Do you set your Youtube videos to autoplay on your site?

by AceOfShirts

Posted: 12 years ago 31 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

I have just started ramping up my video marketing for one of my sites. I uploaded several new videos in the last week to Youtube. I also embedded the videos on my blog posts that relate to the video.

Videos obviously rank higher with higher view counts. Not all of my visitors play the videos.

Do any of you set your embedded videos to autoplay when people visit your site? It will obviously raise the video count, but I don't want to drive off the visitors.

#autoplay #set #site #videos #youtube

aliduncan 12 years ago

It really depends on your audience. Many people can be turned away by autoplay videos, but as you mentioned, it can be a great way to get more people to watch them.

It's probably best to do a split test and look at how your visitors respond to both methods.
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- kingprosperity 12 years ago
  
  Never, It's extremely annoying. Plus, most of the people do many things together on web. When you force them watch your videos then they immediately close your page.
  
  Second, In videos there should be always an option to see something again. Because I seen plenty of videos which do not allow you to see a minute before thing. Unfortunately, they make you to watch 30 minute entire video again from start....
  
  At-least I never do this. It feels better to close that window.
  
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- RubenJames 12 years ago
  
  One thing I like to do is have good music play the first 5-10 seconds of an auto-play video.
  
  That way, the visitors at least know that there's a video playing...and, if the music is pleasant, they will at LEAST stick around to see what the video is about!
  
  Ruben
  
  Thanks
  
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Matt Ward 12 years ago

I don't have experience in this type of marketing, but as an internet user I'd agree that this is extremely annoying and would probably make me close the page right away.
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- Mcoroklo 12 years ago
  
  I never set them to auto-play. However, I received a newsletter this morning from Ryan Deiss, who had made some testing. Even though he disliked autoplay himself, it made him more money.
  
  Guess it is all about split-testing.
  
  Thanks
  
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alhemicar 12 years ago

Try tubemogul,it uploads video on multiple websites and keep statistics,with it you can see which sites works the best for your videos/niche.
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nohypetraining 12 years ago

I agree with Ruben, If your going to use Autoplay, at least make it palatable.

With that said, I would say "yes" to the question.
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- Ben Armstrong 12 years ago
  
  If the video is basically the only part of your site that you want them to view then it could be a good idea.
  
  Otherwise I would avoid it.
  
  Personally I get annoyed at auto play videos and just close the page immediately.
  
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imdomination 12 years ago

No, I'd never use autoplay. I personally hate it when websites do autoplay and it's a great way to get me to close the tab straight away, so I offer my visitors the same courtesy that I would like.
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- Lloyd Buchinski 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by kingprosperity
  
  When you force them watch your videos then they immediately close your page.
  
  That would be me. I sometimes open several tabs quickly. If something starts making noise, I find the tab and close it. Wham!
  
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DPM70 12 years ago

Well annoying videos or not, I'd just be careful of putting too many of my eggs into Youtube. They seem to be clamping down hard on everything (especially the IM/MMO niches.). Like somebody said above, you won't know until you test it. However, unlike some here I can't advocate constant testing as the be all and end all - you'd never get anything else done. Test it quick. On limited amounts of traffic that won't tell you a whole lot, but it'll be worth it for a significant trend. Look for the statistically significant and you won't go wrong.....usually......
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garyv 12 years ago

Personally, I hate autoplay videos on any site. So I'd close it out as soon as I see it. But you should always test. Personal preference is not always in the majority.
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- RubenJames 12 years ago
  
  IMers used to say, "I HATE popups!"...
  
  But they USED them because they worked!
  
  I have the feeling the same is true for Auto-Play videos...The WORK!
  
  Just because I personally don't like a technique and "Click away IMMEDIATELY!" does NOT mean I won't use it...IF it WORKS!
  
