Adding videos to your website can be a great way to engage and entertain your audience. However, if you are not careful, adding videos can also slow down your website and cause you to lose visitors.

In this blog post, we will discuss some tips for adding videos to your website without sacrificing speed. We will also provide tips on optimizing your videos for the best possible performance. So, let’s dive right in. Shall we?

Use the Best Video Formats for Websites

Most website owners don’t think much about the video formats they use. However, using the wrong format can significantly slow down your website.

The best video formats for websites are WebM and MP4. In fact, these two formats have become the standard on platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. MP4 is a favorite among many website owners because all browsers and devices support it. Besides, MP4 looks slightly better on mobile devices.

However, if you’re looking for the best possible performance, you should use WebM. This format was designed specifically for web playback and delivers better performance than MP4. In addition, it uses less bandwidth and takes up less storage space on your website. However, WebM is only supported by Chrome and Firefox.

Take Advantage of Data Compression Tools

One of the reasons videos can slow down your website is because they are large files. You can reduce the size of your videos by using a data compression tool like HandBrake or Blazemp. These tools will compress your videos without sacrificing quality.

However, you still need to check if the compression tool affects your video quality. The last thing you need is a blurry, pixelated video on your website. Instead, you want to have high-quality, clear images on your site as they make it appear more professional and leave a good impression.

Stream Videos Directly from the Server Only IF Your Server is Beefy

In the dark era of the internet, you had to fully download a video to your device to watch it. However, thanks to advancements in streaming technology, you can now watch videos without downloading them first.

Videos hosted on a website will be streamed directly from the server. This means that your viewers won’t have to wait for the entire video file to download before they can start watching it.

This is especially beneficial for those with slow internet connections, as they will be able to start watching the video almost immediately.

Source: keycdn

Remove Audio From Muted Videos

It may not seem like a big deal, but removing the audio from muted videos can improve website performance. Muted videos still require the same amount of bandwidth as regular videos, so you can reduce the overall file size by eliminating the audio.

This will result in faster loading times and a better user experience for your viewers. If you created the video, removing audio is a straightforward process. All you have to do is omit the video while exporting the file.

However, removing the audio may not be as simple if you’re using a stock video. In this case, you can try one of the many online tools that allow you to remove audio from videos. One such tool is FFmpeg, a simple video editing tool with audio stripping features.

Prioritize Mobile Users

Most people access the internet through their mobile devices these days, so it’s essential to consider how your website will look and function on different screen sizes.

When adding videos to your website, ensure you’re following the principle of responsive web design to create a layout that looks great and functions well on all devices. This means using flexible images and videos that resize to fit the screen size of the device being used without sacrificing quality.

Defer Loading Videos Until the Page is Done Loading

Another way to ensure your website loads quickly is to defer the loading of videos until after the page’s main content has loaded. This is crucial if you have videos that load slowly and play automatically when the user logs onto the page.

Deferring the loading time of videos until after the page is done loading will ensure that your website visitors don’t have to wait long for the video to start playing. It also ensures that the videos are only played when they’re in view, which can help save on data usage as well.

Specify Your Video Size

It’s also crucial to specify your video size in HTML and CSS. If you don’t do this, it may lead to accidental stretching of your video. Specifying video size is also important because it allows the browser to allot a designated bandwidth to that specific page without any trouble.

Use HTML5 Supported Formats

In the past, website owners would add videos to their sites by embedding video players such as RealPlayer and Windows Media Player, which required plugins and custom codecs to achieve. Later, Quicktime and Flash were introduced. While these were more hassle-free, they slowed down websites even more, and they were not the safest from a security perspective.

Then came HTML5, the most popular markup language in the world. It allowed videos to be embedded on websites without Flash or any other plugins and provided a better user experience because of its built-in video and audio support.

Today, the best way to embed a video on your website is by using HTML-supported formats. While you can use other formats, they may not work as well with all browsers and devices. You also run the risk of the format not being supported at all.

Source: PSD Center

Wrapping Up

Videos are fast becoming an essential part of online content, and you don’t want to miss out on the benefits they provide. That’s why it’s crucial to know how to add videos to your website without sacrificing speed.

Thankfully, there are many ways to do this. Try the different tricks we’ve shared today to see which one works best for you. And, if you’re still having trouble, be sure to reach out to us for help.

 

 


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