When I first meet with clients interested in posting a video on their web site, I am met with two extreme ideas of exactly what they think the final product should be. Those extremes usually lie somewhere between a YouTube parody or a TV commercial.

It’s not until I spend time with them to find out what message they’re trying to convey, and who they’re sending it to, that we find common ground. That, and a lot of hand-holding.

TurnHere is a San Francisco area company that specializes in web video. I have produced/shot/edited many small business videos for them over the past year. Here is their take on what makes good web video:

TurnHere has produced thousands of editorial and sponsored Web videos and experimented with the form in many different ways. Here is what we believe makes an engaging Web video:

1. Shorter is better, keeping our videos to 2 minutes is our goal. That is how long you can watch something on your office computer before your boss catches you.
2. Authentic local characters make a good Web video, whether it be the local merchant, the car owner, the homeowner or the local tour guide. Let a real person tell your story, not an actor from scripted lines.
3. Good sound quality and proper lighting are essential to a convincing video.
4. The Web does not require the video to be over-produced; glam and slick do not work on the Web.
5. The video should have a strong narrative, it must tell a story.

Here is a video of Luxury Home Broker Margie Kaplan I produced for homes.com. Margie is unscripted; simply responding to questions put to her by me (behind the camera) and edited together in post-production to create the narration. I used available lighting plus a small soft box fluorescent light off-camera. The result is a relaxed, personal presentation.

Another good example of this can be seen in the  video I produced for Mojo Risin Coffee House in Houston. The owners invited their regular customers to come out on a Saturday morning during business hours to participate. We used available lighting and didn’t try to make it a perfect “Hollywood” production.

The end result was an engaging video that allows visitor the CitySearch website to get a true sense of Mojo’s atmosphere and sense of community before they visit.

Image: Kriss Szkurlatowski/stock.xchng