The seeking bar is more than just a progress indicator — depending on which type you use, it can influence how your viewers perceive your video's length, how they navigate through it, and how your player looks and feels. Vidalytics gives you three options to choose from, each designed for a different use case.
1. Standard Seeking Bar
The default seeking bar. It shows viewers exactly where they are in the video and allows them to click or drag to jump to any point in the timeline. Clean, familiar, and straightforward.
Best for: General purpose videos where you want to give viewers full navigation control.
2. Rapid Engage Bar Recommended for VSLs
The Rapid Engage Bar is one of Vidalytics' flagship features — and one we strongly recommend for any VSL or sales video between 5 and 50 minutes.
Instead of showing the true progress of your video, the Rapid Engage Bar starts off moving quickly at the beginning and then gradually slows down as the video progresses. This creates a powerful psychological effect: the video appears much shorter to your viewer than it actually is, which dramatically reduces drop-off in the early minutes.
Viewers cannot skip ahead or navigate the video — but because the bar moves fast at the start, they rarely feel the urge to. A 15-minute video can feel like a quick watch.
Best for: VSLs, sales videos, and any video where you want to maximize watch time and reduce early drop-off.
Note: The Rapid Engage Bar removes the video time display from the player to avoid giving away the true length, and cannot be used alongside the Standard Seeking Bar or the Story Bar.
Learn more about the Rapid Engage Bar HERE
3. Story Bar
The Story Bar divides your seeking bar into clearly defined sections — like chapters or stories — giving viewers a visual grid they can use to jump from one part of the video to another. It is a great way to signal structure, set expectations, and let viewers navigate intentionally between segments of your content.
Best for: Longer content videos, webinars, demos, or educational videos with distinct sections where navigation and structure add value for the viewer.
Important: The Story Bar is only available when using the Sleek theme on your Vidalytics player. Make sure your player theme is set to Slick before enabling it.
Learn more about the Storybar HERE
How to Set Up Your Seeking Bar
- Go to your Video Settings and click the Style tab
- Locate the Seek Bar section
- Select your preferred bar type — Standard, Rapid Engage Bar, or Story Bar
- Complete any additional settings for your chosen option
- Click Save and Publish your video for the changes to go live
Which One Should I Use?
| Standard | Rapid Engage Bar | Story Bar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viewers can skip ahead | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Creates shorter video illusion | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Divided into sections | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Works with all themes | ✅ | ✅ | Sleek only |
| Best for | General videos | VSLs & sales videos | Structured content |
If you have any questions, feedback, or need assistance, feel free to reach out to our Customer Happiness Team at hi@vidalytics.com. 😊