I was having a brief chat on Twitter with Gideon Shalwick (follow @gideonshalwick) from Become a Blogger when he mentioned a new video he had just finished making about using WP-DB-Backup to backup your WordPress database.
He mentioned that he started making his video the same day I posted my blog post, and we discovered we were both inspired by the same thing on that day. This reminded me of some thoughts I recently had on the pros and cons of using video on blogs.
When video is good
Demonstrations – videos work great for how-to and demonstration posts where you walk your visitors through a multi-step process (such as configuring a WordPress plugin).
Interviews – video interviews are terrific to watch because you get more out of the person’s communications that just reading a transcript. Things like facial expressions, tone of voice, hand gestures, and other visual aids can improve the experience for your blog visitors.
Action – imagine a blog about sports or cars that had no videos. Or imagine how much less interesting the blog coverage of trade shows and exhibitions would be without videos of the conference floor and booth demos. Videos carry much more of the excitement and action than photos and written articles ever can.
When video is not good
Breaking news – Gideon’s video about configuring the WP-DB-Backup plugin is timeless information, so the difference in how long it took him to produce it versus how long it took me to write my blog post makes little difference in the long term. But if a blogger is trying to break some exciting news to the world and has to spend time making a video about it they might get scooped by another blog in the meantime.
Skimming – a well written blog post with short paragraphs and relevant sub-headings can be quickly scanned by a visitor who wants to get an idea of what the article is about. They may be interested in just one part of the article, such as the solution to their problem or a quote from someone, without reading all of the surrounding explaination. Video (and audio for that matter) can not be scanned in the same way.
Convenience – following on from the previous point, video is not always convenient for a blog visitor. I often read blogs at work when I have a few spare minutes or at lunchtime. Reading a blog post is easy because it is something I can glance at, get interrupted, and come back to. Videos tend to lose their flow when they are interrupted. Also, the sound of a video would distract or annoy co-workers, and using headphones might mean I miss someone’s question or don’t hear the phone ringing.
Video can be great for blogs and some blogs are perfectly suited for it. For those considering using video on their own blog have a think about your visitors and whether you need to make sure you also deliver enough other content for people who aren’t able to watch your videos regularly.
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Hey Paul
Great post!
I especially liked the bits about when video is good and when it’s not.
Creating video tutorials is a great way to stand out from the crowd, but it definitely takes more effort than just a text based document – or even just audio for that matter.
Whenever there is a change to a website that’s covered inside the video, the video needs updating. It’s a bit of a pain to do the updates, but when looking a the amazing responses we get from happy customers, it’s definitely worth it :)
Thanks again for the great post!
Gideon Shalwick
Thanks for your comment Gideon.
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