Tuning Website Video for Higher Conversion – Part 1

This is Part 1 of a series of posts on Tuning Video aimed at helping companies get more mileage from the videos on their website.  Typically, sites can expect to achieve 20 – 200% increase in conversion through the application of the techniques across this series of posts.

BACKGROUND

Over the last 18 months we have worked closely with a number of customers to tune their videos for traffic volumes ranging from 1000′s to 1,000,000′s of visitors per month. Although audience behaviors varied, we have found that staying focused on a few simple areas is key…

The three different focus areas above are not rocket science and are quite similar to how web pages are tuned, but I have found that people think of video differently until it is translated for them.  So here are some high-level thoughts on the first area of focus that may help…

GETTING PEOPLE TO LAUNCH YOUR VIDEO

The goal here (user clicks on video) is similar to optimizing for links in email, web pages, and ads but with some twists.  I think the two key questions are Where and How should video be offered…

Where should I offer video?
Videos can be offered anywhere in the user journey, but the key is to offer the right type of video at the right stage of building a relationship with your visitor.  Here are some guidelines:

• On Landing Pages
  • Users are there for a quick and focused visit so short videos that are conversion focused work best.  You may not get much engagement with a long video demo, but a teaser that shows off a cool feature might move them to the next step in getting to know you.
• In Blogs
  • Very short educational videos that encourage comments or sharing are ideal.  Not many visitors want to “sold to” in your blog so avoid highly promotional content.
• On Home Pages
  • Users want to quickly understand what you do so overview videos are better here.  Related to this, having a customer testimonial on a home page may NOT get much action because visitors want to learn more on lower level pages before they want to hear what another customer thinks about you.
• In a Resource Section
  • I think it is a complete waste of good content unless you are doing a good job of linking to those videos from elsewhere on the site.  Basically, you should not assume your visitor will navigate and find items that could be buried here.
• Elsewhere on the site
  • You should offer links to videos that address the mindset of the current visitor on a given page.  For example, if you are talking about the benefits of your product or service, then that is a good place to offer a product demo or customer testimonial.  It may take time to figure this out so employ A/B testing to help.

How should I offer video?
This depends on your site design combined with your audience and their experience in consuming video.  While there are some basic best practices, you start with something simple and then optimize text and imagery over time to see what works best for your audience on your site.  Here are some plato start:

• For Text in Video Calls to Action
  • Using educational language rather than promotional language will often get more clicks.
  • Also, video-oriented verbs like “Watch” are important.
  • Examples include “Watch this overview to learn more” or “Click here to hear from a customer”
• For Imagery in Video Calls to Action
  • Consider thumbnails that indicate the type of video to the user with a play button superimposed.
  • Examples include showing a Customer headshot for a customer testimonial, while a screenshot would work better for a demo.
  • Avoid generic video icons as they don’t always perform well

SUMMARY

Apply some of these simple approaches to your video and see how it enhances your metrics.

In part 2 of this blog series, available here, I cover ways of Keeping Visitors in Your Video so that they can fulfill the actions that you want them to achieve.