BEST WEBSITE VIDEO LOCATIONS

At 522, we get a chance to develop a lot of video for the web. Virtually every project we start ends up being distributed on a client’s website in some format. But….web video is more than just encoding your final video and uploading to a page on your site. There are several things to consider such as formats, file sizes, video players and more. In fact, our blog includes a lot of articles that discuss various types of web video requirements.

In this article, I wanted to focus on a very important component to web video – the location on your website. Many times, organizations just upload video content to a library or other general area of the website. But, web video can be more powerful when used or referenced in specific areas on a website.

Let’s review a few key locations for video and how this impacts user interaction:

• Primary content – perhaps the most clickable area on a site, this main hot spot is where website visitors click to buy or go to a topic of interest. If you have your video in this area, visitors are much more likely to click and play the video. If you have a product demo or feature, this is probably the very best place to include the video.
• Left subcontent – in most cases, this area is used for subnavigation or other subcontent areas related to the primary content. If you have videos that supplement the main content, then a link is good to include here. In this section, it is often helpful to include links to “recent” videos or other content that you are really trying to push out to your audience.
• Right subcontent – the right subcontent area can be used to present links to videos that are not necessarily related to the primary content. In this area, it can be helpful to present a link to an “about us” video. Videos linked from this area can help your customers really get to know your back story and why you do what you do.
• Footer content – If you have developed a series of videos, it is valuable to present links to other parts of the series in the footer. Website visitors often look to the footer area for related information, products and services.