By: Nick Gambino
You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating – a professional and informative video will significantly increase traffic to your site. That in turn will help grow your business. Okay, so you’ve heard it, but why am I repeating it for the thousandth time?
Well, it seems no matter how many times I shout it from the rooftops, countless websites simply will not invest in professional videos. Scour the internet right now for local, small or even medium-sized businesses and you’ll see websites filled with text (or not) with no visual element to accompany the barrage of words.
It’s been proven over and over again that websites with professional video see visitors spend upwards of 88% more time on their site. “Oh, but time spent isn’t that big a deal.” Glad you brought that up. It’s not just about clocking how long these potential customers peruse your site (and watch your videos).
It’s an observable fact that professional video increases your chances twofold that those website perusers will convert into a sale. And of course, in a social media-dominate age, placing these professional videos on your various social accounts, including YouTube, also sees improved engagement. A well-placed, professional video generates a 1,200% increase in sharing the post.
High Quality vs High Quantity
If you’ve read this far and have an eye for detail, you’ve probably noted that I’m not just saying “video.” I’m specifically calling out the need for “professional video.” This is an important distinction and may shed light on why you, reader, have a video on your site but have seen no change in traffic.
There was this idea floating around at one point that you could throw any old video up there on the web, shot in the most slipshod fashion, and that would be enough to drive traffic to your site. I’m here to dispel this myth.
This idea is the equivalent of cramming keywords into an article and expecting the Google algorithm to just reward you. Not only is the search ranking algorithm too smart for that, but it’s also a surefire way to repel visitors. Internet marketing isn’t merely a game of quantity as many “specialists” from back in the early years of e-commerce would have you believe.
Quality is key to your ongoing climb up the ladder of search rankings and eventual arrival at the top. As I said, poor quality will repel visitors, but it also directly affects the search ranking algorithm. How?
Google pays attention to how viewers engage with video. It goes without saying that viewers engage more with high-quality, professional videos by watching them to the end and sharing them. Google notes this and rewards you for it.
Let’s say you’ve got a video up there on your site or YouTube channel that is, for lack of a better word, repulsive to the viewer resulting in them only watching a few seconds. Google notes this and will be proactive in making your site or channel less visible to potential viewers. They don’t want to do their own customers a disservice by subjecting them to poor quality. It’s a simple idea really.
What Do the Stats Say?
Maybe the reason people refuse to invest in a well-shot, engaging video is because they simply don’t believe the research. There are numerous examples out there of businesses using a successful visual campaign that suggests how professional video can grow your business.
Per a survey by Wyzowl, “87% of video marketers reported that video gives them a positive ROI.” While we can point to the successful video campaigns of companies like Progressive and Budweiser, something tells me if you’re reading this, you need to hear about companies that are a bit more relatable.
River Pools – This company specializes in building pools. Their approach to marketing is a breath of fresh air. Instead of just beating you over the head with “this is why we’re the best” promotion, they instead focus on creating educational videos. They’ve created hundreds of great videos that cultivate an organic stream of viewers who are looking for answers to pool-related questions. This brilliant strategy has more than doubled their leads and grown their company.
Act-On – As a leader in marketing automation, it makes sense that these guys would realize the importance of using videos to capture attention on the vastly overpopulated internet landscape. They lead with videos in everything. Right on the home page of their website, you’ll see a video explaining who they are and what they do. By creating a plethora of visual aids to every facet of their business, Act-On has generated a 40% increase in their leads and more than four times the engagement with their content.
And so on… You can fill in the rest. These are just two random examples plucked from the internet, but the list is endless. Companies that use professional videos are on top of the competitive heap and see growth year after year.
It’s. That. Simple.
