How to Publish a Fully-Featured Streaming Website with Ease

The demand for video content is not abating any time soon. By 2028, the video streaming market is projected to reach $224 billion, growing at a staunch CAGR of 21%.  

If you too want to capitalize on this boom, here’s how to create and publish a video streaming website in four simple steps. 

1. Prepare Your Video Library and Broadcasting Plans 

Before you dive into VOD app development, do an inventory of your video content. Here’s a quick checklist to guide you through this: 

• What type of content do you plan to distribute? Instructional or entertainment videos? Live streaming video or on-demand programming too? Individual videos or series? Map a preliminary structure and organization flow chart for all the assets. Remember: content structure is a huge differentiator between free and paid content. So you should get it right. 
• How long will your videos be? Video length dictates engagement rates and average video watch time. Research suggests that the best length for educational videos is 6 minutes. Afterward, the engagement progressively drops by roughly 16% per minute. Entrainment streaming videos can be longer, up to 30-45 minutes. But the preference also heavily depends on the target audience. 
• Who are your main audiences? The best streaming services have a deep understanding of their target audiences’ demographic profiles, content preferences, and viewing habits. Do preliminary customer research — direct surveys, interviews, and online data sampling — to determine the optimal content type, length, and selection for your streaming website. 

Use the answers to those questions to map your content structure, organization, and broadcasting schedule for live video and on-demand programming. 

2.  Choose a Video Streaming Platform 

Video streaming platforms come in different flavors:

• Free — such as YouTube Live or Twitch. These provide a quick gateway to broadcasting but lack customization and monetization functionality. 
• No-code app builders — such as MAZ. Our platform offers a point-and-click app development experience for OTT apps, live streaming websites, and hosted video streaming services. 
• Cloud-hosted video streaming platforms — such as IBM cloud. Best suited for enterprise clients, such platforms offer a great degree of customization and scalability, but require significant technical expertise to set up. 

If you are looking for a quick way to set up live streaming on your website, a no-code app builder is your best bet!  

3. Design Your Live Streaming Website 

Consumers not only pay for access to your videos, but they also shell out for a better viewing experience. The baseline expectations include: 

• Low latency and HD video streaming
• Convenient on-site navigation 
• Intuitive content discovery 
• Cross-device synchronization 
• Stellar mobile performance 

So it follows that UX-friendly live streaming website design should be your top priority. If you are using a MAZ, you can select among a range of pre-made, customizable design templates, plus a host of native video streaming features such as:  

• Access to performance-optimized Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)
• Easy-to-use content management system (CMS)
• Support of both linear content and pre-recorded content 
• “Simulated live” configurations to playback recorded content around the clock
• Built-in analytics, advertising, and content monetization tools 

Using the above, you can design and publish an attractive OTT website or mobile app in several weeks, rather than months. 

4. Figure Out Your Monetization Model 

There are many ways to monetize live video streams:

• AVOD — ad and/or sponsorship integrations 
• Freemium access and paywalls 
• Product sales (live commerce) 
• TVOD — paid access to individual streams 
• SWOD —subscription-based access to all videos 

Even better news? You don’t need to settle for a single monetization model. Experiment with different approaches for different content types. 

Per Interactive Advertising Bureau, over 50% of live stream viewers will rather watch an ad on their stream, than pay a subscription fee. On the other hand, video services subscription rates have soared since the start of the pandemic too. According to Deloitte, 80% of US households now have at least one subscription to a video service with the average subscriber using four. 

Here are other reasons why consumers opt to subscribe: 

Source: eMarketer 

The bottom line: progressively learn about your audience’s viewing preferences and spending habits. Test several approaches to monetizing your video streams. Compare conversion rates and revenues and work towards increasing the average customer lifetime value over time. 

Time to Go Live with Your Streaming Website 

Once you are done with the above steps, start uploading your videos. Organize them by categories, add enticing descriptions, and build up anticipation through announcements on social media and other owned marketing channels!