YouTube vs Vimeo: Which is Best for You?

Where to Host Your Videos Online

When you need to host your videos online, there are two major choices: YouTube and Vimeo. Of course you've heard of YouTube- it's by far the most massive video sharing network ever, with more than a billion unique hits per month- that's 1/7th the population, or 14% of the entire world, every month. 4 billion hours of video are watched per month on YouTube- that's nearly 5.5 million months, per month. Every single minute, 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. It's hard to even comprehend how much of a behemoth this Google-owned web property really is.

Vimeo is much smaller than YouTube- as are most things- with audience of around 60 million visitors per month. However, the overall quality of content on Vimeo is much stronger, and the people who use it are on average more respectful and intelligent in their industries. Vimeo is something of a hipper and more professional community compared to YouTube- where the video giant is a noisy, oversaturated mess of content, Vimeo is more concentrated.

YouTube's Drawbacks

If you get a comment on your video on Vimeo, it's likely going to be a compliment, or constructive criticism. It's a great place to network with similar-minded professionals. If you get a comment on your YouTube video, it's more likely to be hateful and profanity-ridden, and might be coming from a fourteen year old who uploads six videos a day to the same site you're putting your professional content on.

This is one of YouTube's biggest problems. It's related to an old saying that stemmed from science fiction writing in the 1950s, called "Sturgeon's Law"- an adage that says, essentially, "ninety percent of everything is crap." This means that the lower the barrier of entry to publish work, the more likely that a bigger portion of that work is not going to be good. YouTube lets you set up an account and start uploading videos in minutes. Sounds great- but of those 72 hours uploaded per minute, how many do you think are worth watching? These may be the videos that get linked and advertised next to yours- you have no control.

YouTube lets you embed videos into your own website, of course, but it keeps a YouTube watermark over them at all times. For businesses worried about branding, this can dilute your message. Imagine your brand new corporate promotional video that you've just spent lots of time and money on- and now imagine it with the YouTube logo branded over it.

Lastly, YouTube lets you upload as many videos as you want, but they'll be limited to ten minutes in length. Eventually your membership may be upgraded on its own for fifteen minute videos, but there's no way of making this happen yourself.

Vimeo's Drawbacks

So is Vimeo a lot better? In some areas it excels. In others, it does not. Again, Vimeo has a much smaller audience than YouTube. If your main or only goal is simply that a lot of people see your video, without caring as much about the quality of views or the relevance of those people to your topic, than Vimeo is not your best choice. Since search engines usually favor videos with higher views, Vimeo might not get you found on Google very easily.

Many of Vimeo's best features can only be found with a Pro account. While not overly expensive for a corporation, small businesses or independent artists may certainly feel the financial pinch. And eve the Pro account has restrictions on how many videos you can upload and how large they can be. In fact, you can't upload commercial promotion videos at all unless you have a Pro account. Vimeo may also place caps on view counts. You'll have to buy more in their online store to continue.

Which is Best?

Obviously, YouTube and Vimeo are built with different purposes in mind. Vimeo has a cleaner video player, higher definition video, cleaner layouts, and a more professional audience. But can all of those things make up for the lack of YouTube's simply massive audience?

That depends on your business priorities. Would you rather have many people see your video, even if it's not relevant to them? Or would you rather other professionals see your video, even if not as many end up seeing it? Or do you put some videos on YouTube, some on Vimeo, and have a presence on each? These are questions that you'll have to ask yourself. Both are valuable tools to get your name out there. Now it's in your hands to decide.

Studio B Films is well versed in this world of social media and internet video marketing. We work closely with our clients to help you navigate the social media landscape so that you connect with directly with the largest potential audience. If you're interested in seeing how your content can be shared in the most effective fashion, contact us today!