I get asked this a lot, usually by someone who’s been told they “need video” and isn’t sure why. Video can be brilliant, but it isn’t automatically better. It depends on what you’re trying to show.
Photos are better when…
People need to look closely. Products, interiors and food are usually best as stills. Someone browsing a furniture range wants to study the fabric and the finish at their own pace, not watch a camera glide past it.
You need lots of uses. One good photo works on your website, in a brochure, on social, in a pitch deck and on a hoarding. Video is harder to reuse.
The page needs to load fast. Big hero videos slow sites down, especially on phones. A strong photo does the same job in a fraction of the size.
Video is better when…
Something moves. Machinery, processes, events, a production line. If the interesting part is how something works, film shows it in a way photos can’t.
You want people to hear from someone. A short interview with a customer, an employee or the founder builds trust in a way written copy rarely does. It’s especially good for recruitment.
Space and scale matter. A slow walkthrough or a drone shot rising over a site gets across size and setting in seconds.
Short is good
Most website and social videos should be shorter than people think. Thirty to ninety seconds covers most things. Anything longer needs a really good reason to keep people watching. It’s much better to make two or three short films for different purposes than one long one that tries to do everything.
Silent loops are worth thinking about too. A few seconds of footage, playing on repeat with no sound, works well behind a headline at the top of a page. You’ll see a few around this site.
Getting both from one day
If you need photos and video, it’s usually cheaper to do them together. The space only needs preparing once, the lighting is already set up, and people only need to be pulled away from their work once.
The trick is planning. Stills and film need slightly different setups, so I’ll work out a running order that gets the photos done while the space looks perfect, then moves on to the film. On busy sites it can be the other way round, filming the activity first and doing the stills once it’s quiet.
Where to start
Think about the one or two places the content will work hardest. Usually that’s the top of your homepage and your main service pages. Decide what each one needs to do, whether that’s show a product, explain a process or build trust, and the photo-or-video question tends to answer itself.
If you’re not sure, tell me what the page needs to do and I’ll give you my honest view.
