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If I had been told 10 years ago that I’d be making web videos full time, I would’ve wondered what planet I was on. Heck, even five or six years ago I would’ve thought the idea was nuts. Video file sizes were extremely large, download speeds were marginal at best and quality was subpar. Video on the web just wasn’t practical. And then something amazing happened. Flash video was born, YouTube was introduced and video exploded on the internet. Now fast forward a few years and video is everywhere on the net. People are going to CNN.com to watch the news, or on hulu.com catching an episode of their favorite TV show. I watched Barack Obama’s inauguration live from my computer. Ga-zillions of video feeds are floating around through emails and instant messages. Video is taking over the internet.

In the world of video, this “booming” is enormous. For indie filmmakers, it means that for the first time, anyone can pick up a camera, shoot a movie and broadcast it to millions of viewers without ever leaving their computer.  In the corporate realm, the realm that I work in, it means that businesses are able to not only post a professional website about their company, but also a professional video explaining who they are and what they do. This has become such a trend that now it’s almost expected of businesses to have something visual for users to see. Think about it; when was the last time you saw a link that said, “Click here to watch”?

Coming from someone who has been making professional videos for over five years, I’ve noticed several general trends, or characteristics (if you will) in video that have bloomed with the internet. In my opinion, these traits are what make or break a web video and are the fundamentals for producing a solid video that will get your message across. Here we go.

1. Think MTV on steroids.
In today’s fast food, instant gratification society, the attention span of viewers is shorter than ever before. And it’s even shorter on the internet. Think about it. How quickly do you surf through websites? Incorporate that into video. Viewers lose interest extremely quickly and you need to dazzle them long even to get your message across. One of the most effective ways to do this is to think of MTV on steroids. First, think of MTV or VH1. Think of them in terms of editing. Everything you see is very fast paced, quick cuts, lots of motion graphics, lots of information happening on the screen all at once. This technique is very effective and really grabs the attention of viewers, even the ones that weren’t initially interested. This is the technique you want to grasp, but you need to take it up a notch for the internet, especially if your video is over 30 seconds.

2.    One minute, two minute, three minute, gone.
As I mentioned previously, the attention spans of internet users is extremely short. You can’t expect someone to sit through a 20 minute corporate video. It just isn’t practical. The concept to grasp here, is to think about a typical TV commercial. Most commercials average around 15 to 60 seconds. The key is to try to get your message squeezed into as little time as possible. If you think you have a good four minute video, cut it down to two minutes. If you have a good 60-second promo, cut it down to 30 seconds. Always try to keep it as short as possible. The shorter the video, the more likely you’ll keep your target audience through the entire video. I cringe every time I’m handed a script for a video that I know is going to run over four minutes.

3.    Know the technical.
This is something that is often overlooked. Although YouTube and other various video sharing sites have made it easy to upload a video, quality still tends to be an issue with video. You need to become an expert with various codecs – what produces good results and what doesn’t. Getting to know the best compression settings is crucial. You could have the best video in the world, but if viewers can’t make it out due to compression artifacts, you’re going to lose your audience quickly. This knowledge is even more important if you’re creating a video that will be posted as a standalone video on a website. Currently, I’d recommend familiarizing yourself with flash video (FLV) and MPEG-4 video (MP4). These two formats seem to be the most popular formats in web video. Get to know the relationship between quality and file size. You don’t want poor quality, but you also don’t want viewers to have to wait for your video to load.  So play with the settings and become a master. It could make or break your video.

These are just three general tips of mine based off what I’ve seen in the industry. I can’t promise you an award winning video, but I can assure you that if you are aware of these aspects and work to incorporate them into your video, you’ll definitely become more proficient in delivering your message and keeping your audience (and you’ll make a better video too!) Good luck!