Videos are a real game changer in an online world where 96% of consumers find videos helpful when making purchase decisions online. It's important to grab attention and increase dwell times by embedding videos on your website.
YouTube and Vimeo aren't always the best choice for hosting videos because of ads, lack of branding, and lackluster analytics. Below, we'll show you two ways to use Shopify or other hosting platforms to embed videos on your Shopify homepage.
Embedding a video on Shopify itself involves using some coding, but we'll show you just what you have to do so you won't be needing any previous technical knowledge. If you're hosting your video somewhere other than Shopify, skip to Step 5. Otherwise, follow these simple steps:
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If you're not up to doing all that yourself, you can always opt to use alternative software. While these plugins make it easier to embed videos, they usually cost money and have their own learning curve. Shogun's page builder has a handy guide for adding videos, and Shop Circle's Video Background plugin is purpose-built for embedding videos.
Hosting the videos can take up a lot of bandwidth if your video files are too big for Shopify, you can host them elsewhere. We don't have space to list all the options here, but some good ones for video hosting are Wistia and vooPlayer, both of which have great marketing features beyond hosting itself.
These are just two ways you can still embed videos on Shopify if you're not keen to use YouTube or Vimeo. While the first is a little technical, it's free and foolproof once done, while using alternative software is easier and more feature-rich for those who want deeper insights and better hosting.
Branching videos are a type of interactive video that allows business owners to create personalized, interactive videos geared toward their customer's specific queries and needs. Basically, interactive branching videos allow visitors to personalize their journey on a website.