Your site is up and running, the hits are coming in thick and fast, your marketing plan is working. What’s left but to sit back and revel in your success, knowing you’ve done everything possible to drive traffic to your site and develop content that engages the visitors?
In fact, there’s more you can do, and it’s not even especially difficult.
Video blogging, or “vlogging,” is an easy way to personalize your content, respond to visitor questions, mount a product demonstration, and more.
Vlogs can range from elaborately produced videos to simple “talking heads,” depending on your budget, your target audience, and the complexity of the message you’re trying to convey.
But if your site is doing well, is it worth it to add yet another feature like a vlog? In a word, yes! First, it’s important to recognize that almost everyone enjoys watching a video. It’s a quicker way to obtain information than perusing blocks of text, and it can share your message in a way that builds a relationship with the viewer.
There are some interesting statistics to back this up. According to figures compiled by the software company brainshark.com and the video company videobrewery.com, video is one of the fastest-growing segments of the online world:
- In 2017, almost three-quarters of all Internet traffic is now viewing video.
- 52 percent of marketing professionals worldwide named video as the type of content with the best ROI.
- 65 percent of video viewers watch more than ¾ of a video.
- Using the word “video” in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19 percent, increases click-through rates by 65 percent, and reduces unsubscribe rates by 26 percent.
- 69 percent of smartphone users say videos are the best way to get an overview of a company’s products because of their speed and ease of use.
With all this in mind, it’s easy to see how adding a video component to your site’s content can enhance existing information, introduce new content, and make new connections with potential customers.
A further advantage is the opportunity to achieve a higher ranking in search results. According to Google, 62 percent of universal searches include video, 80 percent of which come from YouTube. A site without video content optimized around target keywords is thus missing out on the opportunity to reach a large segment of online searchers. In fact, it’s easier to achieve a good ranking using video content than it is with pure text. Video search results have recorded a 41 percent higher click-through rate than plain text. Embedding video in your site will keep people there rather than driving them to YouTube, and people stay two minutes longer on your site if you offer video content.
What should your video content entail?
You might use a video as a vehicle for discussing FAQs in detail, or to introduce yourself and/or your staff and explain what you do and how your company works. Another popular format is the “process” video, where you take the viewer through the steps of a particular job or procedure performed by your company to show them how it’s done. This type of video is especially compelling because it gives you the opportunity not only to explain your process but also to elaborate on a variety of details, such as your product’s ingredients/materials, your business philosophy, your role in the community. This works equally well for individuals, such as artists, who can show a video of themselves at work while they talk about their inspirations, materials, and techniques. Whether a video discusses a giant corporation’s charity work or showcases an auto mechanic teaching basic maintenance procedures, it’s a compact way to dispense a lot of information in a short amount of time, usually less than it would take to read it all in a text format.
Which brings us to an important point: videos should be as short as possible, preferably no more than five minutes long. You’d be surprised how much information can be conveyed in just a few minutes, and you won’t run the risk of losing the viewer, whose time is usually limited. If you have a longer film you’d like to share with your site’s visitors, you could tease it with a short video and add a link to the longer version.
Video as a medium will only grow in popularity.
Constant technological innovations continue to improve production quality, while the range of compatible devices for displaying video expands. Adding a vlog to your site is one of the best ways to drive traffic, improve your SEO ranking, and forge a bond with your customers.
We have over a decade of experience running successful campaigns for a variety of different businesses.
If you would like to get started vlogging, we can help. We have videographers and script writers to prepare each blog for you.
Contact us to start your Video Blog Series
or Call 505-557-7780
