Video production and digital marketing go hand in hand, and that extends to your website design. Today, the Philadelphia website design and production team at Forge Apollo breaks down exactly why videos enhance your website design and how to optimize them for performance.
6 Benefits of Using Video Throughout Your Website
1. Visually Establish Who You Are & What You Do
Creating a hero or banner video for your website helps visually establish who you are and what you do. Before the user even reads your copy, they subconsciously understand your brand.
For example, Forge Apollo’s Philadelphia video production team created the banner video at the top of DaSTOR’s homepage. Shots of team members in server racks, advisory meetings, and establishing shots of the region establish that DaSTOR offers guided hybrid cloud solutions in the mid-Atlantic region.
2. Increase in User Engagement
Videos encourage more engagement on your site. Users will stop to watch or click to play, which keeps them interacting with your content longer.
For example, let’s compare the performance of two of our B2B technology clients in the last four months. One has a video banner on its home page, and the other doesn’t. The one with the video earned 19% more organic engagement time and a 15% higher organic engagement rate.
3. Improved SEO and Visibility
Increased website engagement from videos provides another benefit: online visibility. High engagement rates signal to search engines that users enjoy your content, which makes them more likely to serve it to other users.
4. Simplified Communication of Complex Ideas
Some ideas are easier to explain visually. A video allows you to quickly explain a complicated idea without a wall of text.
For example, on the DaSTOR website, our Philadelphia website design company included an animated video to simply convey the company’s use case.
5. Higher Perceived Value
Dynamic, high-end visuals on your website elevate your brand’s perceived value. Static images can lack that feeling.
As part of its website credibility project, Stanford University found that 75% of consumers judge your credibility based on the quality of your website design. High-quality visuals are a key piece of that puzzle.
For example, this website that we designed for ICONA Resorts with a video banner reads as higher-quality than the one with a lower-quality, static image.
6. Higher Conversion Rates
The inclusion of video in website designs increases conversion rates. One study found that using a video on a product landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%. We’ve seen the effects in our own work, too.
After launching a new website design featuring video, Forge Apollo increased ICONA Resort’s website revenue by 46% YoY (comparing Q3 before and after the launch).
How to Properly Implement Video on Your Website
When including videos in your website design, how you implement them can significantly affect your website’s speed and performance. Our Philadelphia-based website developer, Jason Marshall, suggests two techniques to avoid negative impacts.
- Embed via a third-party service (like YouTube or Vimeo) – This approach offloads the video’s bandwidth usage from your server.
- Use lazy loading – This means that the video only loads once it’s visible on the page.
Combining these two techniques can greatly improve initial page load time.
Why You Need to Shoot Video Content Specifically for Your Website
Forge Apollo’s Philadelphia video production team recommends a dedicated video shoot for website imagery rather than using general marketing assets. By working with the website design team, the video production team can capture assets optimized for your website with the following.
Proper Composition
Typical marketing assets include a center-frame focus. Website videos may need to live under or behind visual elements like copy and buttons. So, website video content shoots include framing with negative space and safe zones.
Loop Optimization
Website banner videos frequently “loop.” A website imagery shoot prioritizes seamless transitions and content with subtle, ambient movement to support this.
Aspect Ratio Versatility
Websites frequently have different aspect ratios and resolution needs than typical marketing content. Responsive designs create another challenge, as designs need to adapt. Shooting with this in mind provides the required versatility.
Storytelling Alignment
Videos throughout your website design will have different objectives. While typical marketing content may intend to interrupt, website videos more frequently instruct and guide a journey.
Choose a Philadelphia Website Design & Video Production Partner
The best execution of video content in a website design will come from an agency that combines video production and digital marketing. At Forge Apollo, our video and website teams work closely to craft assets that complement one another. In fact, our website design for ICONA Resorts earned a Webby Honoree award. Reach out today to schedule a call where we can walk through your website and identify opportunities to improve it with video.
