SherWeb

Anyone who owns a website, personal or business,  is always looking for ways to get more traffic. If it’s a business website, you also want to be able to actively market to your potential customers and visitors. While words and text on a page are great for their SEO value, visual and audio support help engage your audience in an all-encompassing way. So, here we’ll look at some of the basics of web streaming so you can add video to your website.

What you’ll need:

-  Video camera. As an alternative, simply use the video option on your camera or phone  or  the camera on your computer to record direct messages.

-  Firewire connection & port. This is to connect the camera to the computer. Modern cameras have a firewire connection just as modern computers have a firewire port.

- Video Server

- Appropriate location. You’ll need a space that offers good lighting and sound to record.

Streaming Basics:

1. Make Sure You Have the Right Web Hosting Package

Video demands space. If you want to have enough storage space for your website and all of the streaming files you’ll be uploading, you’ll need to choose the appropriate web hosting package for your needs.

You’ll also want enough bandwidth to properly stream the media files you upload. Media files are much larger than simple graphics or web pages, so you’ll need to purchase a premium web hosting hosting package like a virtual private server (VPS) to help stream the files without interruptions.

Domain Name Considerations

If you’re going to use your current domain for streaming the media files, you can skip the next step. If you do need a new domain, after you’ve registered that domain name and have chosen the website host and hosting package, you’ll need a basic design for your site.

You can choose a simple template. Less is more, especially in design and you don’t want to distract users. I recommend you place a contact page or some other way for your website visitors to contact you if they find problems with your website.

File Formats

You should save the video files in a common file format. The most commonly used video players are Real Media, QuickTime, Windows Media and MPEG files. If you choose one of these file types the majority of your website visitors will be able to view the streaming files.

After you’ve chosen the file format you want and have saved the files, you’ll want to upload each video file to your website. It’s also a good idea to embed each video on its own page.

If you’re using a site builder program from your website host, you should easily be able to embed the files. Once you’ve saved each page of your website, you can visit your site through a browser to ensure that everything loads properly.

These are some of the necessary logistics to cover if you’re planning to stream video. Video is a great way to broadcast announcements, news and other intersting media that is relevant to your users. And, the great thing about streaming is that the end user can start watching the file almost as soon as it begins downloading. The faster you can offer them content, the more they will want to return to your site.