A featured video is a video that is given prominence on a website or platform. It is usually placed in a prominent position to draw attention and increase views. There are several reasons why a video may be featured:
To highlight important or popular content
Websites often feature videos that they want to spotlight and encourage their audience to watch. These may be videos that are timely, relevant, or generating a lot of interest. For example, a news site may feature a video interview with a politician that is making headlines. A social media platform like Facebook may feature live videos from popular pages in a user’s feed. Featured videos help grab attention and increase viewership of content the website finds valuable.
To showcase fresh or updated content
Newly uploaded or recently trending videos are often given featured status to highlight that they are new on the platform. Featuring fresh content keeps websites engaging for returning visitors who want to see what’s new. Video platforms like YouTube commonly feature trending videos that are spiking in popularity to showcase their viral momentum.
To promote certain creators or publishers
Websites may feature videos from certain creators or publishers they have partnerships with. This provides additional promotion for these accounts and encourages viewers to engage more with their content. For instance, an entertainment site could feature exclusive video interviews with celebrities conducted by an affiliated YouTube creator.
To increase views, shares, and engagement
Featuring a video gives it prime placement for more users to discover and watch it. The increased visibility typically translates into more views, shares, comments, and other engagement. These engagement metrics are important for websites to attract advertisers and continue surfacing content that resonates with their audience. Higher engagement with featured videos also leads to more data for platforms to improve recommendations.
To monetize desirable content
Websites and platforms can generate revenue by featuring videos that attract a lot of viewership. Pre-roll and mid-roll ads accompanying these popular videos will reach a broad audience. The featured videos essentially become sponsored content, allowing the platform to monetize them through ads and paid placements. For video creators, having their content featured can also lead to sponsorships and deals.
To enrich the user experience
Featured videos add more value for users when they visit a website or platform. They surface fresh and interesting content from otherwise massive video libraries. Featured videos also showcase what the platform considers top-quality content worth watching. Overall, strategically highlighting certain videos improves the viewing experience and content discovery for visitors.
To direct traffic to other areas
Websites may feature videos to funnel traffic to other sections. For example, an ecommerce site could feature product demo videos or testimonials to boost conversions. A content site may feature a great video to draw in visitors and get them engaging with related articles. When done well, this can create a funnel effect where featured videos attract viewers who continue consuming more content.
Best practices for featuring videos
Here are some best practices for effectively featuring videos on websites and platforms:
- Place featured videos in unavoidable areas like homepage headers or main content sections.
- Use eye-catching thumbnail images to make the featured videos hard to miss.
- Feature a good mix of new videos and evergreen performers to balance freshness with reliability.
- Add contextual captions or links so viewers easily understand the featured video’s focus.
- Rotate which videos get featured to avoid featuring the same content repeatedly.
- Use data and metrics like views, shares, and watch time to guide featuring choices.
- Make the featured area clickable to start playing the video instantly when clicked.
- Consider a theme like “editor’s pick” for featured videos to communicate curation.
- Feature both your own content alongside videos from outside creators or publishers.
- Ensure featured videos meet production and quality standards befitting flagship positioning.
Potential downsides of overfeaturing
While featuring videos strategically has many benefits, overdoing it can also have some downsides:
- Too many featured videos can feel excessive and lead to banner blindness.
- Regularly featuring the same videos or creators can seem repetitive.
- Audiences may perceive featured placement as advertising instead of quality content.
- Oversaturating a platform with featured videos could drown out non-featured content.
- If not refreshed regularly enough, featured sections may not seem fresh.
- Algorithms may bury non-featured content since it lacks manual promotion.
- Costs increase if featuring videos requires paying creators for prime placement.
Websites should take care to thoughtfully feature videos to enhance the experience without going overboard. The ideal mix focuses on quality over quantity when handpicking which videos to highlight.
Conclusion
Featuring videos is a win-win practice when done right. Platforms amplify their best content to captivate audiences while creators and publishers gain more exposure. Videos are featured for a wide range of strategic reasons that ultimately aim to boost engagement. However, featured sections should be tastefully curated to feature the platform’s most timely, relevant and highest-quality videos. Tactful featuring provides visitors with value without aggressive over-promotion. Overall, featured videos allow websites and platforms to direct more eyes to the content they want to spotlight.