MASTCOM.COM Blog

Here are just a few reasons:
- To increase the time a visitor will spend on your site.
- To increase your appearances in web search engines.
- To decrease the sales cycle–your prospect will be better informed.
- To create a consistent message.
- To increase your conversion rate for new visitors to your site.

How can you use video on your web site affordably and effectively?
- Find the right producer to assist you and tell your story.
- Keep it short and appeal to emotion if possible.
- Cut to the chase–do not waste any time getting to the point.

There are many examples of web video in past articles of this blog. Of course, there are many other uses of web video, like product demonstration, testimonials, meeting highlights, etc. The bottom line is that people prefer to watch videos over reading lots of text on a web site.

When discussing digital media projects, clients will sometimes ask us which is the best way to create and deliver their message — through video or Flash? It depends on a number of factors, the first being the source material. If you have mostly video, you should create a video. If you have no video, but lots of graphics, then it may be best for Flash.

Here are some other considerations:

Flash works/looks better than when your message needs to play back at larger sizes from the web. However, raster images and photos animated in Flash will require more bandwidth and are more likely to look “jerky” if moving.

Video works best for photos/raster images, movement/animation and syncing precisely to sound. However, the drawback for video is that image sharpness will be degraded by compression for standard DVD players and especially when compressed for the web. The frame rate also needs to be adjusted for web video. Typically web video is converted from 30 fps to 15 or even 12 frames per second.

Flash defaults to 12 frames per second which can look bad when converted to video, but usually looks fine on the web. All video is 72 dpi, or gets converted to 72 along the way. Everything on the web, including Flash, is also 72 dpi so there’s no such thing as 300 dpi video or Flash. However, it’s good to start with the highest possible resolution.

The bottom line is we need to know exactly what media and device it will be displayed on to recommend the best possible playback results. Call us today for a free consultation on the best way to deliver your messages at (763) 231-1881.

The goal of most business web sites is to convert prospects into customers. Visitors will give your site a couple of minutes of their time to hear what you have to offer, but not much more. They’re also much more likely to watch a short video than read a lot of text or click through several web pages.

A short profile video is inexpensive to produce and gives your prospects a reason to stay on your site longer and contact you, converting their visit into a sale. Video is the perfect medium to get to the point and sum up all of your key messages quickly and effectively. This example demonstrates how a value proposition can be made in less than two minutes with video:

Check out our short commercial:

Have you ever noticed that video on the web can run the entire spectrum from horrible to fantastic?  I’m not talking about the content itself or how it was compressed, but rather the way it plays back.  Sometimes videos load fine and play back smooth, while other videos load slow and play back choppy.  Chances are, the good video was playing from a streaming media, or streaming video server and the bad video was playing from a standard web server.

Standard web servers host web content and are often tasked with hosting video.  However, video and Flash animations play back much better from streaming servers.  Why?

Streaming servers:
- Are specially designed for high bandwidth and large files.
- Can handle larger traffic loads.
- Have the ability to detect connection speeds and deliver the appropriate files automatically.

Streaming servers are complex and specialized requiring certain hardware and software.  The way they work is quite different from standard servers as well.  Any web developer can set up a web server in their basement and serve up web sites.  Not everyone can afford the investment required to set up a truly streaming media server.

As a production company that does video and Flash for the web, we prefer to load our clients’ content on streaming servers to make sure it loads and plays back smooth.  Rather than trying to set up a costly streaming server, we recommend using a streaming media service like screencast (www.screencast.com).

We use this service for creating preview versions of videos so clients and their colleagues around the world can view and provide feedback.  Once approved, the final video can reside on screencast servers indefinitely.

Services like screencast allow for customized branded user interfaces and other controls through an easy-to-use interface.  That way, when the client sees preview versions directly from screencast, they see their logo in the corner.  Screencast includes standard linking and embed linking, so our clients can embed video from the streaming servers on any web site with full screen playback as an option.  When visitors to their site click on the video, it’s playing back from screencast’s streaming media servers, but this is transparent to the visitor, who never leaves the client’s site.  All of the videos on this blog and our web site are embedded from screencast.

How much does it cost?
That depends on the bandwidth used, which is a factor of file size (length of video and how it’s compressed) and how many times it’s viewed.  But it’s not expensive by any means.  This is a service we provide free of charge for our clients as long as the bandwidth used stays reasonable.  Sites like You Tube and Vimeo stream videos for free, but then your video is associated with other videos you might not want your company to be associated with.  Screencast and other streaming media services are like your own private You Tube without the unsavory characters.

For more information on streaming and video on the web, call us for a free consultation at (763) 231-1881,

Video used to be a luxury only large corporations could afford. The decline in the cost of production tools, the speed of producers to tell an effective story and web delivery have all contributed to making video an affordable option for small businesses. This example highlights a small accounting firm and their capabilities:

This recent project demonstrates documentary-style storytelling:

This “street journalist” video approach can set up the premise or point of a presentation from a series of short interviews. A stripped down, black and white, “street” visual style makes it real and grabs the attention of the viewer. Unvarnished opinions of everyday people allow viewers to connect the dots and reinforce (or dispel) their own preconceived notions:

This high definition demo video is embedded from our streaming media service: