The performance cost.
WHAT AN EMBEDDED VIDEO COSTS
Code loaded from the platform Additional requests Sometimes a substantial amount, before anyone presses play
WHAT TO DO
Use a facade: a thumbnail that loads the player on click
Limit videos per page Avoid autoplay
HOW MANY PER PAGE
One, usually.
Several embedded players on one page is slow.
FOR A VIDEO GALLERY
Thumbnails linking to individual pages, rather than many embedded players.
WHAT TO MEASURE
Page weight with and without the video.
The difference is frequently large.
FOR MOBILE
Test on mobile data specifically.
A page acceptable on wifi may be unusable otherwise.
WHAT ELSE TO CONSIDER
Whether the video is necessary at all.
Frequently a photograph and text communicates the same thing at a fraction of the cost.
WHAT TO AVOID
Background video on a homepage.
Expensive, and rarely worth it.
