Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Given an option would you...?

This is topic Given an option would you...? in forum Grist for the Mill at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :

I work in a small company, we have three picture framing stores in the LA area. We are signing up with a new bit of internet advertising on Yelp, and we have a choice to make. We can choose to have a slideshow running (silent) on our page as soon as someone clicks in, or we can have a video that they can opt to watch. It will not play unless they click on it.

So my question is this.

If you were looking at information on a listing for a company, would you opt to watch a video, knowing that it's going to be a commercial of sorts?

My contention is that most people wouldn't opt to watch any more advertising than the copious amounts that are already thrust upon us. But the guys that are doing the production (regardless of which option we take) swear their numbers show that the video works better.

What do you think?

Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :

Well, in my experience as a user of the internet, the slideshow is probably going to slow down the loading of the entire site. At some point, I just click away and go somewhere else if things take too long to load.

Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :

Supposedly, neither will cause it to run slow. But I agree, if it takes too long, I don't wait around.

But Meredith, would you choose to watch the video?

Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :

It depends. I know that's a very unhelpful answer.

If it was something I really wanted to know more about, maybe. Otherwise, probably not.

Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :

Obviously people do watch videos, there are so many of them even on ads.

Personally, I think it depends on how you display it. If it's a service I want and you have a nice set up with a short explanation which sounded like what I wanted, I would watch it. Say how long it is.

And even though it the slide show isn't suppose to slow things down, I think that depends on the user's computer, bandwidth, how busy the network is, how many pics, etc... I have found some slideshows load fast while others not so fast.

Posted by Smiley (Member # 9379) on :

Either way, don't make them too long. I'd sit through a short one.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I'm thinking a video wouldn't do any harm, and might do some good...so long as the bulk of the information can be "got" somewhere on site once the video is done.

My limited business experience is pre-computer, however. Online stuff is chiefly entertainment to me. I might watch an on-site video or link to---if the people are or the business is known to me. I'd be less likely to look at it if I were coming in completely cold, knowing no one, never having dealt with anyone.

If it played automatically, I might click off and exit before it went too far...

Posted by Corky (Member # 2714) on :

What if you had the video, which they can opt to play, or not, along with another way (such as just reading) for them to get the information they want?

I'd recommend that you read something on making a website easy for visitors to find what they are looking for, such as

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition by Steve Krug (Aug 28, 2005),

Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems by Steve Krug (Dec 18, 2009),

Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works (Interactive Technologies) by Janice Redish (Jun 29, 2007).

See what other web geeks have to say about what works on a website.

Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :

This isn't actually on our website, it's on our Yelp page. If you're not familiar with Yelp, it's like a directory whose main point is to have users rate the various businesses listed. Registered users can post reviews and give ratings. It has all og the pertinent information of a directory page, with a link to our website, of course.

Our website is full of information. I'm really pretty proud of it as I provided the content, both written and photographic. We also had a great web designer come up with the layout. I think my profile has the link if anyone cares to look.

Okay, I just went to our Yelp listing. It seems they already set up a slide show using images from our website. Not ideal, as they include the gold frame around the images which is part of the web page graphics and not the framed art, but it gives an indication of how it might look. It was a static picture before, with an option to look at two others that I posted.

Here's the link, if anyone's curious:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/allan-jeffries-framing-los-angeles

It actually did load quite quickly for me.

I only know of one other Hatracker in this area so I'm not trying to sell anything. And Meredith, if you need anything framed, let me know and I'll set you up.