We talk a lot about the importance of your church imagery, but what about video content?

Did you know that in the past 30 days, more online video content has been uploaded to the web than the past 30 years of TV content?! Video content is shown to increase website engagement and people spend almost three times as long on pages with videos, than those without (Wisti).

Video content is particularly effective with millennials as younger viewers tend to prefer researching via video, rather than other forms of media. 

This blog explores the type of content which works well in a church video, how you could display videos on your church website, and how you can get started if you don't have any current video content...

What type of content works well within a video on a church website?

Video is particularly useful for conveying subjects which are harder to articulate through words or pictures. For example, this could be if you're sharing your vision for your church or your heart for a particular ministry. Additionally, it's very useful for giving those outside the church a 'feel' for what your church is like.

Video content could be used in a variety of ways and here are some examples of where videos are used effectively by churches:

• Harbour Church Promo Video
• St Peters Brighton Safehaven Trailer
• St Thomas Norwich Homepage Video
• Church Pages 'How To' Video

How could you display videos on your church website?

For your church website, you may choose to use video on pages about your ministries, within your news, on information pages (as we have at Church Pages), or more boldly on your homepage, or within your vision. 

If you're unsure how video could best be used by your church, it's useful to think of the regular conversations you have with newcomers and see whether you can convey this within a video. Chances are, if you're saying it many times to newcomers, other viewers have the same questions and a video could help communicate this. 

How do you get started, if you don't have any current video content?

Within your church website, you may not have videos which you can readily build into your homepage. However, a very simple way to get a video onto your website is to upload this to YouTube, and embed this within your site.

This can be done within your Church Pages website by following the responsive guide here.

If you're not already on YouTube, it's worth setting up a church YouTube channel to ensure that all your videos are under one account and building up your views. YouTube is now the second largest search engine so it's useful to be found there!

You may be thinking that this sounds great, however, you don't have any videographers within your church. Whilst professionally shot videos are always preferable, for simple video updates these can be done on a smartphone as most phones have fairly decent cameras.

We'd simply recommend that you find a quiet space for your filming, and perhaps invest in a smartphone holder to keep the camera steady. Your videos do not have to be Oscar-winning, they simply have to help you communicate. 

Can we help?

If you'd like to know more about adding video to your website, or if you have any other questions, do not hesitate to get in touch with the Church Pages team.