The landing page video is an essential element of any business’s web presence. Here’s how you create winning SEO-friendly video content.
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It can be embarrassing to admit, but during a brief period in my career as a video production professional, I was asked to help out with corporate video sales and account management. As such, I put on a suit, I went to networking events, and I spoke with business owners and marketing executives about hiring my company to produce videos.
What I learned during this time was that, while many companies truly view video as the future, few had a strong grasp of how it could help them (especially for small- to medium-sized businesses). One video option that proved to be generally helpful time and time again is called a “landing page video”.
What Is a Landing Page Video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dolCu3jQdx0
A landing page video is what it sounds like. It’s meant for a company’s website — specifically on the homepage, where it will begin playing when visitors arrive at the site. There’s a good deal of room for creative filmmaking, but at its heart, a landing page video usually needs to do these five things:
- Introduce the company.
- Share the mission statement.
- Introduce the team.
- Demonstrate value.
- Provide a strong CTA.
Pitching a Landing Page Video
If you’re a video producer or entrepreneur, pitching a landing page video can be a great way to get some good work and pick up some lifelong clients. This is especially true for businesses who haven’t done much video marketing in the past. The trick is to create not one video, but three:
- An explainer video.
- A marketing/sales video.
- A recruiting video.
In addition to being a true multi-purpose investment, this can really help a website in terms of search engine optimization (SEO). This will be important not only in production but also in making sure you or your clients get the most of their investment.
Shooting a Landing Page Video
In an ideal setting, you should plan at least one full day of production. A good project (and a realistic one, budget-wise) would combine set interviews with 3-5 key business representatives, a good deal of B-Roll of the business at work, and a small element of animation and motion graphics.
- Interviews (half day).
- B-Roll (half day).
- Animation (in-house).
Editing a Landing Page Video
It’s important to be upfront with clients about editing expectations. It’s usually industry standard to ask for two to six weeks to get a project done, depending on your output (rush fees for anything quicker is not unreasonable). Having an outline or script put together early will also help.
For the interviews, try to find start with the Who, What, Where, Why of the business. You can give a quick history or overview with the main CEO, or you can present text questions on screen that representatives all answer. Either by using your two-shot setup or B-roll to cutaway, be sure to cut out any pauses or “ums” to make the video sound professional.
Consider animating graphics like lower thirds and logos throughout. A solid animated line graph or distribution map can be a huge boost to the overall narrative.
Optimizing a Landing Page Video
A landing page video will help any company’s website, and overall search rank is key. To increase your video’s optimization, be sure to keep file names and metadata and tags uniform throughout your export, upload, and hosting process.
Also suggest creating YouTube and Vimeo pages where the company can host the video and link back to the website (and vice versa). This is also a great way to share new media as part of an ongoing video marketing campaign.
Here are some more resources on corporate video production.
- Get More From Your Videos With a Solid Call to Action
- 5 Creative Lessons You Can Learn By Creating Corporate Video
- Legal Marketing: Tips for Landing Video Projects with Law Firms
- Best Lenses for Corporate Video Interviews