What happens in the first few seconds after someone lands on your website is crucial. If they see a bunch of text on your site, forget about it. They’re gone! Photos are nice, but everyone has that. And a clickable website video production is definitely state of the art. But the question of the day is, are 10 second videos that start up automatically when someone visits your website a good idea?
To me, it depends on how they’re done. If you have a video playing the background, without any audio, while the visitor to your site is able to navigate through your site– no problem. No problem unless it’s a frenetic video that distracts visitors from taking a good look at your site.
But if you have video and audio playing as soon as someone gets to your website, then you’re taking a risk.
Here are some pro’s and con’s of having audio and video immediately playing your site, where the visitor to your site has no other place to go, other than to click off of your site. I’ll start with the pro’s.
Pro’s of Your Website Video Playing Automatically
The pro’s include:
- You get to make the first move. In chess, it would be like you having the white pieces. You get the opportunity to set the pace. And of course, the pace should match the nature of your website/organization. If the viewer likes your video, they’ll want more of what you have to offer.
- If you offer one product or service, it’s relatively easy to create a 10 second video that represents what you do. Here’s an example of a video we produced for a company that just produces websites for optometrists:
- Eyevertise Website Video.
- Provides a great lead-in to your business. Your 10 second video gives you an opportunity to provide a concise synopsis of what you’re all about.
- Short is sweet! It more quickly I can convey the product/service I have to offer, the more the viewer will appreciate it. With the popularity of Vine videos (6 seconds long!), a 10 second web video isn’t too much more to ask the visitor to bear!
- It gets your website visitors heart pumping. Any time someone is surprised by something like a video automatically playing, or anything for that matter, the adrenaline starts to flow – for better or for worse. Hopefully, in the case of someone who decides to have automatic video and audio playing, for better!
Next week, I’ll discuss reasons not to have a 10 second video production automatically play on your website, plus my recommendations.
Video Production Chicago