketing message visually without relying on sound.

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