S E O with Website Videos

Make a Website Work for your business with website videos.

Website Video Length

A couple of weeks ago I showed up at a business to shoot a video for there website. They had e-mailed me the script and a link to a video they had scene and liked. The script was typed out 3 pages. I explained the video was to long. "Why?" they ask, and continued "It is full of good information the public will need." So let me explain in this post. A consumer will shut down between 2 and 3 minutes. Advertising online is a new medium but video advertising is not.

There is a reason a television commercials are 30 seconds or 1 minute and no it's not just because that's what TV stations want to sell. The fact is the consumer wants to know about your product or service, but the time they are willing to stay interested in it is limited. They are not interested in your industry history or your family life. Unless of course your name is Tiger.

So plan well and don't be redundant when you are working on a script make strong points about the benefit they will get from your product, why it is better than what they will get elsewhere and do it in under 3 minutes. I think I am getting close to my time limit with you so...Gotta go.

Viral Video

A viral video is one that is one that touches an emotion for the viewer to the point they send it out to their friends and family or perhaps post it on their facebook page. It must hit your sense of humanity, stir up political anger, bring a tear to your eye or just make you laugh. Looking at this idea is becoming a new way to advertise a product. To produce a video that will be sent from place to place email group to email group at no cost other than producing the video. What could make more sense?

Last week we were asked to produce a video for a very talented marketing team. They were so busy working for their clients they had no real time to set down and think out what they wanted in their production just that they wanted to introduce themselves to a possible future client. This team is so good at what they do they sat down and scripted the video in a matter of minutes. After that I told them to just work and they went right back to there jobs. We Ran cameras on them doing what they do, One of the founders did take a minute to introduce himself. We only had a day to edit and get it back to them, but we got it done.

WEBSITE Videos

The internet is such a great vehicle for a business to get a message out, So why do they build websites like a newspaper ads. They should all contain a video that will explain what you are trying to say, and have some action keep it moving. Who wants to read page after page about what an attorney does. When they do ad video it is a stationary camera recording a business owner at there desk. WOW!

Here is an example of a website video I created for my own website.

Actors with a reel

I shot 4 commercials in the last week. In order to find actors fast I posted an ad on Craigslist. I received a ton of responses as I said on my last post. Some just sent me head shots and we did phone interviews, but one stood out she had sent me head shots, links to her websites and on it a very nice reel. Her name was Laura and she had only 1 day to study her script. I worked with 7 actors that day who had 1 line to say. Laura had 4 pages of script and she nailed it in less takes than 5 of the 7 I directed.

I give a great review to Laura and recommend her highly. If you are producing a video shoot for a client and are looking for talent, make sure they have a reel. See Laura's reel at http://www.laurakobar.com/

Actors looking for gigs

This past couple of weeks I have posted ads on line for actors to take a pert in a commercial I am shooting, and have had a lot of response to the ad I ran on craigslist. In a lot of cases the actors have blown the opportunity to be considered.

In some cases they simply sent me an e-mail through craigslist saying they would like to star in the commercial I am shooting. No head shots were attached or links to there website on the email. In order to attach a photo to a craigslist response it must be a small enough file. So if you have that trouble just reduce the size of the file. Without a headshot or a link to see the actor I will never respond to your e-mail. The more experienced actors (at least thats a logical assumption) sent me both head shots and a link to a website were I was able to watch them in video clips on there reel. Oh, and don't forget a phone number.

A producer is not going to take the time to respond to the unknown when so many took the time to provide the needed information. That is my tip to actors looking for work.