Video is the most popular type of content online. More users watch videos than read blogs or look at images. Videos are informative, but also visually appealing, and with the ability of mobile devices to play videos at a higher quality than ever before, it’s no wonder that most people find videos to be more engaging than any other type of content.

Videos are optimized for SEO differently than written content, but they’re very much like other content in that it doesn’t matter how good your SEO is if the quality of your videos isn’t good. So how can you make sure your videos are something that your audience will actually want to watch?

Make It Informative

Just like with a web page, a blog, or other written content, a video needs to be informative and contain content that your audience will find entertaining and helpful. Think of the video script as the web content or blog. It should contain your keywords and ideally, the search engine optimization for your video will include a transcript of the video so that Google can crawl the text.

Check Your Lighting

Part of what makes videos so compelling is that there is so much more to them than just what they say. Videos don’t just tell, they show. It defeats the purpose of having a video if it’s too dark or if your viewers can’t otherwise tell what’s going on. Make sure that there’s sufficient lighting when you shoot the video. If necessary, shoot a quick test video and see what it looks like on a computer and a mobile device before taking the time to shoot the official video.

Check Your Audio

Before publishing your video, play the audio all the way through. Make sure that there aren’t random loud noises that interrupt the flow of the video. Check to make sure that everyone is audible throughout the entire length of the video.

Also, make sure that you listen to it with headphones on. Audio can sound normal coming from speakers but then play out of only one ear of headphones if the settings aren’t done correctly. Since a lot of users listen with headphones or earbuds, it’s essential to make sure that the video is playing correctly in stereo to avoid making these users click away from your video.

Avoid Vertical Video

Whether they’re on mobile devices or computers, screens are widescreen. Mobile devices can be turned vertical, but you don’t want to assume that your users are using one (even though more than half of users do browse the web on mobile devices more so than on a computer). You don’t want to alienate any users who aren’t on mobile devices. Besides, even on mobile devices, the preference is for horizontal video.

Use Good Editing Software

Good editing software doesn’t need to be expensive. If you don’t need fancy special effects, you can use free software like iMovie. Editing can take a mediocre video and make it great. Because of editing, you can shoot a video one line at a time to ensure good delivery and then edit all of the parts together to make a smoothly-flowing video. Mistakes can be removed and music and transitions added.

Even if you’ve never edited before, even the smallest amount of editing can help boost the quality of your video. However, the better your software and the more skilled your editor, the better quality you’re going to be able to get out of your videos.