Studies indicate that sites with video content are more engaging than those that rely on text and basic images alone, but you can’t just embed videos anywhere on your page and hope for the best. Rather, in order to properly support video content, you’ll need a robust theme or the appropriate WordPress plugins to structure your site.
Developers are constantly issuing new updates, so it’s important to stay up to date – whether that means installing standard updates or changing your plugins or themes to keep up with web advances. For those just getting started or looking for new site supports, we recommend these 4 tools.
Vlog: For The Multi-Source Site
When choosing your video WordPress theme, one factor you’ll need to consider is where your videos are hosted. If you want to be able to pull video from a range of sources, Vlog is a perfect theme. With Vlog, you can pull videos from Vimeo, YouTube, DailyMotion, and more. It’s perfect for diverse pages that want to share the best content, regardless of source.
Another advantage of Vlog is that it’s aesthetically very pleasing as a theme. The theme preserves video ratios, screen orientation, and other key viewing qualities. You can be sure every video looks its best with Vlog.
VideoCraft: For Tutorial Centers
One of the most common reasons that websites feature videos is for the purpose of offering user tutorials. These tutorials might teach users how to build a website, play the guitar, or use a tool, but regardless of the tutorial’s aim, you’ll likely need to include more than one video. That means you need a theme or plugin that supports video libraries. VideoCraft is perfect for this.
VideoCraft provides video listing options, easy navigation, and a range of style options to make your site truly personal, particularly through the use of optional widgets. With VideoCraft, you can produce technical tutorial libraries, like this one from TYME, or develop a collection of client reviews to build your customer base. It’s a powerful but personality-driven tool.
VideoBox: For Content And Commerce
Like Vlog, VideoBox is a great WordPress theme, designed around the ability to pull content from a range of platforms, but it can do more than just host videos. No, with VideoBox, you can sort content by popularity, create a video carousel, and customize a wide assortment of features. Most distinctively, however, VideoBox is also compatible with WooCommerce, an unusual feature for a video-focused site.
If your site demands a blending of ecommerce features and video – perhaps even paid video features – VideoBox is the theme for you. Paid video content is likely to become a larger component of many sites in the years to come, so this is a theme to watch.
Lightbox Styles: For Simple Engagement
Lightbox refers to a general style used to display media, both stills and videos, but there are a range of WordPress plugins you can use to create lightbox displays including Nivo, Slider, and FooBox. FooBox is especially well-equipped for sharing video content through lightbox, offering YouTube and Vimeo compatibility. Other lightbox plugins may require that you host your video content on-site.
Part of what makes lightbox formats so great is that they allow users to scroll through a variety of media using sliders or similar interactive tools. They help boost engagement and make your media look better composed and organized. Consider installing a lightbox tool to structure your media, even if you aren’t using video.
These tools just scratch the surface when it comes to video display, but they’ll provide a firm foundation for any site looking to offer a more complex, engaging experience to users. Keep it simple or offer advanced options – it’s up to you. With the right tools, anything is possible.