In order to keep up with web video technologies, I’m constantly checking out Content Delivery Networks and other open-source video players. Recently, I was contacted by Vidyard and had an opportunity to get a demo of their interface. On the surface, Vidyard has quite a few things going for it. Here are five reasons to checkout this video hosting platform:

    • Integration with YouTube. For those of you that have a YouTube channel, it can be cumbersome to manage that video content and separate videos for your own website. However, Vidyard provides the capability to manage YouTube and other content with one application. Users can import content from YouTube or push out videos to their channel.
    • Reporting Dashboard. If you have video content, you need to have detailed analytics. The data can tell you everything about how your videos are performing. Vidyard provides a comprehensive way to view data and even breaks down numbers from YouTube. In addition to just “total views,” Vidyard allows you to see the average attention span, total number of minutes watched, and the location of your viewer. I’ve also read that the company is collecting a lot of other data elements, so this area will probably continue to expand.
    • Real-time Analytics. If you are launching a campaign, then real-time data can be extremely helpful. Vidyard provides real-time data for your video content, so you can see right away how your website visitors are reacting to the videos.
    • Call to Action. Have you ever wanted to present a call to action at the end of your videos? How about in the middle of the video? Vidyard provides a way for you to include a call to action in each video you publish. You can elect to send visitors to another page on your website after the video is completed, or you can encourage viewers to take action during a specific time within the video. For call to actions created during video playback, VIdyard provides a “popout” box that slides out from the video.
    • URL Redirect. Building upon the call to action functionality, Vidyard allows you to automatically set up a redirect after video playback is complete. So, if you’d like to send viewers to a contact form or services page, you can set this up for each video.

Ultimately, Vidyard has some great features so far. The service is very new, so I’m sure we’ll see some updates coming soon. But, if you’d like to get a brief overview, visit them at http://www.vidyard.com. Or, checkout the video below.