One of the upcoming trends that’s definitely worth looking into is video. Video is (or has been, depending on who you talk to) taking the internet by storm. Many of the mainstream sites now have a lot of video. The big 3 TV networks are putting full episodes online of some of their shows. And I’m sure you’ve heard of YouTube, one of the top 5 visited sites in the whole world.
Yet is it worth it to use video regularly on your business blog? I think the answer is yes.  Here are 5 reasons why.
1. Video increases the perceived value of your site.
Think about the average price of a book and a DVD. Which costs more?
2. Many people don’t like to read.
We live in an increasingly visual culture. People today are reading less than they use to. They would rather watch TV or check out the latest YouTube video than read a book or a website filled with text.
3. Video sharing sites get a lot of traffic.
This is important because you can get a lot of indirect traffic and branding by not only putting your video on your blog but also on the video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo. And there are a lot of sites like these. They get a lot of traffic because video sharing sites are popular destinations. Also, Google often ranks videos from these sites in the top 10 of their search results.
4. Video increases conversion rates.
Studies have shown that adding video on a page can increase the percentage of people that do the call of action – whether that’s buying a product, joining an email newsletter, or subscribing to an RSS feed.
A reason of the higher conversion rates is that video allows your business to be more personable. Visitors of your blog can hear your voice and see your face. This personal touch builds trust, which leads to higher conversion rates.
5. Video allows you to differentiate your site.
With the commercial sector of the web getting more and more crowded with new sites, you need to figure out a way to stand out from the crowd. While video is very popular, many small business sites are still not using it. This provides the savvy entrepreneur with a great opportunity.
I’m willing to bet that your industry doesn’t have many sites using video. Imagine if you started regularly producing videos and adding them to your blog. Do you think your industry would notice? I think so. Anytime someone does something different from the norm, that’s usually a newsworthy event that people notice and start talking about.
How to Get Started With Video
If I’ve peaked your interest for trying out video on your blog, make sure to subscribe for free to our RSS feed. In the next post, I’ll be looking at video equipment that will get you started in producing great videos.
