Reading the article on ezines entitled a website without video I got to thinking. The author makes an empassioned argument that having no video on your website somehow makes it inferior. I cannot disagree more. There are times when video has its place, there are times it does not. Video can help strengthen your message but beware it may destroy it as well.
Remember the time lapse between download and boredom threshold. According to some that difference is as low as 3 seconds. I don’t know so much, personally I give most websites 10 – 15 seconds before I leave, never to reappear. I would guess that the average threshold lies somewhere in between.
If you are going to use video or flash even make sure it is either embedded in a text page or hyperlinked. Give people the choice as to whether they want to use their precious bandwidth watching your videos. Factually a large percentage of internet users when arriving on a flash site will skip the intro to get to the meat. The majority of people will decide if they want to watch a video and sadly the majority will give it a miss.
Text and well compressed images though not as pretty as the flash and the video model still brings better results. Having said that a well crafted viral video can be of major benefit. It seems that when people receive these in their inboxes, they are happy to pass on the ones that have entertainment value. Here is the thing though, I have seen many entertaining videos that leave no real impression of the brand. entertainment without a message is not going to benefit your business.
Tags: entertainment, flash, video