The great debate — Youtube or Vimeo?

If you have videos that you want to post online for your business, you have a few different options. The two most popular video sharing sites today are Vimeo and Youtube. Each are great options, and they offer you different benefits.

Vimeo Pros and Cons

Vimeo is becoming a contender in the video sharing world. However, they still have a small community. There are some pretty big pros and cons to using Vimeo.

Pros:

• Higher quality video uploads available
• No time limits on uploaded videos
• Password protection on videos
• No ads on videos

Cons:

• Smaller audience
• Need paid Pro account for commercial use
• Limit on the number of uploads, depending on the type of subscription you have

YouTube Pros and Cons

Image via Flickr by jm3 on Flickr

Youtube is owned by Google and is the most popular and widely known video website. It’s the largest video sharing site in the world. However, Youtube has a variety of pros and cons.

Pros:

• Most widely used video service in the world
• Free account for all users
• Owned by Google
• No limit on the number of videos uploaded

Cons:

• Videos are uploaded in low-quality formats
• Time limits on videos
• Ads before, during, and/or after videos
• Tons of strange content

Marketing Strategy for Businesses

So after all that, where should you put your videos? It depends on what’s most important to you and your business. Vimeo will allow you to upload HD quality videos with unlimited time. If your business is going to have long videos and you don’t mind paying for the Pro account, Vimeo is the better option. In addition to this, if you’re looking for quality feedback, you’re more likely to get this on Vimeo.

However, if you simply want people to view your video and that’s all you care about, YouTube is the better option, since the site gets more visitors. In addition to this, YouTube has the better mobile support, with support for smartphone and mobile devices. This multi-platform approach goes hand-in-hand with corporate BYOD policies. After all, the best way to BYOD is to give the user choice, which should be top of mind for your business.

Since Google owns Youtube, the videos posted here also get ranked better in Google searches. If you’re trying to up your Google ranking, posting your videos on YouTube can help with this.

Consider Both

Some businesses today are using both video services to upload their videos. This gives users the best of both worlds. You can get quality comments and feedback from the smaller niche of users on Vimeo and still get the benefits of having the video posted through Youtube.

Decide on One

Only using one video sharing site will cut your time and energy spent in half. If you decide to use only one of the two sites, it comes down to personal preference and the goals of the marketing campaign. Are you’re trying to drive traffic or get feedback and engagement? The goals of the campaign will decide which site you use.

Deciding on a video sharing site is an important part of your marketing campaign. It isn’t something you should take lightly, especially if you expect to expand your audience and develop a successful marketing campaign.