How to Self Host a WordPress Video Site on Your Own Domain
If you are looking for an easy way to create a full-featured video website with all the features you could want, without needing to hire expensive consultants or sign a contract with a large company, then you’ve come to the right place.
WordPress is the world’s #1 content management system and the perfect choice for video websites because it’s lightweight and easy to use. Self-hosting a WordPress video site means you have full control over how your site functions with complete freedom to do what you want. No more paying monthly hosting fees or worrying about limited hosting hours.
In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the steps to create a video website using WordPress that you can eventually monetize. We’ll cover everything from setting up the domain name and buying a video hosting plan to installing and customizing WordPress to creating a fully functioning video site in no time.
Step one: Set up your email accounts
One of the first things you’ll need to do before you start coding is to set up your email accounts. If you already have a Gmail account, you can use that to log in to WordPress.com and create a Gmail account if you don’t already have one. You’ll also need to set up a POP account if you don’t use Gmail already; this is so you can retrieve your emails when you’re not at your computer.
Step two: Set up your content delivery networks (CDNs)
Once you have your email accounts set up, it’s time to move on to the next step. In order to make sure your videos load quickly and don’t get rejected by YouTube’s anti-scam algorithm, you’ll want to set up a content delivery network (CDN) for your websites. A CDN is a group of servers that are strategically located near your audience’s geographic region. When a user in South America loads your website, for example, they will be served content from one of these nearby servers rather than from a server in your country. Setting up a CDN gives you the ability to host videos anywhere in the world while still having them appear easily for your audience.
Step three: Launch your website and begin populating it with content
After you’ve launched your site and begun populating it with content (we’ll explain the purpose of each type of content in a moment), it’s time to start customizing the design and functionality of your site. To do this, you’ll need to login to your WordPress account and visit the Dashboard for your website. From here, you can access all the functions of your site and begin making changes as needed. You can’t upload videos or set up affiliate sales until you’ve done this.
Step four: Create content types (videos, podcasts, etc.)
After you’ve launched your site and begun populating it with content, you’ll want to start creating content types. A content type is a group of associated posts (such as videos or podcasts) that share the same name. To create a new content type, click the +New button under Content in the dashboard. Once you’ve created the content type, you can start uploading content to it. For example, if you named your content type “video interviews”, you could upload videos tagged with that name to it. This makes it much easier to keep track of what is and isn’t associated with a particular content type.
Step five: Promote your site and begin earning income
Once you’ve created a functioning video website, it’s time to start promoting it and earning income from it. To do this, you’ll want to use the built-in SEO functions of WordPress to properly optimize your content and get it noticed by potential customers. One of the best things about WordPress is that it provides powerful SEO features that allow you to do things like add keywords and descriptions to your content, create custom post types and taxonomies, and more.
To begin generating income from your site, you could integrate affiliate marketing into your content types (such as the “video interviews” content type we created earlier). When a user clicks a product mentioned in an interview or article, they’ll be taken to an external website whose compensation is based on that action. The more you interact with your audience (via social media, for example) the more you’ll be able to monetize your content.
WordPress offers a variety of monetization options, including affiliate marketing, display ads, and product reviews. You don’t necessarily need to use all three options to make money from a video website. However, you’ll want to integrate some form of monetization into your content because otherwise, you’ll be left trying to figure out ways to make ends meet.
Step six: Maintain your site and improve your earnings
As with any other website, updates, improvements, and maintenance are necessary to keep things running smoothly and attract more visitors. To make sure your site is properly maintained, log in to WordPress and visit the Dashboard for your site. From here, you can access all the information you need to keep things working smoothly. You’ll also want to visit this dashboard regularly to check for any updates that may be available.
Step seven: Use the WordPress CLI to automate tasks
A command line interface (CLI) is a tool that allows you to navigate the commands of a computer program from the command line (i.e., through a terminal or shell prompt). The WordPress CLI is a collection of tools that make it easy to perform common tasks from the command line. For example, you can use the CLI to install new plugins, remove unused plugins, upgrade WordPress, and much more.
The best part about the WordPress CLI is that you don’t need to be technically skilled to use it. Simply input the command you want and hit enter. If you’ve used any other website building tool, you’ll have no trouble using the WordPress CLI because it’s very similar to the structure of a standard HTML page. For example, if you want to add some text to the bottom of a post, you would enter the following command:
php -f wp-cli.phar nano wp-content/my-post-title.php
This command will open a blank text file in your default text editor. You can now type your content and save the file. To create a new post, you would enter the following command:
php -f wp-cli.phar nano wp-content/my-new-post.php
The WordPress CLI makes it easy to perform all the basic tasks needed to maintain a WordPress site. It handles backups, updates, installing of plugins, and much more. While it won’t replace a fully trained WordPress expert, it can definitely help with certain tasks. For example, if you’re looking for an easy way to build a WordPress site and don’t have the time to learn everything, the WordPress CLI can help get you up and running quickly with a functional, monetized site.
You may be wondering why you would want to host videos on a WordPress website since YouTube already provides a free, fully featured video platform. The main reason is that you can’t host videos on YouTube because of its spam policies. YouTube has stated that they will not accept content that promotes commercial products or services unless the content meets certain criteria. In addition, they place restrictions on the types of products you can feature within your videos.
YouTube’s criteria for “spammy” videos are as follows:
- No less than 4 or more than 12 brand advertisements in an advertisement-viewed video.
- An unbranded video followed by 5 or more branded advertisements.
- An unbranded or branded video with product placement.
- An unbranded or branded video that promotes a third-party merchant’s products.
- An unbranded or branded video that contains a link to a third-party merchant’s website.
If you want to create a video website that complies with YouTube’s guidelines, then WordPress is the perfect choice because it has a built-in video component and provides a secure, hosted environment.
Why video is booming
Thanks to the rise of TikTok and other popular video platforms, video is now arguably the most popular form of content online. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 50% of Americans spend more time watching videos than reading articles and 42% watch more videos than they do traditional TV commercials during prime time.