Web video is on the rise. Spending on web video rose 48% from 2009 to 2010. 65% of respondents to a survey for the 2011 Q1 BrightRoll Video Advertising Report said they intended to reallocate advertising campaign money from TV to online video. The same report states that the amount of time Americans spend on the Internet increases by 6% annually while time spent watching TV decreases by 1%. Advertisers are definitely beginning to realize that web video yields great ROI. According to RICG, “Consumers who view videos on websites are 64% more likely to buy something from the site, and they also tend to spend more time (up to two minutes) on webpages per visit.”

OK. Sounds great. You’ve got a website, how can you put web video to work for you? There are a lot of great ways to use web videos on your site that can help bring traffic to your site and help convert that traffic into sales. Product videos make great content for an ecommerce site. So do instructional videos, videos related to customers’ interests and videos uploaded by customers themselves. But perhaps the best type of video for many sites is a custom explanatory video.

A good explanatory video can help your target audience understand the specific benefits of your product/service in a format that’s easy to digest and understand. Video stands out and grabs attention where text falls flat. Plus, video is great for landing pages. It can quickly prime your visitors for that all-important call to action.

Of course, you may not be equipped to handle making your own video. That’s not really a bad thing. Not only can a professional web video production team help you to make the best video possible, but, if they’re good, they can also help you to launch that video so that it gets the most visibility. The viral video marketing strategy you use after your video is produced can be just as important as the production itself.