Look at any website with still image covers when you land on their page, does it do anything for you? Do you want to stop and take a look?
Still pictures, no matter how great won’t be able to hold the attention of the viewers. But a short video that has some effects will definitely grab some attention.
The trend of background videos is in full swing now. Most of the websites are using background videos for their homepages. With an appealing background video that teases your viewers the moment they land on your landing page, you will hook in anyone visiting your website. Movement tends to attract people so that a video will be more effective than a brand logo or an image. So, if you are thinking about revamping your homepage, you can try adding a compelling background video that will lure the visitors.
When you open the homepage of a website and see a video instead of a picture, that’s a background video. For example, when you visit the yoga website -Tint Yoga, they haven’t used a video per se, but they have used slight animation to add flow to their website.
There are many popular websites that have switched to videos. The great thing about adding background video is it adds movement to your page. On top of that, you can add animation to the video, which will make it look irresistible. Website background is a crucial part of your website. It is the first thing a visitor will see. So making an attractive background may increase the chances of conversion.
Now that we have learned about what a background video is, let’s get into the crucial aspects of it. Background videos must not be longer than 10-15 seconds. You must remember that background videos are like gateways, they lure the viewers in, but that’s it! Do not try to make your video backgrounds instructional, or too complicated. Keep it short; keep it sweet. Most of the websites use short videos on loop. You can use that trick, but know that a loop video will also consume the viewer’s data, and may result in a lag in your website. The best way out is to use a short video, on loop, and to stop playing the video after some seconds like- 30s-60s.
Not everyone needs to use background video; it isn’t necessary to jump in on the bandwagon. You can consider using a background video if:
There are many situations when you can use a background video for your homepage, but the best reason is you want to. Here are a few industries and brands that can benefit from using the feature on their homepage.
Travel or tour websites can benefit the most from using video background. You can use beautiful landscape clips and add it as a video to the homepage. It will cause a sense of wonder in the audience, and they will want to travel to that place. So, your job is done!
While travel can be tempting, food is something everyone loves. Restaurants and hotels can use their images of food or settings to create incredible short videos. It will not only cause amazement in the viewers, but it will also give them a glimpse of your products and services.
If you are selling physical or digital products, then you can create background videos promoting your products. It will help the visitors know what you are selling and get them curious. Moreover, it is a great way to initiate new consumers to your business.
Above mentioned are just types of businesses that can benefit from video backgrounds. You can benefit from it as well, so let’s get cracking on how to add a background video.
This is the trickier part; adding video backgrounds is not as easy as making videos. You can make videos with the help of many tools on the internet. But putting a video background is challenging. If you are using WordPress for your website, then you are lucky. The process won’t be hard.
If you are using WordPress as a website builder, then you have three options:
Adding a plugin won’t take much time, but check it out before it goes live. Make sure the plugin is fully compatible with your current WordPress theme. If the plugin isn’t compatible, it may cause conflicts on the website.
The second option is you can use a website theme that supports video backgrounds. If your website theme doesn’t have a built-in video background function, you might need to find a theme that has the function built-in. But for one feature, you will need to change the entire theme of your website. So, make a smart decision.
The third option would typically be the easiest way for any business owners to add their own background videos into their own site by themselves, it is the easiest and most straightforward way of getting your video background up.
If you are using drag and drop website builders like Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, then you need some basic web designing skills. Some of these website builders also provide background templates you can readily use for your website. Wix and Weebly need zero coding skills, so you can easily add the video background.
Those who are new to coding may find it a tad bit difficult. If you have a developer, ask them to do it for you, if not, then try using one of the above-mentioned website builders. But when push comes to shove, and you have no other option than to do it yourself, keep these few things in mind.
Make sure you add – autoplay muted loop to the code. Autoplay will make sure the video plays as soon as the page is loaded, the loop will ensure the video keeps playing. But one thing to keep in mind is if you don’t mute the video, the autoplay option will not work on Chrome. So, mute your video!
The CSS will handle the styling of the video. Enter the height, the width, the position, the padding. You can also add text to the video if you want.
This step is optional. But you can also add a pause and play button on the video. Users will appreciate a pause and play button, so ensure you add it.
While background video can add to your business growth and conversion rates, if used wrongly, it can also harm your website. There are a few things you should keep in mind before using a video background on your homepage.
