The days of having a large image or slider at the top of your website are long gone. Since HTML5 introduced the <video> tag it has become a lot easier for designers and developers to integrate videos into their websites. Video backgrounds, if used effectively, can be just what a website needs to make you stand out over your competitors, not only are video backgrounds engaging for the user but it can also tell a story about your company and what they do.
A lot of companies have picked up on this trend and implemented it with great effect. For example, Go-Pro’s video background is one of best I have seen. The video is not only extremely engaging, but it also showcases their product and its capabilities brilliantly. Click here to check it out.
However, as with most web trends, there are times where video backgrounds are not so perfectly executed as Go-Pro – for example the video header for Skype. if you take a look at their video background on their site you will see what I mean. The video is immediately noticeable with its fast movements and cuts, which is distracting and may deter the user away from the site and lead to the user not reading essential content on the home page.
Video backgrounds are a growing trend, and are perfect for companies who want to stand out visually above their competitors. Personally, I think video backgrounds really give a site an edge. However, before you dive into using video backgrounds on your site you have to weigh up the pros and cons.
A recent survey has shown around 50% of web traffic is through mobile, which makes it difficult to showcase your beautiful video. The issue of playing a video on mobile is that it can incur a lot of data charges due to the size of the video and most mobile phones/tablets do not support automatic video playback, so a fallback image has to be in place.
Some do find video backgrounds are annoying, distracting, and can take away from the overall user experience of the site. Personally, I love video backgrounds. They are a beautiful yet engaging way to showcase your products, projects or services to your audience, and the trick is to be subtle with the video.
Most web design trends these days seem to leave just as quickly as they came in, but with video backgrounds I can see the longevity in them due to the engaging nature of the effect.
What are your views on video backgrounds, do you love or hate them? Leave a comment below.
