As a NJ SEO company, we hear a lot of talk and get questions about whether businesses should use YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, or one of the services out there for video hosting. There are pros and cons to all of them, and first I am going to talk about YouTube and Vimeo.
YouTube vs. Vimeo
Just to say it up front, Vimeo is typically frowned upon for business use even though it provides a nice platform for video hosting. This is not such a bad thing because Vimeo only has around 17 million unique monthly visitors. YouTube on the other hand has around 450 million unique monthly visitors. As a business, you can reach many more potential clients or customers via YouTube than you can through Vimeo. YouTube is owned by Google and is regarded as the second largest search engine in the world. So, your video is more likely to show up higher in the SERPs for YouTube than it would from Vimeo. Vimeo, because it is not really meant for business use, is not the best tool for advertising your brand. To sum it up, for almost all businesses, go with YouTube over Vimeo.
Benefits of YouTube
Any NJ SEO company will tell you that YouTube is a great way to gain exposure. You can reach more people with marketing, commercials, and blog content. Also, having your video on YouTube with a link to your website and embedding the video can boost your traffic. The chances of your video being found on YouTube itself and getting views are very high. Additionally, a link pointing back to your website will help improve your rankings in the SERPs. The YouTube video embedded on your site gives you the means to appeal to visitors already on your site. YouTube is also free, but there are some limitations.
YouTube Limitations: Along Comes Viddler
Though YouTube can accomplish a lot, when you want to move into having private videos that are only available to specific people, you run into an issue. YouTube limits private videos to only 50 people and they have to have their YouTube IDs typed in, which is extremely tedious and impractical.
Also, YouTube restricts the length of videos typically to 10 minutes. We are a NJ SEO company that recommends Viddler to answer this problem. A Viddler Business account is $100/month, and it allows the user to have unlimited videos, video length, analytics, and more. If you are making professional videos that are only available to existing clients and customers, and you want to keep them that way, Viddler is a much better choice than YouTube. Viddler also integrates with social media much like YouTube with even more customized settings, and it is superior to much of the other services out there.
Perspective of a NJ SEO Company
The answer from the NJ SEO company: The most important thing here is to consider your niche and what you are trying to do with your videos. In a case such as having some public videos for marketing and advertising your brand and having some private videos that are exclusive to your clients and customers, a joint approach is probably best. YouTube can be the medium for the public videos since they will get the most exposure and generate the most traffic to your site. Viddler can be the medium for using the exclusive videos that are higher quality and private. A joint approach can help you gain the exposure you need. Also, the privacy you need for your higher level videos.