Many social media intelligence and analytics organizations have reported the growing popularity of using online videos in websites, blogs and other online portals. The reason is very clear as website visitors often prefer the high interactivity that online video players provide in getting information about product and services. Just take the booming popularity of YouTube (which is now a Google company) for example. The staggering popularity of video sites such as YouTube as well as its impact on social media networks like MySpace or Facebook is a clear indication of the power of video marketing. Millions of video clips are watched on a daily basis -- from amateur, boring video images of someone feeding his pets to commercial quality product presentations, advertisements and movie trail. Video is a compelling and effective medium to use to showcase any product or service. It would be to a webmasters advantage if they have some form of video players that could run automatically while the site uploads, or engage customers with an interactive thumbnail playlist allowing them the option to choose which particular video they would like to view. Videos can be set-up as viral, meaning viewers can share them to friends or their networks. This would be a great way to share information about your product, at very minimal cost, to an almost unlimited number of potential viewers and customers. Products and services can be presented more efficiently through a video player much better than any write ups can portray. Given the option, most web visitors would most likely be attracted and view a video presentation rather than reading through a lengthy article that contains the same information. The compelling video, music and other multimedia elements can engage any visitor, making them want to know more about a product -- and eventually convert them into paying customers. There are two ways how you can put up a video on your website: hosting the video on your own server (self-hosted) or embed a link to the video to a third-party host such as YouTube. There are pros and cons in using any of these resources and it would depend on the how your website is set-up, and how you would like to showcase your product. For many, combining elements of these two options would be the best way. Many website owners embed videos on their website as hosted from another video site such as YouTube. The problem with such arrangement is that people would usually follow the link going to YouTube and watch the video from there -- not on your website where they can gain more information about your product and services. It would be more effective however, to have a lite version or a teaser of your video on a 3rd party video platform and have it linked back to your own website where the full length, high-quality video is hosted and watched in its entirety. Coupled with a thumbnail playlist, such set-up can create a compelling and interactive user experience -- that they would want to know more about your services or products, and stay on your own website longer. The following are some tips and tricks on how you can effectively embed self-hosted video on your website. Firstly, keep your videos short. The attention span of most people are short and would usually drop watching videos if it's too dragging or would take too much of their time. Three minutes is the ideal time length and would depend on the type of content you have. Secondly, be original and authentic. Avoid using advertisement style presentations that many people just shun. Keep it simple and viral, showcasing your product in its most compelling essence -- how it can benefit the customer. Last but not least, add a call to action. Your video would be useless if it does not compel the viewer to take action, either to inquire more about the product, or make them contact you for potential business. Clearly, having a flash video player and a corresponding thumbnail playlist can do wonders in making a more effective presentation for your product or service. There are various tools available at your disposal and it would be very wise to try them out and see which would be best to use for your website -- and take it to the next level.
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