Capturing the immediate attention of your Website visitors is one of the "holy grails" of Web marketing.  If you are good in front of a video camera and have a compelling message, here is a clever and unique way to turn that talent into riveted eyeballs.

There are lots of solutions to help you put your video message on the Web.  However, recently I came across a rather unique entry that makes it easy to implement and helps you to dramatically capture the attention of your visitors.  OverWeb3D lives up to its name because as you will see from the demo that starts when you first land on the site, it is anything but normal Web video.

Putting You On Top Of The Web

Unlike most Web videos that use a "player" located in a specific location on the Web page, OverWeb3D "floats" your video right on top of your page, without using any kind of visible player.  This gives the impression that you appeared out of nowhere to greet your visitors.  The video can be quite large and placed anywhere over your page.  And since it uses Flash technology to deliver the videos, nearly every one of your visitors can view your message.

How It Works

First of all, you have to have a video shot in a special way using a "green screen" so that everything in the background of your video will become transparent.  This is what gives the effect of "just you" popping out in the video.  OverWeb3D takes this video, compresses it and puts it on their video server.  This means that your Website will not slow down because their server, not yours, delivers the video file.  Once the video is shot and sent to the OverWeb3D folks, it will be up on your site in no time (may require the help of your Webmaster to handle the final hookup though).

It's not expensive to get started either.  They have limited hosting plans starting at US $29/mo. all the way to plans more suited to heavily trafficked sites for US $199/mo.  These prices do not include the cost of producing the video.  Helping you create the video is another area where OverWeb3D stands out from other services.  First of all they claim to have a network of over 200 videographers all over the US if you need a pro to create your video. And, if you don't feel comfortable in front of a camera, they also have professional talent to deliver your message as well (all for an additional fee of course).

Overall, OverWeb3D is a potentially powerful, yet easy to implement tool to grab your visitors' attention in a unique and compelling way.  However, before you go plunging into the wild world of videos for your site, consider the following...

Web Video Caveats

• Have a compelling message - "meet & greet" gets old in a hurry.  My suggestion is to use this tool to deliver a highly targeted message that will give your visitors information they will find extremely valuable (i.e. don't make it about you).  In fact, some of the industry demos they have on the OverWeb3D site are great examples of what not to do!;

• Keep it short - Web-based video is best when your message is no more than 40 - 60 seconds.  Keep it short, compelling and punchy;

• Approve the final video - make sure that the video delivered through the OverWeb3D servers is the quality you expect.  I have found that in some of their examples, the person being videoed sounds like they are lisping.  This is probably an artifact from the video compression tools they use.  Make sure your video looks and sounds great before hosting it;

• If unsure, hire a pro - just because your family and friends think you looked "great" on film during your sister's wedding doesn't mean your visitors will be as kind.  Unless you really do have a talent for being on screen, get a professional to say the lines;

• Don't play it all the time - make sure that your Web designer sets up your site's "cookies" so that it will spare return visitors from seeing your video over and over again.  Once is cool, twice is cruel...

Web video can be a powerful, unique and compelling way to get your message across to your site's visitors in a way that is head and shoulders above your competition.  It is also a much more accepted online message medium thanks to wildly popular companies like YouTube, etc.  If you have the right message, then the only thing left is to shout "Lights, camera, ACTION!" (and hope no one was around when you did :o).