5 Reasons to Limit Video Content on your Site

As we take more sites through Go Mobile we’ve been removing quite a few video pages. We get asked a lot why we consider videos to be supplementary content on websites, and why we discourage a page containing only video content.

In this post I’m going to share five reasons why I think you should limit video content on your site.

1. Videos can be time consuming

People read differently online – they scan and dedicate less time, and often come to a website to find the answer to a question.

They are looking for a bridge for that information gap. They want to get over that bridge as quickly as possible.

Gerry McGovern

Videos are not the quickest bridge to information because, as Amy Schade (Nielsen Norman Group) points out, “they force users to access the content sequentially”. This means that users can’t quickly scan the information to see if it will be relevant to them  like they could with text.

If we rely solely on video content to convey our primary messages we run the risk of burying them. Users might not watch a video to the end, or worse, they might not watch it at all. In our new responsive template videos don’t play automatically, giving the user control over what they view.

As Amy Shade argues, users should “have the ability to collect information in another way”.

If using videos on your site you should always ensure that your primary message is also presented in text so that users can access it quickly.

2. Videos are not always accessible

When using video content you need to be mindful of accessibility.

Providing content as a video can limit access to the information contained in this format for anyone who cannot see or hear the content.

Amy Schade, Nielsen Norman Group

Is video the most appropriate medium to convey information to your target audience? For example, if one of your target audiences is from a country where Youtube is not available, relying on videos to provide information means that your audience can’t access it.

Videos can also break or be removed from the channel they’re hosted on.

3. Videos can distract from your core content

As well as videos being time consuming they can also interrupt the flow of your core content.

Video and the accompanying audio, can confuse or distract users”.

Amy Schade, Nielsen Norman Group

On mobile devices videos can take longer to scroll through as they stack to fill the smaller screen.

Since videos are potentially distracting users from your core messages, it’s important to think carefully about when and where to use them on your webpages.

4. Videos can slow the page load

Videos, like images and virtual tours, can slow the load time for your webpage. If users can’t access your information quickly they can become frustrated and leave your site.

5. Videos often don’t provide a next step

As well as coming to the web to find something out, users often come to a website to complete a task. There is a danger with videos just to tell a story rather than provide information with a call to action.

“Many videos are essentially dead ends that leave the user with no clear path to additional information.”

Amy Schade, Nielsen Norman Group

This supports my argument that videos are usually supplementary content on websites. They should sit alongside your core content to provide context or qualifying information rather than being relied on to provide essential next steps in the user journey.

Final thoughts

I’m not trying to say videos are not useful content. Do I believe they are more suitable in other mediums, such as social media? Absolutely. Like Gerry McGovern, I believe that a website is still “primarily a text-driven medium”.

However, I can also see the benefits of videos on a website. Like other dynamic content, videos can be engaging and can help break up blocks of text. They also provide context and qualifiers to support your core messages.

It’s essential though that we use this content type sparingly on websites to maximise impact, and to ensure that we’re not excluding, distracting or annoying our users.

Remember, there isn’t much time to grab the user’s attention on the web, it’s best to present your primary messages as quickly and as clearly as possible.

References and further reading

Amy Schade, Video Usability, Nielsen Norman Group (NNg), 16 November 2014

Gerry McGovern, Text is more important than images on the Web, New Thinking, 26 September 2010

Gerry McGovern, The Challenge for Writers of Web Content, New Thinking, 24 May 2015

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Team update: 29 August – 9 September

After holidays over the summer – the team is gradually getting back up to speed.

Go Mobile programme

The whole team was busy getting the latest five sites ready to go live on 2 September. Batch 4 saw the following sites go live:

We’re also doing some follow up work –  using Siteimprove and Clarity Grader to see how sites have improved.

Lisa’s been writing handover notes for the editor of the History, Classics and Archaeology site. She’s also reviewd the GURU audit and tagged up the site in the pre-migration template.

Emily’s been on annual leave for a week, and after that has been working on the pre-migration tagging for Biomedical Sciences. She’s also finished up the Modern Languages audit and benchmarking.

Andrew proofed the School of History, Classics and Archaeology site. He’s doing final checks on the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies ahead of its launch today.

Andrew’s also working on pre-migration of the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences. He’s reworking the Travelling to Newcastle page in About.

Emma C has completed an audit of ten clinical research facility sites.

Design and Technical developments

Emma C has been working with the tech team and planning developments needed to bring the University Events website into T4.

Campaigns and other developments

Lisa has been scheduling and updating seasonal messaging for the University’s homepage.

Training and support

Linda and Jane are preparing for a Planning and Writing session scheduled for next week.

Anne and Emma C have been tailoring our Go Mobile training in preparation for remote training of the web editors in Singapore.

We’ve received 30 support requests through the NU Service Helpdesk and have resolved 15 of them.

Plans for the next few weeks

The team are working on Batch 5 of the Go Mobile programme. There are seven sites under development which are due for completion on 7 October.

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Best practice example: mastheads

Each batch we put through the go live process has examples of excellent content. In this new series of blog posts, we’ll use these to highlight best practice examples.

Last time we looked at using grid boxes for section openers. This time I want to show you three different examples of best practice for mastheads.

Mastheads

Like grid boxes, mastheads are used for section openers. These are pages that give an introduction for a particular section (eg Research, Study with Us, About Us).

They help create visual hierarchy, and so should only be used for top level sections of your site (the pages that appear in the side menu when you’re on the homepage).

Example one: Accommodation

masthead on the Accommodation website

This example is from the Accommodation website. It uses a masthead page to give a brief introduction to the section, and point users towards some key pages.

