UA Video is close to the ideal content format for almost any website. It saves users time and packs in more information thanks to the visual power of a “live” picture. But publishing video comes with some complications you need to account for.
The main problem with publishing video on a site is the increase in page load time. The most common fix is to set up a channel on a video hosting platform, such as YouTube, and embed the video on the site from there. It’s convenient, since it barely affects the site’s load speed and gives you an extra traffic source on top. But sometimes that option doesn’t work — for example, if your content is age-restricted. In that case, a YouTube video embedded on the site won’t play. Clicking it sends the user to the video host’s own page instead, where they have to sign in and confirm they’re of age.
Optimizing video for your site: a step-by-step guide
1. Analyze and trim the video
Before you start processing a video, analyze it and, if possible, make changes. One option that has nothing to do with technical tweaking is splitting long videos into parts by content, the way a book is split into chapters or a show into episodes. You can use that split to your advantage, building anticipation by cutting off playback at an intriguing moment and teasing what comes next. Another option is removing the audio track or re-recording it. For example, you could replace background noise with a music intro. Removing audio isn’t just a matter of muting the microphone during recording — you also need to strip out sound effects in the file’s settings.
2. Compress the file to an optimal size
An optimal video size for your site keeps the image quality high while keeping the file weight to a minimum. It’s hard to give exact numbers — it all depends on the video’s length and specifics, such as color depth, audio, and so on. Go by the video’s own characteristics and look for the right balance between a “light” file and good picture and sound quality. Dedicated tools such as Clipchamp, Clideo, Fastreel, and others can help you with the job of trimming the file weight down.
3. Convert the file to HTML5 format
The answer to which video format works best for publishing on a site comes down to each format’s own characteristics. MP4 and WebM are generally considered optimal. WebM files weigh less while keeping quality high. But this format isn’t supported everywhere: only Firefox and Google Chrome render it. If your audience uses exclusively those browsers, choosing WebM makes perfect sense. MP4 files are heavier, but this format is nearly universal for publishing video on a website, which is exactly why it’s so popular. For converting, you can pick whichever converter is most convenient — either an online service or a desktop app for reformatting video files.
4. Adjust your site’s settings
Some settings let you increase page load speed, which matters a great deal when video is involved.
How to make video on your site load faster, using your website’s own settings:
- Specify the file’s parameters in HTML or CSS. This lets the browser plan out the load in advance, ahead of the page loading. Use the Lazy Load feature.
- Enable a mode that controls load order: the video loads only after other (primary) content and site elements have finished loading.
- Adapt for mobile devices. Video needs to display correctly across different devices and screen resolutions. This usually requires bringing in a developer.
Together, these measures significantly reduce the load on your site and speed up loading for pages that have video published on them.
Conclusions
Useful, engaging video can meaningfully boost traffic and conversion rates. But all the effort that goes into preparing video content gets wasted if watching it means visitors have to sit through extra loading time. To solve that time-loss problem and keep your site running fast, you need to optimize both the videos themselves and the web resource hosting them. The steps involved aren’t complicated, but they are essential.
