Web Video: Hosting Options
Video is playing a big part in shaping tomorrow's Web. This is the third in a four-part series that takes you from video basics for your business website to high-definition success. explores the growth of online video and offers advice on whether it is right for your website. tackles video production, equipment, and planning. Part 3 explores hosting options. And offers tips on promoting your Web video.
Once you have produced a video for your website, you’ll need to host it and get it on the Web. Because Internet video has become so popular over the past few years, there are now a number of websites that will not only host your video for relatively cheap (sometimes free) but will give you easy-to-use tools to customize and create a player that fits the look and feel of your company’s Web page.
Over the years, video on the Web has existed in many formats. However, there's one format that's now dominating the landscape among Web video producers: Adobe Flash. According to the National Purchase Diary, a leading global market research company, 98 percent of Internet video is now Flash-based. Flash video is considered a plug-in, but it does come preinstalled on PCs and Mac computers so most people will be able to see video on your site rather than if you used other types of formats such as Java, Windows Media Player, or QuickTime, which aren’t as commonplace.
If you choose to outsource your video to a third-party host and want to use a Flash-based player, there are a number of great sites that can offer everything you need in order to get your video up and ready for viewing.
Brightcove is a full-service video hosting company that allows you to easily place a Flash-based customizable player on your website. Brightcove provides a number of tools and support including the ability to build a video community and leverage video distribution to attract affiliates around the Web, and advertising capabilities to promote your own show or company. Pricing is available on request.
Partnered with Adobe Systems, Influxis is a very affordable Flash-based video hosting site that serves a broad range of customers, including small business and corporate-level clients. Influxis’ applications are built in-house with customer service representatives on hand to assist customers with development, minor modifications, and troubleshooting. And because it is partnered with Adobe, you can be sure it has the ability to develop the latest in Flash-based media technology. Packages begin at $9.95 per month. Custom plans are also available depending on your needs.
If you don’t want to go the Flash route, there are companies that can host your video using streaming video with Apple’s QuickTime or Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. These players can be downloaded on both Macs and PCs. However, it’s possible that your viewers won’t have one or the other player, giving the Flash video format the upper hand. Remember, people are less likely to view you video if they have to take the extra steps of downloading the player.
If you are looking to use QuickTime on your site, SysTame offers a great hosting plan for an affordable price. Equipped with Apple’s revolutionary Fast Start technology, which allows users to watch your media as it is being downloaded, your video will receive high-quality playback regardless of the end user’s connection speed. SysTame has no setup fee and offers live broadcasting with QuickTime Broadcaster with real-time streaming provided by QuickTime Streaming Server.
Last but not least there is Unikron. All encompassing, Unikron offers video streaming in any format you desire. Whether it’s a customized Windows Media Player, Real Media, or Java-based playback, Unikron will create code that allows your viewers to access any and all types of media you produce without being redirected to another site. All you have to do is embed the code into your website and it will do the rest. Packages start at $33 and climb to $1,200 for 5 gigabytes of storage space. The site also offers a calculator if you’re unsure of how much bandwidth you will be using.
Regardless of how you choose to go about it, having a host for your video is paramount to its success. At the very least, there are sites that can do this for free, such as YouTube, TinyPic, and vidiLife, among others. But one major drawback to using these free sites is that they leave a watermark on your video, which doesn't exude professionalism. Also, many of these sites degrade the quality of the video and audio beyond what you may deem acceptable. But if your budget doesn't permit a pay host, these sites will definitely get the job done.
Next, in the final installment of this four-part series we focus on promotion.
Read Part 4 - .
