Vimeo vs. Youtube

Two of the top video hosting services, Youtube and Vimeo, are often compared and one can be better to use than the other.

Youtube is more widely used and is often the first video source that people will go to. The community it has supporting it is rather large, allowing it to have more potential exposure. One of the bigger highlights it has, in my mind, is that a user has unlimited high definition uploading 1 GB size.

However, there are a few downfalls with using and embedding Youtube videos. You need to know where to put them on your site, and make sure they are relevant. If the video is not embedded and just on the Youtube side, it’s an easy way to lose your visitors. There is a list of related videos on the side that can take the viewer away instantaneously.

Advertisements can become another little, annoying problem. With Youtube so large, it has allowed for others to advertise on videos. Either a 15-30 second ad will appear before actually playing the video, or a pop up will show up a few seconds into the video. It may not be a huge issue, but it can drive some impatient visitors away.

Vimeo has its pros and cons as well, but is not as popular as Youtube and money becomes involved later on.

Only one high definition upload per week is allowed with the free account that Vimeo offers, along with a 500 MB limit. Upgrading the account costs just under $60 per year, and that’s not including the HD “tickets” when you run out.

Despite the fact that it costs money and has less exposure than Youtube, Vimeo has a crisp, clean look to it and good quality videos. A big feature that can help keep visitors on your site is the fact that no related videos show up anywhere with Vimeo.

This becomes extremely beneficial when trying to keep visitors on your site. Embedding the relevant video in between paragraphs is a good way to keep the visitor on your site for an extra few minutes.

Vimeo is more attractive to businesses than personal accounts. With priority uploading, complete customization, and the ability to have your own logo and branding into the player, the pros outweigh the cons.

Vimeo allows for a much more engaged audience, while keeping a professional, clean look.

The Internet has become the number one source for many people when it comes to finding out the news. Web 2.0 has become a primary reason that news has spread so quickly.

Youtube, Dailymotion and Metacafe are all popular and allow for social networking and content sharing. Anyone can register, upload, and share videos using these services.

Many news organizations have used the services for their websites, to engage the audience, rather than just putting text on the page. When used at the right time, they can enhance the and improve the look of their website.

When a story comes out, or something happens, many people are not going to wait until the evening news is broadcasted on their television.

News organizations can put up a video recap of the story that is one to two minutes, while including a story around it. This information becomes available much faster than the scheduled broadcast.

Users of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are often the first to begin the chain of sharing those videos.

In my opinion, if I were looking to present my videos, I would upload them to Youtube. It has a larger audience, plays in high definition, and, it’s free. Also, if I wanted to upload many videos in short period of time, Youtube is the better option.

As a college student, I have a tough time affording things and am not willing to spend the 60 plus dollars a year just to have a cleaner look.

However, if I’m using one of these services as a business, I would consider using Vimeo first, as it has a more professional look, and is an easier way to keep the audience engaged.