Website videos – how long should they be?
Before I go any further there are exceptions to this. If you are making a HowTo video, or a video tutorial, which people will seek out to get information, then you can make the video as long as it needs to be.
The difference is when viewing your video is discretionary. They’ve arrived at your page looking for a service and if they click on your video they will learn more. However they have other sites to go and look at, so they don’t want to waste too much time. I’ve come to the conclusion that 2 minutes is the maximum website video duration and psychologically it makes a huge difference if it’s 1’59” rather than 2’00” ! Looking at this image, 1′ 41″ doesn’t seem like it’ll take up too much of your day.
Well put! And I’m very glad to see this advice repeated here.
Too often I have to persuade clients that having a video made is NOT like buying grapes… Whilst we’re happy to give people rough ideas of cost based on running time, you’re not actually buying your video by the pound!
Yes, video duration often isn’t equivalent to cost.