Leveraging the power of video in web design

Web design is ultimately about creating a strong brand identity for the client, showcasing their services to potential customers while providing a memorable yet seamless user experience. As consumers increasingly seek, and become accustomed to, quick and easy access to information, finding innovative ways to instantly engage site visitors is an ongoing challenge for designers. For many web surfers, responsive design and creative copy are no longer enough, and video is fast becoming the key to holding their attention.

power of video in web design

 

The power of video

The power of video lies in the way that we, as humans, respond to different types of information. We’re often told that we retain much more of what we see and hear compared to simply reading something, and the popularity of video only reinforces this notion. When given the choice, most of us would choose to press play and sit back rather than reading through extensive chunks of text. Aside from engaging a wider range of senses, by enabling potential customers to see a product or service in action, video creates a much more powerful and relatable brand image. This makes for highly personal, extremely high impact customer engagement in a short space of time, greatly increasing the chances of a conversion. Furthermore, by helping to create inbound links, video can provide a notable boost to SEO.

 

Proof that video is here to stay

If that isn’t convincing enough, HighQ has compiled some rather compelling statistics. According to their 2015 infographic, sites which feature video hold visitors’ attention for an extra two minutes on average compared to sites which don’t – a big advantage when it comes to creating brand awareness. With experts predicting that video will account for 69% of consumer traffic by 2017, and 81% of brands already featuring video on their website, this is undoubtedly an element that needs to be considered when designing powerful and competitive websites.

 

Successfully integrating video

When incorporating video, it is crucial to enhance and complement the web design rather than disrupting it; the video should fit in seamlessly with the surrounding elements. Ensuring a clean embedded video player is essential for neat integration; if you are using YouTube, for example, the custom embed parameters can be used to remove most of the standard YouTube buttons. Additionally, it is crucial to ensure that the loading time and functionality of other aspects of the site are not affected. Longer videos require more bandwidth, so opt for a hosting service that can guarantee high performance. Packages from 1&1, for example, integrate WordPress blogs that run on SSD storage, providing a 50% increase in speed compared to traditional magnetic hard drives. Finally, as with any other piece of content, location is key, so ensure maximum visibility by embedding video above the fold.


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