This post was guest authored by Terry Didcot, author of of The Honest Way Blog

Video clips are all the rage since the popularity of YouTube and its spinoffs have taken this form of media into orbit. They are popping up everywhere from websites to Squidoo lenses and blogs. It seems we can’t do without them.

Or can we?

There are lots of pros to creating and using video clips in your website and for advertising purposes, but there are some drawbacks as well. So before you go full tilt into filling every square inch of your blog’s real estate with video, you might want to read this first.

The pros are obvious to anyone with eyes. Television has already stamped its mark on the advertising world as the most successful media of all time. There are various reasons for this, but the main one is its ability to grab people’s attention and to hold it. The visual hook of a television screen is in its movement combined with sound to produce a lifelike effect that attracts attention even when you’re not watching it. If you doubt this, then try this little experiment.

Try holding a conversation with someone by sitting facing each other with the television switched on and the sound up at a normal level. Sit so that the television is off to one side of you so neither of you are looking directly at it, but can still see it out of the corner of your eye. There are two things you can do here.

One is to talk while the adverts are on. See how many times either you or the person you’re talking to averts their gaze towards the television in a three minute period. Uh ha. It’ll happen, don’t worry!

Next, try very hard to not look at the television but try to concentrate on each others conversation for the duration of one advert. Then see how much of that ad you actually remember!

So that’s the power of visual and audio hooking up to grab your attention. It’s the same with video on the internet. It has a similar potential to sell whatever its advertising. That includes promoting yourself, your website or blog, or your products and services.

Another huge plus point is the use of video in tutorials. It’s an excellent way to teach people how to use something because when they can see how something is done, it often makes it a whole lot easier to learn to do it themselves.

That’s the obvious pluses points to using video. But there are minuses too.

The Cons

The first one is that of viewer annoyance. I for one will click onto a person’s blog because I actually like to read stuff. I know there are lots of people like me.

Imagine how irritating it would be for a lover of the written word trying to read an interesting post when there is some guy yapping away about his latest must-have money making scheme in the sidebar!

Imaging how quickly I would reach for the mouse to go someplace else. And not come back.

Equally annoying is having someone’s idea of a great music video playing away while I’m trying to read. Especially if I can’t switch it off. Not everybody will share your love of a particular sort of music, no matter how great you think it is. I’ll be reaching for that mouse again…

Often, while surfing a multitude of sites, we’re bombarded with flashy ads, revolving banners, motion graphics, and flash presentations. When everybody and his dog is also including video as well, it gets overwhelming and already tired eyes start to ache.

It’s therefore a real pleasure to find a nice quiet website or blog to read and enjoy in peace and quiet.

Can you imagine living without television?

I did it for a couple of years and you know, after about a nanosecond I didn’t miss it one iota. I found I had so much more time to do things that I enjoyed, like hobbies, reading, outdoor activities etc.

On the flipside, I cannot imagine living without the internet, as it’s a great source of my income and ongoing learning. But I can equally imagine doing very well without promotional video ramming stuff down my proverbial throat all the while I’m trying to get on with what I’m doing.

Horses for courses?

Maybe.

You pays your money and takes your choice!

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