The Best Video Hosting Sites

Plan where you host your business video in advance

Treat this like you would any other business decision – with proper planning!

You need to start thinking about where to host your video in advance to avoid mistakes down the line.

Here’s what I mean:

Imagine what it would be like if every person that buys a car doesn’t think about where they’ll be driving it most until after they purchase it.

Let’s say you buy a sports car but you live in a place where it snows all the time and the roads are terrible unless you have a big truck.

This is exactly the same mistake some entrepreneurs make. They create a video with only a passing thought of where it will be used (social media, website, etc.). After they get their video, they upload it to YouTube and their website and that’s it.

So sure, your video is “online” and it may do OK, but you are losing out on a lot of opportunities!

So then, the question is, what’s wrong with that, and why should you plan in advance?

The answer is simple. You should create your video based on the potential of the hosting services and not vice versa.

Let’s break this down.

Every video should have its own role and main goal in your marketing funnel. So, depending on which hosting or media channels the video will live on, it should be created accordingly. You should figure out:

• The main call to action
• Technical parameters (square, horizontal, vertical)
• The length required on an app marketplace
• When to reveal your main message
• If you need sound
• If you need captions
• And more…

The choices you need to figure out are in the dozens, and you should definitely consult with video marketing specialists in advance.

Action Item
How to Use Explainer Video in Your Sales Funnel

Where Can I Host My Business Video?

1. YouTube
2. Vimeo
3. Wistia
4. Vidyard
5. Social Media
6. Mobile App Stores
7. Website

Vimeo

A great, low-cost choice for small businesses

Vimeo is widely used by creatives because it has a lot of tools for them and a big community of artists. However, it also has a lot of great tools for businesses and it really gives a great value for the price. There’s a customized player, access management, lead generation, a player call to action, and much more.

The tool we love which comes in quite handy is that you can update your content (like if you swap in a new logo into your video) and once you replace it on Vimeo, it will be updated automatically everywhere it’s embedded. It’s very useful. Just one thing you should know; if you upgrade beyond the basic plan, all your content becomes a part of the upgraded plan and you’ll never be able to go back to basic without them deleting your content.

Features

• Embedding Customization
• Simulated Live Events
• Live Streaming
• Integration with API
• Privacy Control
• Replace Video
• 360 Videos

Pricing:

Vimeo used to have a free plan, but now they don’t for new accounts. However, it isn’t expensive. Basic plans start at $7/month and that works just fine for small businesses. From there you can upgrade to PRO, Business, and Premium for $20, $50, and $70/month respectively.

Continue learning
How to Use a Call to Action in a Marketing Video

Wistia

Do you want features? Wistia’s got features

Wistia is another big player in the business video hosting game. They have a lot of great features like engagement graphs, video based heat-mapping, and A/B testing. Another awesome feature worth mentioning is that you can create a series of videos and showcase the collection. Also, there are loads of customization options for your channel.

Features :

• Custom Video Player
• Video Thumbnail Customization
• Add Customizable Call To Action
• Sales Automation
• A/B Testing
• Sophisticated Analytics

Pricing:

Free for up to 3 videos but you won’t get the customization with that plan. The pro plan starts from $99 for up to 10 videos and then .25 for every new video after that.

Vidyard

The best option for email marketing

Vidyard wasn’t initially on our list since we didn’t want to mention every single option out there, but there is one great feature they offer that’s a necessity. That feature is email marketing, and we think that Vidyard is the perfect tool for that. They integrate with all the big email marketing tools like Hubspot, Marketo, Act-On, and more. That means you get all the insights, tracking, and analytics available when you use your video in email blasts and campaigns through Vidyard.

Features:

• A/B Test Thumbnails
• Automatically Generates Transcripts
• Interactive Call To Action
• Data Integration With CRM
• Custom in-video call to action

Pricing:

$150/month for the email video analytic capabilities.

There are so many options for  Vimeo, Wistia, and Vidyard, we don’t have the space to list them all. We’re talking in the dozens. So our advice is to check out the plans for all of those services on your own to see which best suits your business needs.

How Much Does It Cost To Host Video?

Price Comparison Table

Free Video Hosting Sites

YouTube

Free and non-customizable, but shouldn’t be overlooked

This is probably the most popular hosting choice. We all know that YouTube is the second most used search engine out there, using this will get your video showing up in Google searches, etc. We don’t need to drag on about all that. However, you should know about several lesser-known ways you can use it:

• Optimizing for search engines to get seen when people search. YouTube works perfectly for a video blog because of their ownership by Google. Get out there and get people to know you, especially if the place in your marketing funnel you want your video to live is the Awareness stage.
• If you’re going to embed your video on your website or anywhere else, make sure you turn off “show suggestions” when it finishes playing. Now only is it unprofessional looking, many times your competitor’s videos will be in the suggestions because they are the same category and keywords! Definitely don’t want that.
• Create a call to action that points to the next step in your marketing funnel. Example: Visit our website for more info, or to get a free demo, etc. Just don’t leave viewers hanging. Guide them by the hand into your funnel as much as possible.

Pricing:

Free

Pros:

• The biggest audience
• Free
• SEO benefits

Cons:

• Lack of customization
• No business tools
• Ads

Social Media

Yes, this is still video hosting

Social media isn’t generally considered “video hosting” for some reason. Maybe because it’s free, maybe because the hosting is built into the user experience. But let’s face it – many successful businesses are built only on social media platforms. Plus, you can use social media to drive content to your website.

What you really need to consider here are the dimensions of your video and your aspect ratio because different video sizes work better for different channels.

Also, if you’re going to use your video only on social media, remember that most social media users will be watching from their mobile device. Since that’s the case, plan your production accordingly.

If you’re showing off your product in the video, make it as big as possible so people can see. If it only takes up a third of the screen that would look fine on a desktop computer, but again, people will be watching social media videos on their phones. They’ve got to be able to see what you’re selling!

Try to deliver your main message in the first few seconds and plan it in a way that people can understand what’s going on without sound since most are viewing it without sound by default. So focus on visuals instead of voiceover and music.

Schedule a free consultation

Mobile App Stores

For really making your app look professional

If your business is an app, of course, you need to think about hosting your video or videos on the app store,  and android play market. Videos on an app store raise conversion and it makes your entire presence there look impressive. Again, if this option is in your future, you need to plan for it in your production and consider all the limitations or video dimensions. You can learn what to consider when creating app marketing or explainer videos here.

Action Item
How to Make an Android and iPhone App Demo Video

FAQ

Which corporate video hosting site is the best?

It really depends on your business needs and marketing goals. For example, if you promote your brand with a video blog, then you’d fit best with YouTube. If you want to collect leads and then work with them, then consider business video hosting with Vimeo or Wistia.

Can I host videos on my WordPress website?

Yes, you certainly can. Just keep in mind it will be hosted on your storage plan and all views will be using your bandwidth.

Where can I host videos besides YouTube?

• Vimeo
• DailyMotion
• Facebook
• Wistia
• Vidyard
• SproutVideo
• LinkedIn

Final words

If you’ve read any of our other blogs, you know that we are big advocates for planning ahead when making videos. As a businessperson, you already know the benefits of this with the other moves you make. When it comes to creating a business explainer video, it’s no different. The more you plan ahead of time, the better your results will be in the long run. If you would like a free consultation to help plan your business video marketing strategy, we are always available and happy to talk.