Why Wistia Wows
Updated September 30, 2015
Why Wistia Wows
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Wistia
Wistia is used as the majority video hosting platform for both myself and several clients. Having had experience with multiple video hosting/serving options such as YouTube, Vimeo and Amazon S3, Wistia provided the best cross-platform performance and ease of use, while maintaining cost efficiency.
- Cross-platform compatibility ~ In world that is focusing more on mobile accessibility, Wistia videos were able to play smoothly and effectively across all browsers and operating systems.
- Analytics ~ Wistia keeps adding to their "Stats" section, allowing me and my clients to see levels of engagement (minute by minute) as well as where viewers are coming from geographically. This helps us to decide which videos (or versions of the same video) are most effective.
- Customization ~ I've used the Wistia API to create custom playlists and also to trigger external scripts based on length of time viewing a video. They have many options via their multiple APIs, which (as a developer) is very appealing.
- Responsive support ~ Any time I've ever had to ask a question regarding the use of the system or in the API in particular, the support team was incredibly quick to respond and went out of their way to solve any issues or find an answer for me. The people who work there are passionate about their product and it shows.
- Ease of use with WordPress ~ Wistia has a WordPress plugin plus an easy "oEmbed" embed code that doesn't break in WordPress (as many other embed codes do)
- Works flawlessly with HTTPS ~ Other video platforms fail under https, giving warnings about "insecure content" or completely breaking a site's security.
- Integrated Social Media ~ Add social media sharing tools as well as download links easily.
- Being a video related company, Wistia provides much of their documentation as videos. While videos are engaging and can help with illustrating an issue, sometimes I am looking for a quick answer and would prefer if they had the full text of the video alongside it. This would allow me the option of watching or reading.
- As someone who works with clients who do a lot of online marketing, it would be helpful if Wistia had built-in A/B testing of videos so an outside source wouldn't have to be used for that purpose.
- With its ease of use, Wistia has enabled a very quick ramp-up time for new users ensuring efficient use of available time.
- The simple ways of embedding videos, changing/creating playlists, updating thumbnails, etc., has helped me to be able to take care of my client's needs much more quickly and move on to other tasks.
- Increased accessibility across all platforms has increased user engagement and freed up support staff from diagnosing video-related issues for customers/clients.
- youtube,vimeo,Amazon Web Services
While Google offers up a very rich API for use with YouTube, customizing a YouTube video to remove branding, menu bars, etc., isn't easy for a novice and many clients would like to be able to add/edit/maintain videos on their own without my assistance. Vimeo was very inconsistent in terms of playback and particularly had some issues with SSL playback. Amazon S3 forced clients to use their own players (such as flash players or HTML5 players), which made it more difficult to implement. Wistia solved ALL of these issues.