How You Can Capitalize
on the On-line Video Boom
NBC.com enjoyed a more than 300-percent growth in on-line video viewers in just one month, according to Nielsen Online. And, who can NBC thank for driving more visitors to the Web site? Themselves! Sure, season premiers and hot topic news coverage may have piqued folks’ interest, but they could not have consumed the content if it wasn’t there to consume.
“Consumers are increasingly relying on the Web to catch up on content they missed when it aired on television and the networks are beginning to capitalize on this trend,” stated Jon Gibs, vice president, media analytics, Nielsen Online, in a news release. “Case in point - anyone who didn’t see Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” had to log on and watch it or risk having nothing to say around the proverbial water cooler.”
And, with NBC.com’s general site visitors up more than 50 percent from about this time last year -- according to Compete.com -- we’re guessing the decision to offer more videos on-line is helping the site’s popularity in general.
Just about any company or organization could benefit from offering on-line video content. Not only is video a booming Web trend, it's a great way to reach your target audiences on-line.
"In this day and age of digital media, video on your Web site can be priceless," wrote Lei Zhu in an article for Digital Web Magazine. "...video instantly captures your visitor’s attention and describes your product and services quickly and effectively.”
So whether it’s a message from the CEO or a sound bite from the last news conference, adding video to your Web site is easier than you may think.
Flash video
There are many different scenarios for adding and playing back videos on the Web. For this article, we’re going to focus on the most straightforward approach – that is delivering pre-recorded Flash video.
Why Flash? Because Flash videos can be instantly played in almost any modern Web browser without having to install any other software or plugins. You see, Flash comes preinstalled on both PC and MAC computers. On the other hand, Windows Media Player (.wmv) is only pre-installed on PCs, while QuickTime (.mov) is only pre-installed on MACs, so videos in these formats may be unviewable by a large number of folks.
In addition to Flash's widespread compatibility, the size and quality of most Flash files are optimal for Web use.
5 Steps to add video to your site
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| 1. | Create or obtain a video.
You might have the talent on staff to shoot the video in house. Today’s digital video recorders certainly make it easier than ever to shoot video and upload to a computer. Most, however, will want to hire a professional videographer. Another source may be an affiliated national or corporate organization that has a library of videos which you may access.
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| 2. | Convert the video so it will play in a Flash player.
The resulting video file should be in Flash Video format with an .flv extension. Do a search on the Internet for "Free FLV Converters" or check out CNET's recommendations for video converters.
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| 3. | Add a Flash player to your Web site.
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| 4. | Upload the converted video to your Web site.
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| 5. | Play the video through the Flash player. |
Note: Another option is to upload a video to a video hosting service Web site and provide a link to the video or copy and paste the code provided to embed the video on your Web site. YouTube, Google Video, and Yahoo! Video are examples of such providers. |
For the novice in emerging technologies, the five steps above may not seem all that straightforward. In fact, Steps 3 and 5 require a working knowledge of Web programming. And, it's often difficult, if not forbidden altogether, to embed video when using a Web content management system.
Square Root makes it easier
Thankfully, the techies and geeks here at Square Root have thought up a way to make it easier for our clients to add video to their Web sites (and the creative types helped make it look pretty snazzy, too). You'll still need to get your hands on a Flash Video (steps 1-2) and upload it to your Web site (step 4), but Square Root has developed a way to allow our clients to upload a video and have it appear automatically in a video gallery or video playlist. Clients can even add videos to the main content area or sidebar of any page (the video will play right on the page!).
Go for it!
There you have it. Web video is a booming trend, it's a great way to reach your audience and Square Root makes it easy. So, what do you say? Are you a Square Root client ready to take your Web site to the next level with video? If so or if you're simply interested in getting more information, contact Stacy at stacy@squareroot-inc.com or 334.832.4340.