Video Online

Video shows a lot more than a static website or a flyer or a telephone call.

Video online has resulted from a combination of both the increase quality of low end digital video production equipment and the increase in penetration of the broadband connections needed to watch it. Creating the video can be more cost-effective than producing 1000 high-quality flyers for direct mailing.

Sparked in part by the rise of YouTube, and the realisation that online video does not need to meet the same production standards as television, companies all over the world are promoting themselves using video more effectively than they could through words or pictures.

Phillip Atkinson Photography is offering low-cost production of standard video formats. For less than $2000 businesses can have a short video produced for the web. Video is a very emotive medium, and online allows you to extend that, and perhaps take part in and direct the narrative with your clients.

The production cost of actually producing video is lower than television advertising but higher than banner advertising, so there is a slow swing towards that as bandwidth levels increase and as digital advertising budgets increase as well.

The rise of video also has implications from the perspective of how search engines find and rank sites. Video clips must be properly titled and tagged so that search engines can find and categorise.

Internet search engines are capable of returning video and audio files in addition to simple web pages, improving the chances of video content being seen.

Making the most of online video:

* The quality of the message is more important than the quality of the footage
* Ensure that the content suits the context that it is being presented in
* Keep it short – no more than 60 seconds
* Don’t be ambitious – sweeping pans and zooms do not translate well
* Use colours and images that capture the casual viewer’s attention