Mastheads work well in places where you want to give a teaser for the section, but not go into too much detail.

At a glance, users can see how to get to key information.

The image gives a visual clue about the content of the section. It shows students who look like they really do live in the accommodation, rather than visiting for the first time.

We’ve prioritised the information, providing links to some of the core pages for current students – how to extend your stay, swap or transfer your room, and what to do at the end of your contract.

We’ve also added a sub-heading to introduce a sub-set of key information: how the Accommodation service can support students after first year. This quickly introduces a new topic that they might not have heard about, and shows them where to find more information.

Example two: Careers

masthead on the Careers website

This longer example is from the Careers website. It uses a masthead page to give a more comprehensive overview of the section.

The image links very clearly to the title of the page. The shape of the photo also leaves enough space for the title box.

The sub-headings give a clear indication of how the section can help the user, and help to direct the user to appropriate information quickly and easily.

Although there is more text in this example, the page has been structured in a way that supports it. There are clear links to all pages within the section and the sub-headings work well to help users scan for information.

Hyperlinks are also used very well in this example. They’re placed at the end of sentences, which supports visitors using mobile devices. They’re not all clumped together, which would make them difficult to use on a mobile.

Example three: Postgraduate

masthead on the Postgraduate website

This last example is from the Postgraduate website. It uses a masthead page to support longer text and more information.

Mastheads can also be a good option if pages in the section have very specific information, and you need a catch-all page to introduce key information that won’t appear on the other pages.

There is a lot of text on this page, but users are directed to core pages by two, clear hyperlinks. Scanning is supported through short paragraphs, and bold phrases.

To improve scannability even more, we could introduce some sub-headings and bullet lists to break up the text, add white space and support scanning.

You can also support the text by using other content pieces, such as images, videos or quotes. The quotes in this example help to break up the text, and they’re relevant to the main content. They help to quickly support the message of the section.

Learn more

You’ll learn how to create and manage these pages in our T4 training sessions.

If you’re stuck, we can help you work out what format will work best for your navigational pages.

Have a look at :

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A Quick Guide to…Dates and Times

We’ve standardised how we write dates and times on our sites. This makes it easier for visitors to work out when things are happening.

It also makes scanning a page for key information much quicker.

In the latest of our Quick Guide series, here’s a timely reminder of our best practice for dates and times:

Dates

Dates have no punctuation.

The order should be day month year eg Thursday 4 August 2016.

A date range should look like this:

  • 2011 to 2012
  • Friday 28 February to Monday 3 March

Sometimes space is an issue, eg in tables. In this case, it’s fine to use truncated months eg Jan, Feb, Mar.

We’ve also set standards for writing decades and centuries:

  • 1930s not 1930’s
  • 20th century not twentieth century

Times

We use the 24 hour clock.

This makes times accessible to international audiences.

Here are some principles for presenting times:

  • 17.30 not 5:30pm or 1730hrs
  • 00.00 not midnight
  • 12.00 not midday or 12 noon

For periods of time, you can use a hyphen between start and end times. For example, 10.00 – 11.30

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Best practice example: grid boxes

We’re often asked for examples of really good websites. The thing is, each site is different, depending on the type of site, their users, and their needs. Websites constantly evolve due to changing user needs, business goals or time-sensitive messaging.

So there’s not really one static best practice example that ticks all the boxes for everyone.

What we can do is point you in the direction of really good content usage to take inspiration from.

Each batch we put through the go live process has examples of excellent content. In this new series of blog posts, we’ll use these to highlight best practice examples.

Here’s a couple of examples of best practice for grid boxes from recent Go Mobile batches.

Grid boxes

Grid boxes are used for homepages and section openers. These are pages that give an introduction for a particular section (eg Research, Study with Us, About Us).

They help create visual hierarchy, so users can easily see where they are in your site. Because of this, they should only be used for top level sections of your site (the pages that appear in the side menu when you’re on the homepage).

boxes on the Study with Us section of the Malaysia campus website

Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia Study With Us section

This example is from Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia. It uses our ‘top task box – dark’ content piece.

This is basically four links, but presented in a visual, structured way. Visitors can immediately see what’s on offer. This is a good option when you want to give a quick overview of different services, for example.

For this Study with Us section, it was important that we had clear pathways signposted for four key groups of users: undergraduates, postgraduates, international students, and parents.

We wanted each group to feel catered for, supported, and have easy access to pages that would help them.

You can have some text above grid boxes. Keep it short, and don’t add any if it’s not needed. The boxes should take centre stage, and do a quick job of moving users on to core pages.

boxes on the Study with Us section of the Mechanical Engineering website

Mechanical Engineering Study With Us section

This example is from the School of Mechanical and Systems Engineering. It uses our ‘top task box – light’ content piece.

This box type gives you the option to include some hyperlinks (max. 4) below the image and main link. It’s a good option for pages where you know there are several core pages that you want to highlight.

In this example, we wanted to signpost prospective students towards the undergraduate pages, but knew that they’re likely to want to know about courses and funding in particular.

Light top task boxes are great for larger sections where you want to direct users explicitly to core pages.

Think about what the key messages for the section are, and what your user is looking for. Work out what are core areas (give them boxes), key pages within these areas (give them links), and what is additional information (don’t link them from your section opener).

Your additional information pages (in this case, the Careers page) will always be available within the section via the menu.

Learn more

You’ll learn how to create and manage these pages in our T4 training sessions. And you’ll find out how to identify your core pages in our training on planning web content.

If you’re stuck, we can help you work out what format will work best for your navigational pages, and help you with setting up grid layouts.

Have a look at :

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