Videos can take a lot of time to download and buffer, so try to compress your video as much as you can. It is tempting to use a high-quality 1080p video, but it’s not worth it. Viewers will get tired of waiting around for the video to load. Moreover, it will create an illusion that the entire website is still loading while it’s only the background video. So, compress the video down to the lowest bitrate that looks acceptable. You can use a 720p video with a low frame rate of 24 or 25 frames per second. Then you can test a few different bitrates between 750k and 1250k, and choose the lowest bitrate that looks good.
If you are using text in your background video, then ensure you highlight the text properly. Don’t use text colors that will hide in with the background. But you might need to add an overlay to help distinguish the text, change the text color, or give the text a shadow to make it seen. Contrast the text with the background so it can be visible to the viewers.
Control buttons on your background video may throw off some users. But if your video is long and you want to give your website visitors the option to turn off the video, then you can add a play and pause button to your video. When the video plays on a loop, it may drain unnecessary data, and viewers would appreciate having the option to pause the video.
Whatever video you add in your background, may it be free stock videos or self-made, make sure the transitions in the video are seamless. The video footage must go with the rest of the site and feel like a part of it. It should not be sticking out like a sore thumb.
Most of the iPhone users and android phone users can’t play a video embedded in a website properly. They will face trouble if they don’t have a good Internet connection. So make sure to use file types that are widely supported. Keep the video short and compressed so all the users can play it.
Video background on a website is meant only to act as a brand gateway or tell a story. It isn’t created to serve as an instructional video or an explanatory video. So do not attach long videos to your website; it will slow the website as a whole and may cause “break” as well. A short video background will prevent your website from bogging down the loading time of your site.
Many websites just want to add any video footage that is remotely related to their business. If you are a plumber, do not add videos of random pipes on your website but add a short video of a plumber helping out with a broken pipe or something similar. Do not pick any random stock video and attach it. Your background must tell a story about your business. Focus on telling your story, and do not distract from it.
Excessive movement in the background video of your homepage can cause problems as the viewers may feel tired or get irritated with constant motion. Visitors are supposed to scroll down your website, so a slight movement or animation will feel good, but the excessive movement will feel out of place. Background videos should be subtle and smooth, avoid distracting users from what they should really be focusing on in your website. Avoid fast or excessive panning, shaky/unstabilized footage, and quick cuts.
Whenever people open a window with a video that has audio, they automatically shut it down. That’s what happens in most cases, so make sure your video has no sound. If it does, then mute it when you attach it to your homepage.
Keeping the background video loop forever is a great idea to play the video repeatedly while the page is open. But it affects your users’ CPU usage and can slow down the rest of your page. That’s why consider not using a loop, and if you do, make sure you write some JavaScript that pauses the video after X seconds. Looping your video background until infinity may annoy the viewers, and they may close your website page.
Some of the websites can create amazing videos on their own. They can shoot lovely videos of their products and services and put them together as a background video. But those who can’t have a way out. They can use stock footage or free stock videos. There are numerous sites which can offer you free video to download. So, here we go
Pexels is often known for its free stock images, but it also offers stock videos. It is a community of photographers who share their products with people. Moreover, the videos are free. The videos are generally one minute long, so you can download it and trim it if you want to.
Videvo is similar to Pexels, but it also offers a premium plan. You can download the free stock video, but you need to credit the owner. If you don’t want to credit the owner, you need a premium plan for Videvo. The site offers the best free stock videos, motion graphics, stock music, and sound effects, all in one place. So, no matter your free stock needs, you can avail it all here.
Pixabay, like Pexels, is free, and it’s a community of creators. Artists share copyright-free images and videos here. Moreover, all the contents are released under the Pixabay License, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist. So, you can go ahead and raid their free stock videos collection, which will have the fantastic stock footage for you to choose from.
Offeo Intro Maker may not offer free stock videos, but it has all the tools and resources you will need to create your own videos and download them. It has thousands of free video templates to choose from. Moreover, it provides a genie-animator for one-click animation. It is one of the best tools for creating short videos for social media platforms. You can use it to customize your website’s short video background and download it for free.
Audiovisual content has become the need of the hour. Depending on your industry and how if it is appropriate to have a background video or not, there is no right or wrong answer. However, we cannot deny the fact that the entire aesthetic design of websites changes when movement is added to the background. If you are willing to take the plunge and want to spruce up your website and content with fresh videos, then you can try out Offeo’s Intro Maker platform to create short video introductions for the background your homepages.
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