Vimeo vs. YouTube

Pros and Cons of Vimeo and YouTube – Should You Have Both?

The Internet is flooded with new videos on a daily basis, and video content is one of the best ways for new fans to find out about you and your music. YouTube is the clear leader of online video, but Vimeo seems to be gaining traction daily. Both sites allow users to sign up, upload and watch videos for free, and participate in a community with channels and commenting capability. So how do you decide what video service to be a part of? Or should you hop onto more than one?

Today we’re going to discuss the pros and cons of YouTube and Vimeo:

YouTube Pros:

  • Audience: YouTube is clearly the number one video-sharing site on the web,youtube_seoand their audience is much larger than Vimeo’s, so with YouTube you have thepotential for more people to watch your video.
  • Customization: YouTube allows you to do some slight customization to your channel like: select a background image, select colors for your channel box, change the font style, pick a layout and create playlists.
  • Revenue: If your videos get enough views or you get enough subscribers, YouTube will invite you to a revenue sharing partnership, allowing you to make money off your channel through ads.
  • Uploads: You can upload as many videos as you want to YouTube. There is no cap!

YouTube cons include: high competition for views because there are so many YouTube subscribers, automatic video removal if something is flagged, and the potential for a lot of profane comments and/or spam.

Vimeo Pros:

  • Audience: Vimeo’s focus is geared more toward artistry, filmmaking and music. The community is smaller than YouTube’s but it’s much more engaged, whichvimeo_for_artistsmeans you might have more comments and communication than on YouTube.
  • Customization: Vimeo allows users to embed a logo or image into the video player, which is great for branding and recognition.
  • Analytics: Vimeo’s Pro account provides much better analytics than YouTube’s system.
  • Uploads: If you upgrade to a paid Vimeo Pro account, the videos you upload are much better quality and require less bandwidth to watch them.

Vimeo cons include: a smaller audience which means less traffic, you can’t post commercials, and there is an upload cap.

What do you think? Based on these pros and cons, what do you think? Are you active on YouTube or Vimeo? Do you have two accounts? How does it factor into your overall social media strategy?

Comment List

  • