The expansion of the digital world and the reliance of people on their smart devices has culminated in businesses going online. A recent shift has brought the education industry to the Internet. People consume millions of hours of How to and eLearning videos. Making online training and education sector one of the most popular business sectors.
These online courses are mostly powered by LMS solutions. LMS stands for Learning Management System. These LMS have powered companies, entrepreneurs, universities, and schools alike. Making the creation and selling of eLearning possible. On WordPress, the most popular LMS plugin is LearnDash.
While LearnDash will help you in creating online courses video hosting is another aspect which you need to think about. To make your course engaging, appealing, and more informative.
Let’s discuss that aspect here.
Why do you need Video Hosting?
Video hosting service allows users to upload and store their videos on a 3rd-party site. While the audience can access these videos by accessing the host website. Videos are of large file sizes. Larger than any other file you might probably have on your website. Hence, when they are uploaded on your server, it takes up huge space, slows your site, and cause errors when users access them.
Video hosting eliminates these issues, saves you the storage space, increases speed, reduces errors, and decreases bandwidth cost that you might have incurred if you self-hosted these videos. Using a hosting platform you can upload your content on their servers and then embed it into your website.
While the least talked about feature of using a video hosting platform is the protection which they offer to your courses, the video analytics that they provide, and the ease of shareability.
In simpler terms, you save resources on using video hosting platforms which in reciprocation provides you powerful data and functionalities.
Now, before we move to the list of some of the best video hosting platforms for LearnDash courses, let me tell you about the essential features in a video hosting platform.
Features to Consider for a LearnDash Course Video Hosting Platform
All major video hosting platforms are similar, yet they are unique and distinctive. However, there are certain primary features which are common in all these platforms which deliver video hosting services. These are:
- Video players are customizable.
- Terms of video length are customizable.
- Technical support.
- Data security via password security, domain control watermarking and encoded spiling.
- Video Analytics.
- Content Delivery Network for faster online content delivery.
- Best Video Hosting Platforms for Online Courses created by LearnDash
Best Video Hosting Platform for LearnDash
Youtube
Youtube is the most popular video streaming website. Its interface is widely recognized and is easily adaptable. Youtube videos are easy to upload and embed. It comes with a handful of features such as automatic transcription, which makes it more accessible and viewer-friendly. While the video optimization can be done via keywords, description, and hashtags making them more discoverable by users.
Apart from learners engagement, Youtube also lets you create entire playlists while it promotes learners to subscribe via its mechanisms. And, to top it all, It’s Free!
However, when you embed Youtube videos on your site, those videos will show that they are hosted on Youtube. We know that is not desirable, especially given the ads and recommended videos pop-ups on your online course website.
There is also a greater risk of people downloading your course material and redistributing it. So, while it is an excellent marketing tool, it is not the best option for offering premium course content.
Vimeo
It is a popular choice amongst LearnDash users. Providing LearnDash online course creators platform to host their course videos. The $20 per month pricing plan for hosting LearnDash courses offers unlimited bandwidth with an upload limit of 20GB per week with advanced embedding options.
You can ember videos of Vimeo on LearnDash plugin via a simple link. Automatic video progression feature of LearnDash is also supported by Vimeo. Giving your users a smooth experience. Downloading of your videos can be turned off. Protecting your course material from piracy issues. While access to your domain can also be restricted.
Detailed analytics, User-friendly design, Video suggestion toggle (On/Off), No ads for viewers are all features offered by Vimeo. But the drawbacks of using Vimeo are no free plan, banned in some countries and by using special softwares videos can be downloaded.
Wistia
Wistia provides a powerful tool for LearnDash course creators. The video hosting platform provides a good option for people who want their course videos to look and feel professional, with conversion forms, detailed analytics, and a good video player.
Wistia also supports the LearnDash automatic video progression features just like Vimeo. Using the embedded keywords in the course videos, learners can find the content they are seeking easily. While the course owner/ instructor gets detailed user analytics. ( better than any other platform)
You can also add forms and hyperlinks within the course videos to guide your users to specific links directly. While the in-built layers of security ensure that your videos cannot be copied, stolen, or downloaded.
The only problem with Wistis is that it causes some conflicts with video progression in some themes. So it is advisable to check its compatibility with the theme of your choice before purchasing.
Choose the solution which suits your LearnDash course video hosting needs.
I forgot to tell you that you don’t need to choose just one platform. You can have a video hosting service set up for your premium site content while another works for your sharable social content.
So, you can go with Vimeo Pro or Wistia on your LearnDash online course website for your course related videos, but utilise Youtube for shorter videos to attract new learners on social. This way you can grow your audience without using maximum storage capacity of your paid account.
These are the best LearnDash video hosting platforms. And, the bottom line is that there is no one-size-fits-all option when choosing a video hosting platform. You should choose the one that fits your needs and budget.
