Youtube.Video. Hosting.

PERFORMANCE AND SEARCH

As I keep saying, almost everybody needs a video. At least an one video to introduce yourself to the world. I've discussed the advantages of this many times so I won't bore you with that again. OK, so now then: where do I put my video? For most of us, two places spring to mind: our own web site and Youtube.

Youtube. Fast. Furious.

For many of you, the obvious place to store videos is Youtube. You do this by setting up a Google Account (which you already have if you have a gMail address) and then creating a web page on Youtube called a 'Channel'. A Youtube Channel is simply a page where visitors can view all your videos. And you can theme your Channel a bit to look like your organisation's brand.

The main advantages of using Youtube are speed and low-maintenance. You're assured that your video will stream as fast as possible and you're pretty sure that your video will play nicely on just about any device out there. And there's a bonus: If you hadn't noticed, Google tends to prioritze videos--and especially Youtube videos (since they own Youtube, you kinda had to expect this, right?) In other words, Youtube videos tend to rise to the top of Google searches, so your video will tend to rank higher if it is hosted on Youtube.

Your site. Not so fast.

But the savvier types will often prefer to put their videos on their own site. This gives you much more control over what the user does. When your user is watching a Youtube video, they're no longer on your site. They can easily click away to one of Youtube's many distractions. So what are the downside's of hosting your own video? Well, cost for one. If you expect to get more than just a few views per day you will likely need to pay extra for a web site that can handle the added load of streaming video--that $100/year GoDaddy hosting plan probably won't cut it!

Other Youtube Considerations.

As I mentioned above, if you host your videos on Youtube, you can Theme your Channel Page and I highly recommend this as it looks pretty unprofessional (not to mention confusing) to users if your Yourtube Channel is haphazard.

Plus there are quite a number of settings for your videos like how you want to Tag your videos (assign keywords for search) and how to deal with the advertisements that Youtube wants to tack onto your videos. I recommend hiring me to handle this for you, not because it's rocket science, but simply because it's pretty easy to upload a video with the wrong settings--again we're consider about being as professional as possible.

Hosted Video Expertise.

If you host your own videos, you'll also need to get more involved in the videos themselves. When you upload to Youtube, it auto-magically takes whatever you uploaded and converts it into (what it thinks is) the best possible format. But when you host your own videos it's up to you to make sure that your video is formatted to be as compact (in file size, not image size) and as high resolution as possible. This process, called encoding is probably not something you want to take on yourself unless video is your hobby. Encoding your video properly is half the battle in self-hosting videos so leave it to someone (like me) who does it every day.

The Executive Summary.

First of all, let me congratulate you for actually having created a great video. Just by doing that, you're now ahead of most of the pack.

OK, to answer the question: In a nutshell, Youtube is fast and simple and scales to however many views you'll ever need, but you give up control over what your user does. Self-hosting requires more expertise and expense--especially if you expect a lot of hits, but in return you keep the user on your site and focused on you.

Which is the best way to go for hosting your first video? Pick up the phone and call me. That's what I'm here for! But one tip, I have is this: don't decide based on that one video. Think about a strategy for a bunch of videos. Because most organizations that get over the hump of creating their first video, realize how valuable it is and then go on to create many. So when you think about hosting your first video, don't make your decision based on hosting just the one. Rather, think about what will work best when you have a dozen videos. Because that's where you're likely to end up.

——————————

Like I always say,, I know you're busy. Hopefully my occasional nags help you think about ways to improve your marketing. But even if you don't have a thing for me to work on at present (shocking but possible) drop me a line anyway and let me know how things are going; market-wise or otherwise. It's always good to hear from you!

Best,

JC'S KEY IDEAS FOR AUGUST 2017

• Almost Every Site Needs A Video
  All search engines now prioritize sites that have videos. And research shows that visitors prefer sites that have at least oneintroductory video. So: where to host it?
• Hosting on Youtube Is Fast And Simple
  You need to set up a Channel page and you should theme it to be brand-consistent. You should also learn its settings in order to minimize distractions and keep users on your site as much as possible.
• Self-Hosting Gives You Control
  Hosting your video on your site gives you control over the visitor experience.. But if you expect more than a few views per day you'll likely need to pay extra for good performance. You'll also need to learn about video encoding.
• Choose As If You Already Have Many
  Most organizations that create one video, find out how useful they are and end up creating many. So even though it's only your first video, make your hosting choice to accommodate a bunch!

mail@jchwebdev.com

(206) 949-0892

© 2017