What is the background video section?
The Background video section displays prominent text with a video playing in the background. It plays without audio on an automatic loop and enables promotional messages to be shared, whilst adding energy and movement to the page.
A good Background video can improve the overall customer experience by showcasing products or services in action. Videos also tend to be more engaging than static images, which could encourage visitors to stay on your site longer and potentially increase conversions.
How to create a background video section
Steps
- Open the Theme Editor.
- On the left hand side, click Add section and add a Background video section.
- There are two different methods to choose a video.
Video upload: Select a video file (e.g. an MP4) hosted on your Shopify store.
External video: This is a video from an external link and supports YouTube or Vimeo videos. - In the Layout settings, Show overlay tint can be selected. The color settings for this, as well as the overlay Text color, are found in Theme Settings > Colors > Image overlays.
It is also recommended to add a Custom cover image that will display in the place of the video while the video is loading, or if it cannot autoplay. This could be due to reasons such as a user’s poor internet connection, limited browser support or slow page load times.
FAQs
Why is my video not playing on mobile?
Whether a background video plays on mobile is controlled by the device/browser rather than the theme. Background videos can slow down page loading, use a lot of mobile data, and consume the device's battery.
Your device/browser may decide not to play the video if:
- Your phone is low on battery or is in 'Battery saver mode'.
- Your data signal is weak.
- The video has sound.
- The video is too large.
- The current page contains multiple videos or is slow to load.
- The video has been encoded in the incorrect format (see FAQ for more).
- Or any combination of the above.
The most reliable (although not guaranteed) way to get a background video to autoplay is to upload the video file in an MP4 format to Shopify in the Content > Files area of the Shopify admin. If the video still does not play, see the FAQ below.
Why is my MP4 video still not playing/showing as just black?
Temporarily change the video URL to this:
If this plays, then your video has not been encoded correctly, and it will need to be encoded in the h.264 formats. If you search for 'h.264 mp4 encoders' online, you should find sites that provide a facility to do this.
Why does my video have no sound?
Background videos don’t play sound. They are auto-playing videos that are designed to sit in the background to add a visual design. If you want to have videos that play sound, you can use the default video section.
Browsers don’t like auto-playing videos with sound when you land on a page, most will block the video, causing issues. Also, it can be a negative experience for a customer to land on a site and be greeted with a sound that they didn’t accept to play.
How big should my video file be?
Keep it under 3mb if possible, although there are no limits imposed. Remember, the video can loop, so if it's possible to make the loop seamless, it can appear longer than it actually is.
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