Deciding where to host your beautiful new video can be tough. There are hundreds of hosting sites out there and all of them claim to offer more than the other. Below are some guidelines that can help you make an informed decision about which video host is best for you or your business.

Before you do anything, try to answer these 5 questions:

  1. Purpose of Video –  Is it important for your video to go viral? Or do you just want something for your website homepage?
  2. SEO – Are you more concerned about ranking high on Google or creating the best possible viewer experience?
  3. Audience – Who’s your target audience? Where are they watching videos?
  4. Viewer Experience – Where will people find your video? Is it on your website? Are they on their phones? Are ads ok?
  5. Stats – How important is tracking to you? Do you want to know exactly who is watching your video when and where? Or are you more concerned with total number of views?

Now that you have a good idea of what’s important for your video, take a look at the Pro’s and Con’s for our top 3 Hosting sites.


YouTube Video Hosting

1. Youtube

Youtube is the second largest search engine in the world. That alone puts it in our top three. As a general rule of thumb, we encourage our clients to put all of their video content on Youtube even if they’re pushing it through a different host just in case a viewer is looking on Youtube only.

Pro’s Con’s
It’s free! Unlimited downloads and simple set-up. Ads. They are everywhere and could be for your competition.
Great for SEO Ranking (did we mention it’s owned by Google?) They can and will shut down your channel if you break their copyright laws.
Easy to set up Monetization for your videos. Rough viewer experience. Thumbnails and pop-up ads are distracting.

YouTube Summary: If you don’t mind sacrificing user experience for views, if SEO rankings are of the upmost importance, or if you are on a tight budget, Youtube is right for you.


Wistia Video Hosting

2. Wistia

On the opposite side of the hosting spectrum is Wistia. It was created for businesses who use video to generate leads and engage with customers.

Pro’s Con’s
Stats on stats on stats. Who’s watching? How long did they watch? How many times? When did they stop? The list goes on. Cost. If you want to upload more than 3 videos total, it’s going to cost you $100/month.
Customization. They Wistia player is fully customizable from your logo to the color of the play bar. Search. Your video will rarely pop up on a google search.
The turnstile with email captures takes video interaction to the next level. There are no channels so people can’t scroll through your other videos.

Wistia Summary: If you want a private video embedded on a public site (i.e. a company culture video on the homepage of your website), if you want full knowledge over who’s watching your video, or if you want to capture emails for leads, Wistia is for you.


Vimeo Video Hosting

 3. Vimeo

Vimeo is the middle ground between Youtube and Wistia. It offers a great viewer experience, moderate SEO, a channel with your videos, and an affordable price tag.

Pro’s Con’s
It’s clean! It looks good on Vimeo and it looks great embedded (just check out our video page: sproutbox.co/video-production). SEO. Your videos will show up on a Google search, but if people look for you on Youtube, you’re out of luck.
No ads! No need to worry about ads playing before or popping up during your video. Cost. Although considerably cheaper than Wistia, you still have to play to get a good experience.
Affordable. 5GB of full HD uploads per month for $5. Customization. Not quite up to Wistia’s standards.

Vimeo Summary: If you want an affordable option with no ads, if you are looking for a simple business host, or if you want to build a channel of your videos, Vimeo is for you.


If you still have any questions about where you should be hosting, feel free to contact our videographer, Peter ([email protected]). He’d be happy to help.

Sources: http://www.calebwojcik.com/blog/where-you-should-host-videos-online