GOOD: With the variety of video creation methods today, any one can create video about anything at any time that can then be added to any media including websites, pages, or blogs. The variety of content source for any site is endless, whether it is from capturing of your own experiences or your candid capture of someone else’s experience. Then there are a wide variety of video uploading and editing applications and nearly all of them, even some really good ones, are free. Some of the more fine tuning video applications require investment, but for the most part… “anything you want, you got it”.
BAD: Compatibility has got to be the primary complaint of users, and rightly understood. Failed loading windows, empty boxes, and error messages, not only slow down your web page and drastically alter your presentation, but they also cause the user to become impatient with your site so that they may not even wait for it to load. A very close second complaint was mentioned in the last, patience, or the lack there of, that users have of a site’s loading time, before they become the least bit concerned about the content. That means a video within a website must first work well with your site and all systems that may attempt to use it, then load quickly within all those parameters, before the content is rendered enticing.
WHICH WON? The real answer to that question depends on you. With that massive availability and the top three complaints in lies several questions: which method of obtaining the video is best, when to use video, how to use video, what video to use, where to get the video, and possibly the most important question, once you know the answers to all the other questions, should the video be used?
All of these questions mesh with your web design, so attempting to insert a video into your web design without the answers would be disastrous, as can be seen in all the failed web sites all over the internet. Use those as an example of what not to do and move forward with the use of your video. Then, leave a feed back section if you want, there seems to be an even split as to their reliability, but it is far easier to ask people you know to try your web site out to get first hand responses to how well the video works with your website in design and purpose.
Finally, use long term analysis, if it is within your budget, to aquire statistics on the source of how your viewers found you and how long they stayed on your site with and without your video. This will usually be more helpful than a feed back section especially if your video is good.
Article by Guest Blogger Mindy Wall
SEO Specialist (Inside Design Orlando)
