Using Video On WordPress

In this three part series I will be talking about using video on your WordPress site.

In part one I will talk about why you should use video on your site, in part two I will talk about the hosting considerations of video and in the lat part I will show you how to add videos to your posts pages and theme.

Why Use Video?

There are a number of reasons why you should use video on your site, including:

• If a picture tells a thousand words, then a video is the unabridged version of War and Peace, video enables you to pack so much information so densely into a short format.
• A large percentage of our communication is none-verbal, when you appear on a “talking head” video, people can clue into your nonverbal communication and your message can be conveyed much more clearly.
• The ability to show someone how to do something should never be underestimated, here’s an example, try writing a text only blog post on how to tie your shoe laces. No images or videos, text only description of looping and swooping your shoe laces.  Not an easy thing, now consider a short thirty second video that demonstrates the process and you get an idea of the power of video.
• Video can be your unique selling point.  If everyone in your niche is creating text only content, and you start a vlog (video blog) you are going to immediately differentiate yourself from your competition.
• It’s easier to stand out with video.  There are not as many videos as there are text pages, so search engine ranking is not as difficult as text only rankings.
• It enables people to put a face to a site, this is an incredibly powerful trust tool if you are selling good or services over the internet.

Types Of Video

There are three main types of video you can add to your WordPress site.

The Talking Head

This is when you or another presenter talks at the camera to present your content, think of the classic scenario of a news show, where the talking heads tell us the days news.

Behind The Camera

This is when you create a video shooting footage of content and provide a voice over to annotate the footage, think of a wildlife show or a sports event with a commentator

The Screencast

Record the content of your computer screen to demonstrate some process of record a presentation

Other Peoples Videos.

I have talked about the three types of video you could create for yourself, but you can also use other people’s content to enhance your own site.  YouTube and the other video hosting sites are a treasure trove of content, much of which you can use and embed on your own site.

I used to run a site called mountainboard.net, a magazine style site for the mountainboard community (think of the love child of a snowboard and a skateboard).  As a feature at the top of my site I would add a weekly video from YouTube.

I was curating content from YouTube with full attribution and presenting it to my readers in an easy to view format. Curating is the new black apparently, others people’s content is king (but don’t get me started on that one).

It Doesn’t Have To Be Broadcast Quality

Don’t get stuck up on broadcast quality content.  People are not expecting 3D/HD Hollywood blockbuster from your blog, they just want content in a

This means a web cam, a cheap microphone or a few hundred dollars on a flipcam.

Throw into the mix video editing software like camtasia and you have recorded and edited together a video you can add to your blog.  More about the hosting options in the next post.

Video As A Product

Video is not only free content, it can be a very powerful product you can sell from your site.

Many people are creating information products using video which they can sell and people can download or stream from their sites.  The density of content and the relatively easy way in which it can be produced in contrast to an e-book for example makes it an ideal tool for those of you out there who procrastinate over writing a 100 page e-book.

The Success Of YouTube

YouTube is one of the busiest sites on the net, this proves the popularity of on-line video.  I think all WordPress site owners should be embracing multimedia in their content, a combination of text, images and videos help to get your message out much more effectively.

Video Works; My Examples

I talk from personal experience that video works, here are my examples.

My Services Sales Page

People come to me cold when they are hiring me for my WordPress technical support services. They may not have hired someone to work on their site before and I wanted to show people how my services work.

I added a talking heads video of me explaining how working with me operates.  I give potential customers a chance to see me “in person” and let them know there is a real person at the other end of the site. I explain what I will need from them, what the expected turn around will be and how my payment process works.

The result, I saw a definite increase in teh number of quote requests I receive, I put this down to establishing trust with people through the video.

It’s not great quality, the sounds not great it’s jsut me talking into my webcam, but it puts a human face into the equation and we as humans are much happier dealing with people than yellow highlighted sales letters

My Coaching

Part of the service I offer my group coaching clients in the WP Owners Club is a library of recorded video tutorials.   These are screencasts from my live webinar events.  I take the recording, and run it through an editing process to add zooms and close ups to help highlight the presentation and demonstrations I am giving about WordPress.

This give my coaching clients a permanent record of the live events they attended, along with an ability to review their trainings in their own time.

I have found that video is an excellent coaching tool, far more effective than text only or screendumps.

Next Up

Next up in this series I will talk about hosting your videos.

Lets talk about your plans to use video in the comments, are you using video yet?  Is it in your plans, let me know.