Is Vimeo or YouTube Better for Business Video?

In the age of social media, creating and sharing business video content is a powerful way to reach and engage your target audience. But creating dynamic videos is only half the battle. Choosing the best platform to moderate and host your brand’s awareness is the other half of the effort. This step depends on your business needs. Below we will discuss the considerations of hosting videos on two of the more popular video software applications, Vimeo and YouTube.

Search & SEO

Youtube is second to the top search engine in the world, Google. It also happens to be owned by them. Youtube’s search potential for attracting new clients, your target audience, is incredibly effective. When you host a public video on Youtube, Google can index and add them to their search results.

People use search engines to find products, services, and information. Presenting yourself where your audience already is, increases the likelihood of masses of people discovering your online video and potentially going viral. Vimeo is a relatively new hosting platform, making its public videos search visibility not yet as popular as YouTube.

The Audience

According to the most recent official figures, YouTube has more than 2.6 billion monthly active users. Their videos generate billions of daily views, helping businesses create massive online communities. Vimeo has an audience reach of about 5 million active monthly users. And 170 million viewers. Although their audience reach is significantly smaller, Vimeo’s online communities are very supportive. Ideal for very niche audiences.

Membership

Youtube is a free video hosting application. They make the majority of their profit through commercial advertising. Vimeo, on the other hand, has a tiered subscription list. However, they offer a free basic monthly subscription plan with limited access to 500MB per week of upload space.

Commercial Advertising

With Vimeo, your audience will not see ads before, during, or after your content. Advertisement-free video can be great for businesses who want to deliver their content distraction-free. But it also means you won’t be able to monetize off of targeted ad space. As mentioned previously, Vimeo’s profit is through tiered plan memberships. However, Vimeo allows you to make money by selling or renting content, such as a web series or standalone video, to your fans. Monetizing uploaded videos through ad space is one of the ways YouTube creators can earn money for their video content.

Privacy

There are several ways you can limit access to video with Vimeo. You can make your content public, meaning anyone can watch your video. You can also set your videos to unlisted, meaning people who have the video’s direct link will have access to it. Your content will not appear on public search results if marked as unlisted. Vimeo gives you the option to password protect your video, and even allows for the creation of private portfolios for sharing a group of videos securely.

Youtube gives you three privacy setting options. You can make your content public, private, or unlisted.

So.. Vimeo or YouTube Hosting for Video Business?

Deciding on the right video hosting platform for your business depends on your company’s goals. YouTube and Vimeo are software applications that do a phenomenal job hosting video content. In a nutshell, Vimeo is better for businesses that want more control over their video content. YouTube is better for businesses that are looking for maximum exposure. In fact, many businesses use both platforms to host different types of videos.

The question is, how will you use these tools to help you reach your business goals most effectively?