Reducing bounce rates with web video

May 7, 2012

Your website is the first impression that many of your potential customers will have of your business, so what does the first page say about your business? If you’re paying attention to your performance metrics, especially your bounce rate, then you should have a good idea about what your visitors think. With a bounce rate […]

HOW TO USE VIDEO TO REDUCE BOUNCE RATES

Your website is the first impression that many of your potential customers will have of your business, so what does the first page say about your business? If you’re paying attention to your performance metrics, especially your bounce rate, then you should have a good idea about what your visitors think. With a bounce rate of 30% or lower, clearly you’re doing something right and people are digging deeper into what your business has to offer. On the other hand, if your bounce rate is hovering around 50% or higher, then it’s time to add something that will give visitors a little bit more incentive to stick around. One strategy that can work wonders is to add video to your home page.

WHY VIDEO?

People are highly visual creatures, meaning we want to be shown, not told, as the old writer’s adage goes. A text-driven front page goes against our very nature, but visual content plays directly to what we want. A video is a great way to present the same information you would normally have on your pages, but with a more direct connection to your visitors. Of course, you need the right video to be successful, so let’s look at what works and what falls short of the mark.

THE VIDEO SUBJECTS

An obvious answer to what kind of video to post on your home page is one that describes what your business does. If the main goal of your business is to sell a specific product or service, why not feature a video about that on your home page? In addition, testimonial videos can be an excellent way to command attention.

ENGAGEMENT, SEPARATION, ANAD INTEGRITY

Whatever subject you choose, it’s important to focus on three main concepts: engagement, separation, and integrity. Your video has to have either entertaining or educational content to be appealing to viewers and you must clearly demonstrate what separates your company from others in your area of business. Also, you will need to prove your integrity by showing factual proof of the benefits your company offers. Remember to add a call-to-action at the end of the video that clearly directs visitors to another part of your site to learn more.

PROBLEMS TO AVOID

While a good video can keep visitors from bouncing away, there are some precautions you need to take to make sure it doesn’t have the opposite effect. The length of the video needs to be relatively short as many people may shy away from the time investment needed to watch a longer clip. In addition, double and triple-check to make sure your video doesn’t autoplay when the page is loaded. This is extremely annoying and can send your visitors running as fast as they can. Give them the freedom to choose to play the video if they so desire.

With the right video, what should happen is that your visitors should be engaged from the first seconds when they first come to your site. The video will serve as a short introduction to your business and encourage further exploration of your site. In no time, your bounce rate should go down to more manageable levels and you should see a dramatic increase in page views per visit. Creating a dynamic and professional video is just an example of one way you can reduce your bounce rate and you should also look to your overall website design and ease of use to find other areas where improvements can be made.

About the author

Nick Beske is the founder of Point Click Productions, an Orange County web design company specializing in intelligent web design, search engine optimization, analytics review and more. To learn more about Point Click Productions, visit http://www.pointclickproductions.com/.

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Our mission is simple: to rid the world of cheesy videos. Over the past 20 years, we’ve worked with companies from Government to private sector to achieve this goal. Together our video producers, project managers, strategists, and creatives collaborate with our clients to craft authentic and impactful videos that drive meaningful change.