  Ruben
  
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laustinseo 12 years ago

I wouldnt set a video to autoplay, nothing is more annoying than when your reading or looking at something at theres a video playing in the background, it is just a hassle and also it isnt really a view its more of a background noise. If people are viewing your videos and your not using autoplay, then its plainly because they are actually interested
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savvybizbuilder 12 years ago

If your up to increasing your youtube view, its a good strategy however be prepare of its consequences. Some people find it annoying and get lazy to navigate your page.
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savvybizbuilder 12 years ago

If your up to increasing your youtube views, its a good strategy however be prepare of its consequences. Some people find it annoying and get lazy to navigate your page.
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ThinhPhanHuynh 12 years ago

I always set autoplay on my minisite because it is one of the most popular one to attract customers' attention which can easily increase your sales. But most of the time I don't put auto-play for my youtube videos because it is kind of annoying!!
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Austin357 12 years ago

I've seen good, enticing and short autoplays that grab your attention and force you to take action on their page. The flip side is most autoplays like many here have already mentioned turn most people off and might prematurely make that visitor leave your page. Its definitely a fine line and some split testing would need to be done to make those adjustments.
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Hans Klein 12 years ago

You can see exactly the results of using it versus not using it
by installing Google Analytics: Google Analytics | Official Website

Normally... you just input a little code inside your theme.

However... for a blog, you already have visitors' attention
to some degree, especially if they came from Google.

So... a better approach might just be sure to sell the video.
Above the video... give a sentence or two that gives a compelling
reason to check-out what you have.

Give them a call-to-action to "Click play."

When it comes to sales pages... it's a little different. Your
traffic may be completely cold and you've only got a moment
to grab their attention. Auto-play... combined with effective
intro copy... is often very helpful in doing this.
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Affililancer 12 years ago

I personally dislike auto-play as a site visitor to any site - so I don't use it myself.
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JohnMcCabe 12 years ago

This is one of my blind spots. I hate autoplay videos personally, especially when some idiot coder gets cute and maxes out the volume. So I don't use them.

Is it costing me money? Maybe. Do I care? Not a bit. Like I said, this is one of those personal blind spots for me.
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ladymd 12 years ago

We never use autoplay because it temporarily takes the "control" away from site the visitor. However, placing the video in a easy to view location and emphasizing the importance of the video content is another way to increase views.
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Troyman 12 years ago

No.

As an internet user I find it highly annoying.

I'll immediately place it in same category as spam = Ignored.

Don't autoplay it. You're users will watch it if they find your site interesting.
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Mike Hill 12 years ago

I don't autoplay my YouTube videos because there are times were there may be more than one video on the same page and that would be a real mess, having several videos play at once.

Also you have to remember where people are when they view your video. A lot of people view things like this at work and you wouldn't want to startle them or anyone else with an autoplay video on full blast.

Lastly, I like to write a brief synopsis about each video before hand so people on my website will know more about the video and it's just a nice thing to do for your visitors. Not to mention written content is good for the serps as well...
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- Bettersignupnow 12 years ago
  
  I would not do this myself, as it is annoying when I am multi-tasking. Usually, I have one tab open on a webinar replay while I scan email and check sites and stats. If the site I am looking at is appealing and has a good image or reason for me to watch the video, then I am perfectly capable of pausing my webinar replay and pushing Play on the video.
  
  Short answer: NO!
  
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imback 12 years ago

Never! But that is only my opinion

CHAD
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espe 12 years ago

Try not to do that, its annoying
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JustinDupre 12 years ago

Whenever a video plays automatically on a site I leave it immediately. It's better to have people choose whether they want to view the video or not instead of forcing it to them.
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uebomoyi 12 years ago

I heard a lot of people actually find it quite annoying when the video auto plays. I think that you have a specific title targeted towards your target market, then they'll play the video for sure since it's what they are looking for. I'm honestly not that big a fan when it comes to videos that auto play so I'd be careful with that.
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Gary Ning Lo 12 years ago

It really depends on the video.

I use auto play ONLY if i want the user to watch the video, in most cases because the intro on the video is pattern breaking..

Cheers,

~Gary
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Targeted Traffic 12 years ago

Personally I don’t recommend that the videos on your website or blog are set to auto play. Depending on what your site is about having them auto play might be to your advantage. Remember before you enable auto play on your videos, that doing so can actually harm your site. Many people don’t like videos or music playing as soon as they open a page, especially if there’s no way to turn it off that’s easy to spot.
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