Online video and avoiding content overload.

When creating web content for your site, it is important to be aware of the capacity for users to digest information. You have a message and you need to get that across but beware of content overload, specifically of using too much text. Content overload or information overload is a modern phenomenon, we are bombarded with information from multiple gadgets, constantly throughout the day, and, as a result, some studies suggest that our attention span has become shorter. Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of carefully crafted online content not being read and the message being lost.

Videos are a great addition to websites as they offer a more visual way of providing information without relying on too much text.  Research by Nielsen Norman Group estimated that on average, only 28% of website text will get read, and more likely only around 20% of the text will be read. By contrast, 65% of website users will watch 75% of an online video. A study by 3M showed that 90 percent of the information sent to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text.

Video is becoming one of the most important channels for on-site conversion with video already making up 64 percent of all internet traffic, according to Cisco’s 2014 Visual Networking Index, and it’s forecast to grow to 80 percent of all traffic by 2019.

We use an online video platform which has allowed us to create short animated explainer videos in a variety of styles, including whiteboard explainers, cartoons, animation and infographic style videos.  Being able to produce these kinds of videos without using a specialist video production company has made video a viable marketing channel for smaller businesses who don’t have a big budget and, crucially, want to publish something quickly.

If you are considering a cost effective video for your site but don’t have the time to invest in making one, get in touch to find out how we can help.