Beginners’ tips: producing video for the web

There are lots of reasons that people produce videos for the web – to help market products, as useful guides, to capture and share a special moment etc. and, as such, video has become one of the most important tools on the web. It’s also very valuable. The benefits of publishing video on the web include improved search engine rankings, better communication with an audience and more varied and exciting website content.

If you haven’t dabbled with video production before it can seem like a time-consuming and expensive process – but not so..! Nowadays it can be very quick and cheap to produce videos for the web that will generate good results. Its simply a case of knowing what you want to achieve and how you can go about doing it. These tips should provide a good overview of how you can begin producing video for the web quickly and easily…

Know What You Need

You don’t have to buy expensive equipment and software to shoot and edit video. Lots of mobile phones will shoot decent quality video and even HD video now and you can even edit your videos on some phones.

A step up from shooting video on your mobile are handheld cameras like the Flip camera range and Kodak’s range of digital video cameras. They all shoot excellent quality video and, most importantly, they’re affordable.

Editing the footage you capture doesn’t require expensive software. You can download Windows Live Movie Maker as part of the Windows Live Essentials Package for free and Mac computers come with iMovie already installed. A quick search of YouTube will throw up a host of tutorials, walk-throughs and step-by-step guides for both (YouTube search: Movie Maker tutorials / iMovie tutorials)

Keep It Relevant

It’s important that you always keep the goal of your video in mind as this should directly inform what the finished article is like. If you’re creating a guide or walk-through video then there’s no need for lots of fancy effects and likewise if you’re creating a piece of marketing collateral, it should be concise and clearly focused on the product or service.

Keep It Short(er)

There’s lots of debate about what the ideal length of video is for the web, but of course that depends on what the content is. However, what is true is that people watch video on computers in a very different way to hoe they watch video on TV. If people don’t like what they see on a computer they can change it immediately and forget all about it – so get to your point quickly and don’t make your video any longer than you need.

Don’t Worry Too Much About Quality

Generally speaking videos on the web are all about content. Whether they be of dogs on skateboards, Liz Green songs (shameless plug) or soldering guides, people are watching for the content – not the production values. If your production values are reasonable that’s fine – if they’re great then its a bonus. Which brings us seamlessly on to our next tip…

Always Bear in Mind the Return On Investment

Return on investment (ROI) doesn’t just have to refer to money – it can be about time as well. Is it worth you spending hours and hours perfecting the production of a ‘how to’ video guide? Or if you’re producing a premium piece of entertainment content, like an animation or a gig video, can you spend a little longer on it to make it that little bit better? Again it all depends on the type of content on which you’re working and its goal.

On the flip-side, lots of people produce web videos for their work and in that scenario time is indeed money. The longer you spend producing a video, the less ROI you’re organisation is receiving. The key here is to find your coefficient between ensuring a high-enough quality production and a a short enough time taken for production!

Just Do It

The best way to learn and to improve your video production skills is to go out and do it. Shoot some video, put it onto your computer, pull it into an editor, have a play around and export the finished video when your done. Its that simple. You’ll pick up the process quickly and you’ll be able to improve and tailor your videos the more that you produce.

MITES runs a range of film and video training courses including a Shoot and Edit introductory course that is ideal for beginners.

To find out more, you can contact us on: 0151 707 4433 or fill in our email contact form and we’ll get back to you asap.

Image: Andy Newson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net