How to Make a Great Video Website

• Step 1

  Choose a URL that is simple to remember and resembles the mission of your site, be it a business name, your personal name or a nickname for the type of videos you produce. Purchase this URL using a domain registration company, such as GoDaddy or DreamHost. A personalized URL will resemble the following--"http://www.myvideos.com"--and will allow you to fully customize your blog once installed.

• Step 2

  Purchase a monthly hosting plan that accommodates a "one-touch" install option for a blogging platform, such as WordPress or TypePad. A one-touch install will allow you to easily install a blog site onto your personalized URL, giving you the option to customize your blog site to create a skin (or onscreen layout) that reflects your style and the type of videos you will be posting to your site.

• Step 3

  Go to the administration section of your web host. Your instructions should have been emailed once you established your account. Use the administration panel and install your blog onto your personalized URL. The panel will provide adequate instructions on the specifics of this procedure, as each hosting company will have a different procedure. Be sure to take the technical support reviews of your host company into account before purchasing your hosting service.

• Step 4

  Choose a blog template that reflects the style of your videos and your mission and also has a user-friendly navigation along with a dominate video display on the front page. Your blogging platform will provide a multitude of theme options for free, but if you are not fluent in the developing languages of HTML/CSS and JavaScript, you may want to purchase a higher-end multimedia theme, from developers such as GraphPaper Press and StudioPress, where the difficult programming has been done. Many of the free themes are not designed for video content, though with some custom programming this can easily be changed. Install your theme onto your hosting site following the instructions accompanying your FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, access information with your hosting account.

• Step 5

  Log in to your blogging account following your specific instructions emailed to you during your one-touch install. The blog host company, such as Wordpress, TypePad or a similar company, will send these instructions during your install phase. Go to the administration panels and begin customizing your theme. Be sure that your video player is in the center of your display on the homepage and that the additional video thumbnails are displayed in a simple yet unobtrusive manner. For example, several GraphPaper Press themes use a clean scrolling menu of video thumbnails that displays above or below the main video player. These options are found in the administration panel and can be adjusted by a few button selections.

• Step 6

  Load your videos onto your server through the media section of your blog administration panel. Be sure your videos are in the proper formats that match the players in your theme. Many themes will use a Flash format for fast playback, and a file extension of .flv on your movie is required. According to Adobe, Flash reaches "consistently across operating systems and devices and reaches over 98% of Internet-connected desktop users." Another option for posting videos to your blog is to upload them to YouTube, Vimeo or a similar video hosting site and embed the HTML code in your blog postings. This is an excellent idea if you have secondary videos you would like to display on different pages in your site.

• Step 7

  Continue adding content to your blog until your site is filled with videos, images, graphics or copy according to the mission of your site. If you wish to have a site that is static, where the content does not change with frequent postings, go to the general settings section of your blog administration panel and select the "Static Site" option and choose which page will serve as your homepage. Most blogs will have this option, and if this is your goal for building your site, be sure its an option before you choose a blogging platform.

• 4

References & Resources

• Adobe web site
• Studio Press Site
• Graphpaper Press Themes for Multimedia