The anatomy of video pages that engage viewers

By now, we should all be aware of the vast engagement benefits that video content holds for growing businesses. The companies who get this right see lower bounce rates on their websites and longer view/read times of their content.

But what constitutes a quality video page that drives conversion? What elements are most essential to achieve that all so coveted marketing success?

In this article, we’ll take a more in-depth look at the components of video pages that engage viewers, which include:

• The video itself (we recommend hosting videos on a syndication platform like Vimeo or Youtube)
• A quality title
• A description of the video content
• A transcript of the video
• Calls-to-action that relate to the video content
• Related videos

It should go without saying, but a video page without a video attached would be like a car with no engine! The foundation of a quality video page is the video content that gets attached to it. It is what will engage website visitors and cause them to be either informed or persuaded to make a decision.

When it comes to producing video content, there is a range of styles and formats which you may want to consider applying. From animated videos through to a talking-head style or even a high-end produced editorial piece, your open to many choices.

As a growing business, however, it is crucial to find the right balance between being professional and being personable. This is a delicate tightrope to navigate, and doing this right will engage viewers to no end. You will have them on tenterhooks ready for your latest and most incredible videos to be shared!

Where should I host my video content?

So, separate to showing the video embedded on your web pages, you'll also want to ensure the content is stored somewhere that can handle any scale in viewers with ease. Alongside this, a space where you can further syndicate this visual to ensure it gets you the maximum reach online.

There are a range of video platforms that provide this functionality, with some clear forerunners in this field being the likes of YouTube and Vimeo. These both enable you to upload videos, whether at home, in the office or on the go. This content is searchable both on the respective platforms and via Search Engines, so include accurate and engaging descriptions and titles to increase your chances of being found and viewed.

Next up on the list is the text content that accompanies your video. Providing a rich and engaging title is a positive approach to getting that first click on the video itself and encouraging viewers to digest the footage in its totality. When it comes to choosing a compelling title, there are a range of approaches you may want to use or consider:

• Titles that provide a top examples list (i.e. 10 ways you can reduce your energy bill this winter)
• Titles that give a level of suspense, shock and awe (i.e. The real secret reason why you're not found on the 1st page of Google - and how to remedy it)
• Titles that outline mistakes/pitfalls (i.e. The 7 pitfalls to avoid when building an excellent reputation amongst service users)

Titles are best paired with a description that delivers on the promise that the title suggests. It should also give an insight as to what a viewer can expect by watching the video to the end. See if you can achieve this in just a few sentences all the while encouraging that all-important play button click.

When working on a video, it does help to have a pre-written script that you follow. It will help you to stay on track and not lose focus on the core points you intend to cover. That being said, life does sometimes get in the way, and sticking to the script (no pun intended) may not always happen.

As viewers may be watching many minutes of video, providing a transcript of the text can be a powerful way of allowing people to filter and search for the parts that matter most to them. You may be surprised to hear that this process is neither timely nor technically challenging.

If you're looking for quality tools to support your video transcription efforts, why not try a free tool like oTranscribe, which will help you get to grips with the whole process? There are also paid tools that will automatically transcribe your content for you (a quick Google search for video transcription software will present an array of options).

Now that you've got the attention of those watching your videos on your web page, it is time to capitalise on this and help to introduce them into your sales/marketing funnels. This is best accomplished with a CTA (Call-to-action). These can be as simple as a button or link but can achieve great results when accompanied as a small ad-style block with an image, title and short text to compliment the button.

Depending on your web platform, you may be able to build calls-to-action that appear alongside your video or when a video is paused/completed playing (we have this built-in the Sites Done Right platform for example).

Even for your videos hosted on 3rd party platforms, including a link to your relevant call-to-action is a no-brainer. Just pop the relevant links after the video description on YouTube/Vimeo, for example, to see your opportunities for conversions sky-rocket. You may want to include a UTM parameter at the end of the link to attribute traffic and leads coming from your videos from anywhere else. An example of a link like this is below:

https://yourdomain.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=q3_promo

Try the Google Campaign URL Builder to generate your web links with the right tracking in place.

Including a hand-picked or dynamically selected of related videos to the current video page is a fantastic way of providing continuity in the online experience.

Depending on your platform, this may be taken care of for you automatically. No worries if not, as you create an ever-growing library of video content. The process of finding suitable matches for the current video will become simpler and more straightforward.

So, you now have our list of quality components you can include making your video pages stand head and shoulders above the rest.

From the use of transcripts through to rich calls-to-action that will finalise your conversion funnel, why not put yourself in the best position to generate a higher calibre and larger quantity of work with the use of dynamic visual content?

Do you feel we've missed any pertinent points from our go-to list of a quality video page for your website? Are there any tactics you're using with great success? Why not reach out in the comments section below and fill us in?