Part 2: Adding video to your website
The popularity of video content on the Web has grown substantially over recent years thanks to increases in Internet connection speeds in most countries and higher bandwidth allocations provided by Web hosts and ISPs (Internet service providers).
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we looked at how to produce video content that is ideally suited to the Web and ways to make online video content look as professional as possible regardless of your prior experience.
Now, in Part 2, we'll cover which video format to use, how to best present and position video on your site, search engine considerations, and how to ensure that Web visitors with slow Internet connects don't feel left out.
Which format to use and how to create it
There are various video formats that can be used online, but by far the most popular is the Flash Video (FLV) format. The FLV format is supported by most operating systems and is used by some of the most popular video sharing and online streaming websites.
Flash video files will commonly be embedded into a webpage using a Flash SWF player which supports progressive downloads. This means that the video file can start playing before the download of the entire file completes. Flash video can also be streamed to a player by using a compatible server.
To create a FLV video file, an export feature may either be included in your video editing/Flash development software, or you might need to use a third-party conversion tool - there are several available on the Web.
Bandwidth and video length
When publishing video online, there is a trade-off between video quality and bandwidth usage. Offering visitors to your site the choice of low, medium and high bandwidth options means that they will be able to choose what best suits their needs.
Video synchronisation issues
Due to technical reasons, some online video formats, including Flash video, may develop video and audio synchronisation issues when long videos are played. Being aware of any such limitations for the format you are using can be useful when planning how video content is presented on your site. You may, for example, need to split a long video into several smaller ones.
Positioning and presenting video on your site
When embedding video into your site, the following tips can help you get maximum success:
- Positioning the video in the top half of the page, aligned to the centre will help ensure maximum exposure to your site's visitors, and therefore maximum video playback rates.
- Avoid playing the video automatically when the page loads - it can irritate website visitors. The best practice is for videos to only load and start playing once a user has expressly clicked on the video or its 'Play' button.
- Displaying a static frame (picture) in the video's player before it downloads will encourage people to click the play button.
- Including a brief description of the video on the page in which it is embedded: this will help search engines include the page in their index.
- At the bottom of the video, provide a link to a transcript of the video's content for those people who are unable to view the video and for search engine optimisation purposes (both of these will be discussed further below).
Useability and search engines
Despite all the benefits of providing online video content for your website's visitors, there are some usability and search engine issues to consider:
- Search engines are unable to index video content. This means that although your video might be rich in useful content, your site will not appear in search results for that information.
- Not everyone has access to fast Internet connection speeds that are required for viewing online video content.
- Web users often have monthly download quotas that they need to adhere to. Some ISPs (Internet Service Providers) provide extremely low quotas to their customers - in some countries this might be as low as a few hundred megabytes per month even on high-speed plans.
- Other reasons users might be unable to watch videos could include a disability, unavailability of speakers/headphones (eg: in a library or Internet cafe), firewall restrictions or Internet access policies.
- It can take longer to watch a video than read or skim a page of text. Web visitors wanting to get information quickly may therefore be unwilling to watch a video.
Providing an alternative means to access information contained in the video is therefore important and ensures that no-one feels left out. The best solution is to simply provide a transcript of the video's content. If required, you can also add images from the video to the transcript.
Track video playbacks
If you sell advertising space on your site, track your video playback rates as part of your website's traffic statistics: they can be valuable when attracting advertisers to your site. Video results in people staying on your site longer, which can help boost your advertising revenue and overall success online.
