As time marches on, video is only becoming more important in our digital world.  If you’re an online publisher, video is something you NEED to include on your site.  You’ve probably had contributors submit a video in the past, but left that out of your post simply because you aren’t sure exactly what to do with it.

We want video to be a thing that everyone knows how to use, which will allow the awesome video creators of the world have their projects featured alongside those of our writer and photographer friends.  It will also use assets that already exist to enhance more website than just our own.

Why Publishers Should Include Video

The best reason to add video to your submissions and to include it on your website is that your readers will love it!  It will increase the time they spend on your website, which will give your SEO a nice boost.  Google also likes to see diversified content on your web page; including it in your posts will also help your SEO.

Social media platforms have already taken note of the high performing aspects of video; video is heavily weighted in the algorithm that dictates how many of your viewers see your post.  Posts with photos will perform better than posts with just words, and posts with video will perform even better than photo.

Incorporating video will also help your brand stand out from all the others.  Great looking websites with beautiful photos and great content are a dime a dozen; stand out from the crowd with some great video content.

Get Video Front and Center

Often when video IS used in a multimedia post (ie, photos and video) it’s tacked on to the bottom like a kind of an afterthought.  Video will engage readers who are not as drawn into text or photos, and those readers are not likely to scroll to the bottom of a post to find that video.  A post that starts of with a strong hook, then the video, then a few photos before finishing the text or photo collection is likely to reach a variety of readers.

Video Completes the Story

Video can be a powerful ingredient when you’re publishing features on live events (like weddings or styled shoots).  In addition to weaving the moments that occur over the course of a day into one cohesive media source, it beings in both motion and audio.  When a skilled editor combines an emotional moment with beautiful music, the effect is captivating.

That is exactly what you want!  An audience that is captivated by the content you’re sharing is an audience who will stick around and come back for more.

Video also brings in aspects of the day that would be missed in the photos: words spoken and laughter shared.  These elements give life to what may otherwise come across as a flat representation of an unrealistic event.

It is NOT hard to use video.

The number one reason why publishers fail to use video on their website and social media channels is that there is such a stigma around video being hard.  Video is hard to shoot correctly, even harder to edit well…but it’s SUPER easy to share.  On most social media platforms it’s as easy as uploading a photo, on your website you just copy and paste a link or a bit of embed text.

Don’t let video fall to the proverbial editing room floor just because you don’t know how to utilize it.

 

Over the next month, we’ll share the easy steps to use video on all of your platforms; website and social media! Next week we’ll share tips for publishing video on a variety web platforms.  Be sure not to miss a minute: sign up for our email list to receive blog posts straight to your inbox!