Businesses can test their creativity on different video hosting sites by creating and sharing videos. Some of these video hosting sites are better than others. There are different factors that attract users to these video hosting sites such as pricing packages, features, options etc.

Contrary to what you may think, YouTube is not the one-size-fits all solution for video hosting services. As a ‘free’ service, it contains many elements that make it untenable for some commercial uses (more on this below). To choose an online video host is to assess your own video host needs, and then to figure out which website provides the best service. Thankfully, there are a thriving number of options, some even targeting particular niches.

Here’s a list of free and paid video hosting websites that have gained a lot of popularity among businesses:

Free:

YouTube:

This is the first name in video hosting sites. YouTube was founded in February 2005 and has billions of users from all over the world. It allows users to upload, watch, discover and share countless videos. It is a great platform for businesses, not just for creating original content, but also for sharing and connecting with a global audience.

There are many ways to monetize through YouTube, most famously through the YouTube Partners Program. However, when promoting a product or service, you’ll want to leverage its strengths as a video host, landing page, Google Hangouts, social network, etc. YouTube also offers internal advertising opportunities, allowing you to pay for Promoted Videos, as well as to bid on keywords in its search function, just like Google itself.

Unfortunately, using YouTube now comes with drawbacks as well as advantages. Most notoriously, you can get your work content ID flagged if your video uses audio or visuals that match copyrighted material. Consequences for content matching range from nothing happening, to losing access to your AdSense, to getting your channel closed. YouTube uses an algorithm to mechanically find these content matches, and so mistakes are common. There was even a notorious case of a YouTube user who performed on Leno and later found his original videos flagged when NBC uploaded his performance. For this reason, it’s worthwhile to look at alternatives, such as:

Blip:

Blip brings users a new experience, web series! You can upload as well as follow different web series on Blip. Blip has many advantages, such as a revenue sharing program competitive to YouTube,  a large amount of free storage (1 GB) and analytics.

Becoming a Blip user means getting your show pitch approved by the site itself, so, it is not for everyone. However, if your social media strategy involves user generated content, video blogging, or perhaps the video itself is the product, Blip may be a good option for you.
Blip’s focus on promoting web series means it has deals with TV distributors and even other video hosts to share your videos there. This is dependent on whether your series meets certain criteria.

Vimeo:

Vimeo allows users to upload and share videos for free. It supports many different kinds of file formats and it supports HD.
Vimeo is a great alternative to YouTube. On a technical level, it loads quickly, and shares many features YouTube has, while lacking YouTube’s more pernicious aspects (like ads between videos).  However, Vimeo also has many limitations. Vimeo is stricter about copyright than YouTube, and will not allow you to make commercial videos.

Paid:

Vimeo PRO:

This leads us to Vimeo PRO. Originally a website solution, Vimeo PRO is now a paid Vimeo subscription that allows you to make commercial videos under them. Vimeo PRO offers a host of features, such as 50 GB storage, 1080p, HTML5, mobile compatibility, Vimeo Creator Services, etc. Vimeo PRO offers practically all the things YouTube can’t to commercial users.

SproutVideo:

SproutVideo is a simple, inexpensive video hosting service with features such as customizable playlists that allow you to display as many videos as you want, analytics that keep track of how, where and when your videos are being viewed and HD video. SproutVideo is a very basic commercial service that’s good for beginners.

VideoPress:

VideoPress is a video hosting service made just for WordPress by Automattic. For $ 60 a year, you get all the flexibility you would want in your WordPress video. VideoPress has HD and ad-free playback. You can upload from your iPhone, but also even from feature phones with cameras. There is a 1 GB size limit, but videos can be as long as you want them (variations made on quality). If WordPress is a vital part of your business, VideoPress may be all you need.

Viddler: Viddler gives users a chance to test their service with a 14 day trial period before paying for a pro or a business account. It is a reasonably priced platform for video publishers with features such as customization, video management, analytics etc.

Viddler is not for beginners. We can’t recommend the free service at all because they layer ad all over them automatically. However, Viddler business solutions offer a range of video hosting plans, and they will also customize to fit your needs when those aren’t enough. One cool feature Viddler has is it allows you to comment from anywhere in the video. Basically, if your video needs have grown to the point that you feel constrained by services like YouTube or Vimeo you’ll want to switch to Viddler.

 
In the end, choosing a video hosting service is not an either/or proposition. Many of these services, like Blip or Vimeo, reupload to YouTube. This is a feature, a part of their service. You yourself can always choose to switch between these services, or reupload your work between them. Your needs will change as your business shrinks or expand, and as needs and priorities change.
 
Online video is a very potent tool for content marketing, but there is no rule set in stone requiring you to invest much of your time and money in it. You invest in it according to your needs.
 

Which of the above mentioned video hosting services have you used before? Feel free to share your experience with us in your comments.