After 15 years of building websites, I‘ve seen firsthand the serious problems that come with hosting videos directly on WordPress.
While it may seem like the easiest option, once traffic and video usage ramps up, your site will suffer from major slowdowns, crashes, and bandwidth overages.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll use my experience to explain the technical reasons why uploading videos to WordPress is a bad idea. I‘ll also recommend better solutions.
My goal is to help you avoid the pitfalls I‘ve seen sink many websites.
Contents
The Severe Downsides of Hosting Videos on WordPress
Let‘s start by looking at why directly uploading videos can cripple WordPress sites:
Massive File Sizes Eat Up Storage and Bandwidth
Today‘s high-quality videos have huge file sizes. Just a few minutes can eat up your entire site‘s bandwidth and storage limits.
According to Cloudflare, here are typical file sizes:
- 480p video – 1 minute = 67MB
- 720p HD video – 1 minute = 130MB
- 1080p Full HD – 1 minute = 400MB
A single 4K video over 10 minutes may be over 4GB!
Most basic shared hosting plans have 20-50GB of storage and 100-500GB of monthly bandwidth. It‘s incredibly easy to outgrow these limits if hosting large videos.
Overage fees for bandwidth and storage are expensive. For example, GoDaddy charges $10 per 50GB of extra bandwidth. So just 10 HD videos could incur a $60 fee!
Slow Page Load Times Frustrate Visitors
According to Google research, 53% of visitors will leave a site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
But with directly uploaded videos, just a single page could take 10+ seconds to load!
This results in astronomical bounce rates of 80-90% on pages with video. Visitors will simply click away rather than wait.
Slow page speeds also hurt your SEO rankings. Google factors page load times into position.
Performance Problems Crash Sites
Shared hosting plans have limited CPU, memory, and network resources. Streaming video guzzles these resources.
Just a few dozen visitors playing HD videos could crash an entire site! I‘ve seen this firsthand with clients.
At best, you‘ll face stuttering, buffering videos. At worst, the site will go down under load.
Dedicated servers are needed to reliably host video, which raises hosting costs 10-20x.
Keeping videos siloed on your WordPress site also limits their exposure. It‘s much harder to share them and tap into existing online video audiences.
You also lose out on optimizations like adapting quality for connection speeds and devices.
Next, let‘s compare this to the better solution…
Why Dedicated Video Hosting Platforms Are Superior
Instead of uploading videos to WordPress, use a dedicated third-party platform like YouTube or Vimeo.
Here are the benefits:
No Bandwidth or Storage Limits
Video files are hosted completely separately from your WordPress site. This saves your bandwidth and storage for important page content.
YouTube offers unlimited storage and bandwidth for free. Vimeo‘s $20/month plan provides 5TB of bandwidth – over 10x a basic shared hosting plan.
Your site speed won‘t be dictated by bloated videos. Pages stay nimble and fast.
Faster Page Loads = More Conversions
With videos hosted externally, your pages only load a small embed code rather than huge video files. Pages load in 1-2 seconds instead of 10+ seconds.
Faster pages equal much higher conversions and lower bounce rates. Site visitors are happy and Google‘s rankings improve.
Smooth Playback Without Crashing
Specialist video hosting platforms are engineered to smoothly deliver video at massive scale. Buffering is rare and resolutions adapt to each viewer‘s device and speed.
Your puny shared hosting server doesn‘t get overwhelmed trying to stream videos itself. Performance remains snappy.
Increased Exposure Through Built-In Audiences
Platforms like YouTube and Facebook have billions of existing users. Your videos can tap into these massive built-in audiences for greater reach and engagement.
It‘s like having access to the world‘s largest marketing platform!
Device and Speed Optimization
Dedicated video platforms intelligently optimize quality for each viewer‘s device screen size, internet speed, browser, and more.
One video can gracefully adapt across smartphones, tablets, PCs, and smart TVs.
Compare this to needing to produce and host multiple quality versions of each video for good playback.
Interactive Features Boost Engagement
YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook offer interactive features that get viewers more engaged:
- Like/dislike buttons
- Share buttons
- Linkable comments
- Playlists
- Recommended videos
- Full-screen mode
- Subscribe buttons
- Watch history
These features encourage users to watch more of your videos and subscribe for updates.
Detailed Analytics Provide Insights
Robust analytics offer a wealth of data on:
- Number of views
- Average percentage viewed
- Peak viewership times
- Traffic sources
- Demographics like age, gender, and location
This lets you fully optimize your video strategy over time.
When Does Self-Hosting Videos on WordPress Make Sense?
While I generally advise against self-hosting videos, here are some use cases where it could be appropriate:
Highly Sensitive Videos
For example, companies hosting training videos with proprietary information may not want them publicly accessible. In these cases, the privacy of self-hosting is preferable.
You can password protect self-hosted videos and tightly control access.
Brand Control
Having your videos fully embed into your WordPress site offers greater brand control. You can match the styling and experience to your actual website rather than sending visitors to YouTube‘s ecosystem.
This consistency provides a seamless user experience.
Offline Accessibility
Self-hosted videos remain accessible even if a visitor loses internet connectivity, unlike third-party platforms. Once the page is loaded, the full video file exists locally.
This makes sense for intranet sites or development platforms where users need offline access.
In these special use cases, the downsides of self-hosting videos on WordPress may be outweighed by the benefits.
Tips for Safely Embedding Third-Party Videos
When you do leverage video platforms like YouTube, here are some pro tips:
Use a Dedicated Embed Plugin
Rather than copy-pasting embed code, use a plugin to streamline the process. Top options include:
- YouTube Embed Plugin
- WP YouTube Lyte
- Facebook Video Embed Plugin
These make embedding responsive videos a breeze while optimizing performance.
Lazy Load Your Embeds
Lazy loading delays loading the embed code until the visitor scrolls to that section. This prevents embeds above the fold from delaying initial page load.
I recommend using the BJ Lazy Load plugin to lazily load your videos.
Mind the Embed Sizes
Don‘t just accept the default embed size. Customize the width and height to perfectly fit your content layouts. Overly huge embeds negatively impact page speed.
Refer to the platform‘s documentation for adjusting embed parameters.
Treat Videos Like Any Other Content
Don‘t randomly add videos – each one needs to accomplish a goal:
- Educating viewers
- Demonstrating a concept
- Entertaining visitors
- Building credibility
Also optimize titles, descriptions, and thumbnails to maximize clicks.
The Safest Solution for WordPress Video
I hope this guide has shed light on the severe downsides of hosting videos directly on WordPress. While easy, it cripples site performance.
Leveraging dedicated video hosting platforms like YouTube is a much safer bet. You tap into existing audiences while avoiding technical headaches.
By following the tips above, you can safely embed videos without dragging down your site. Just be thoughtful with how you incorporate videos – treat them like any other high-impact content.
With the right strategy, you can use online video to engage visitors without compromising speed or stability.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m always happy to help fellow webmasters.
