Host long or large videos on a video platform and embed them, and keep the page, a still image and the original files under your control. Shared hosting is built to serve pages, not to stream video.

The video in the media library

Uploading a video to a website is now as easy as uploading a photograph. WordPress has played video files in its own player for years, and most page builders have a video block.

So the drone footage, the promotional film and the recorded talk end up in the media library, on the same hosting plan as the pages.

It plays perfectly in the office, on the office connection. It plays less well on a busy weekend, on a phone, over a cellular signal.

And the hosting plan was never priced for it.

What a video file costs your hosting

The second adds up quietly. A page is sent once per visit, but a video streams for as long as each person watches, drawing on the same allowance as the rest of the site.

Why it plays badly on phones

A video uploaded to your hosting is a single file at one size and quality, usually whatever it was exported at.

A phone on a weak cellular signal gets the same file as a desktop on a fast office connection. If the file is large, it stalls, buffers or never starts.

Video platforms prepare several versions of each upload and switch between them as the connection changes, which is why the same clip plays smoothly there.

A single file on your hosting cannot do that.

What the hosting terms say

Many shared hosting agreements say the account is for websites, not for file storage or media streaming. Plans sold as unlimited usually have fair use limits on the server resources one site may use.

A site whose video becomes popular can find itself slowed or suspended at its busiest moment, with a message about excessive resource use.

Read your plan's terms before uploading anything long, or ask your host directly.

A worked example

A family farm runs a corn maze each autumn, cut to a new design every year, with a pumpkin patch and wagon rides at weekends.

Two summers ago the owners had the finished maze filmed from a drone, a four-minute film in high definition, and uploaded it to the website to play at the top of the home page.

The site sat on a basic shared hosting plan. Through September it coped.

On the first busy weekend in October, the site slowed just as families were checking opening times, and the host sent a notice that the account had exceeded its resource limits.

Every visit that played the film pulled a large file from the same small account that had to answer every request for hours, prices and directions.

Before last season the film moved to the farm's own YouTube channel, embedded on a page about the maze, with a still aerial photograph on the home page instead.

The original file now sits on a drive the farm controls, and the home page loads its hours and directions first.

When to host video elsewhere

Anything longer than a short clip, anything you expect many people to watch and anything people will watch on phones belongs on a video platform.

YouTube is the usual choice for public video, and it costs nothing. Paid video services offer more control over branding, the look of the player and the sites where a video may be embedded.

Either way, the platform stores the file, prepares versions for each device and connection, and serves it from its own network rather than your hosting.

Embedding without giving the page away

An embedded video plays on your page, but the player belongs to the platform, so set it up with care.

Turn off suggested videos at the end where the platform allows it, so viewers are not offered a competitor's film next. Use a channel that belongs to the business, not to someone's personal account.

And write the page around the video: a heading, a short description and the key facts in text, since search engines and people skimming read words, not film.

What to keep on your own server

Keep the page itself, the text that describes the video, and a still image to show before it plays or instead of it.

Keep the original video files too, but not in the hosting account: on storage the business controls, with a second copy somewhere else.

A very short, silent clip of a few seconds, heavily compressed, can reasonably live on your hosting. A film should not.

Cleaning up an existing site

Look through the media library for video files and note which pages use each one. Files no page uses can be deleted once a copy is stored safely elsewhere.

Move each video in use to the platform, replace the file with an embed, and check the page on a phone.

Ask whoever looks after the site to confirm that backups have shrunk accordingly and still complete.

The counter-case

A site with one short clip and modest traffic is unlikely to trouble its hosting, and moving that clip may not be urgent.

Private video, such as training for staff or clients, does not suit a public platform. A paid service with privacy settings, or hosting designed for media, fits it better.

For most sites on shared hosting the advice holds: embed video from a platform built to stream it, and keep the page and the originals yours.

Moving the videos out

  1. List every video file in the media library.
  2. Note the pages that use each one.
  3. Store the originals somewhere the business controls.
  4. Upload to a business-owned channel or paid service.
  5. Replace files with embeds and turn off suggestions.
  6. Add a still image and text around each video.
  7. Delete unused files from the hosting account.

Step three comes before anything is deleted. The copy on the website is often the only one the business has, and hosting backups are not an archive.

What HTTP/2 does for the many small files a page needs is covered in HTTP/2 and whether your host supports it.

Frequently asked questions

Why not upload videos to my own hosting?

Each view streams the file from your server, using bandwidth and server time your pages need, and a single file at one quality plays badly on phones with weaker connections.

Where should business videos be hosted?

On a video platform built for streaming, such as YouTube for public video or a paid service for more control, embedded on a page of your own site.

Will embedding send visitors elsewhere?

Not if it is set up carefully: suggested videos turned off where possible, a channel owned by the business, and the page written around the video with the key facts in text.

What should stay on my own server?

The page, the text describing the video and a still image. Original files belong on storage the business controls, not in the hosting account. Very short silent clips can stay.

Can video break my hosting terms?

It can. Many shared hosting agreements exclude file storage and media streaming, and unlimited plans have fair use limits. Read your plan's terms before uploading anything long.

What about private training videos?

A public platform does not suit them. A paid video service with privacy settings, or hosting designed for media, is the better home for private video.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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