Video is an engaging and powerful tool for your website. But, videos need to be used carefully within your web design. They must feature the proper focus to show your brand’s voice. Therefore, creating video content and using it when designing your website is vital. Find answers to the most frequently asked questions on how, why, and where to use videos on a website here!
Why use stock videos on your website?
Have you ever seen a very amateur video and thought, ‘Why did they post that?’. If not done correctly, video content can let your website and brand ideas down. Sometimes, you will need to capture the videos yourself, e.g., creating an explainer video. However, you can visit a stock video library Depositphotos that hosts royalty-free HD video clips for fast, professional footage.
Professional photographers usually create stock videos. Imagine this—you want to have an overhead video sweeping across a particular landscape to illustrate an aspect of your brand. Stock videos are easier, faster, and cheaper than buying yourself a drone and learning how to pilot it! No matter how many photography tips you learn, it’s still hard to succeed. On stock platforms, other professionals create perfect shots that you can use.
There are almost as many stock videos available online, as there are topics that could be made into video footage. In addition, there are many business branding techniques that utilize video content.
How can you use stock footage in your web design?
- Find a library online. The amount of content available on stock platforms guarantees that you’ll never run out of clips to choose from. Royalty-free HD video clips can be used online, and they give you peace of mind over any possible copyright infringement. Stock video libraries usually have a subscription cost that pays for the usage of these clips. You are then free to use the movies in any way you see fit on your website and in online posts.
- Think of what you want to portray. Do you have a product to sell or a lifestyle idea? You can find videos for almost anything you wish to portray. Footage that shows food, wildlife, scenery, objects, etc. The breadth of content available gives you creative freedom. You can always add a voice-over to convey your ideas in your video. Many libraries also include royalty-free music that you can add to your visuals to create the right feel and ambiance for your message.
- Try thinking in abstracts. If your product has a name that conveys a traditional meaning, find a video to match that meaning as a new way to introduce customers to your product. For example, a tourist brand for New York—often referred to as ‘The Big Apple’—could find footage of someone eating the fruit. This is a more abstract and often more exciting way to present video content.
- Try adding a video background. Add a moving image background to the text on your website to stimulate customers. This tip needs to be applied sparingly to not bombard users with too much motion, and not slow the website loading speed down. However, this can be an exciting and eye-catching design feature to employ on your website.
Where on your website should you use stock videos?
Website hero videos usually contain an overview of your brand, and can be placed on the main front page of your website. This creates a good and engaging starting point for future customers to introduce your brand. You could use the hero video to talk about your brand, including ethics and ethos, or you could use this introduction space to highlight a significant new product or service.
Product pages are perfect places for stock videos to be used, as the footage can show the product itself being used, or evoke a feeling and image that your product itself invokes. For example, try describing your product in a voice-over and using a video that showcases the lifestyle attributes of where your product fits in.
Explainer videos can also be used on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages to explain ideas, concepts, or processes that might be new to the user. The stock videos used can relate to the topic while a narrator, or overlayed text, explains the answer to the question.
How can you edit the stock video that you download?
Combining graphics
The stock footage that you download may include motion graphics or cinematography. You could combine several types of clips in a video editing app and create a montage of video footage with added still images (edited in a photo editing app).
Upscaling
It might be necessary to upscale the still images you include in your filmmaking. Artificial intelligence can help you with this process by automating and selecting the best way to resize pictures. Of course, the quality of all parts in your movie must be consistent.
Adding music
In addition to the process of performing an image upscale to fit your video, you can also add music to the background to enhance the ambiance created by the visual elements. Video production does not need to be a long and slow process. Using stock elements will vastly speed up your working time.
Conclusion
Great websites need a handful of videos to spark and maintain interest. Stock videos are an incredibly efficient and effective way of creating visual content for your website. Libraries are available to supply you with stock footage on a large variety of subjects. So, start adding your video content right away!