Web Video Distribution Strategy
Before you make a website video, it’s good to think about how you’re going to get it out there. Or, to say it in a more fancy way: what your distribution strategy will be. Because after investing in a camera crew, editing etc, you want to maximise your investment. I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the years looking into this stuff because…well, this is what I do. So, allow me to talk you through what I consider to be best practice.
Video on Social Media
Firstly, if you’re sharing your video on Social Media, make sure you upload it natively. This means that you’re actually uploading it to the social media platform, and it’s then hosting your video for you. As opposed to just inserting a link into your post that sends people to your website, or somewhere else, if they click on it.
The reason is because your video will get shown to a lot more people if you upload it natively than if you link to somewhere else. Why? Well because Social Media platforms want to keep people on their site. They don’t want to send traffic somewhere else. So if you want your video to appear more prominently in people’s feed, upload it natively.
Video on Your Website
Now lets talk about video on your actual website: If you’ll be putting your video on your website. Which, in most cases you should, use a professional video hosting service like Vimeo or Wistia rather than Youtube.
Why? Because it gives you way more control over the branding. And doesn’t tempt website visitors to click away. Check out these two examples of the same video:
This first one is a Vimeo embed. Notice how my video editor has customised the video with Dream Engine’s branding by changing the colours. And even adding a Dream Engine watermark. Vimeo gives us plenty of options to switch features on and off, and change the messaging, so we really curate the experience.
Contrast this to a Youtube video. Notice how it carries the Youtube branding. You can’t customise the look and feel. And the part that makes it an absolute dealbreaker. The video ends, and it pops up suggestions for other people’s videos.
When you think about the time and effort you’ve invested in your branding and website, it just doesn’t make sense to undermine it in this way when you have a better option available.
Sometimes people say that they put Youtube videos on their website because it is better for Search Engine Optimisation. That it helps that page to rank better. They use the logic that because Google owns Youtube, that it will favour pages with YouTube videos rather than Vimeo or Wistia. This is absolutely not true. Think of it this way: Google’s whole reputation is built on delivering the best quality search results. Do you really think it would compromise that by favouring their own products? I could go on, but it would get way too nerdy. Just trust me. I’ve invested probably an unhealthy amount of time into this.
Youtube
Now, I’m not saying don’t upload it to Youtube. in many cases, it’s still a good idea. But this is a whole different strategy, which I’ve covered in other videos, and, for the true believers, you can find this content on the Dream Engine website.
It’s also worth looking at other ways of distributing your video, depending on your strategy, such as video brochures or USBs.
The important thing is that you get your video out there in the right way so that it’s being seen by as many of the right people as possible 🙂
Once you’re ready to get help with your video, hit the ‘get a quote‘ button at the top left, and let us know what you need.
Ryan Spanger is one of Melbourne’s most respected and sought-after video production professionals. Ryan founded Dream Engine in 2002, and specialises in helping medium to large corporates, government departments, and the non-profit sector to connect with their audience more effectively by using video.
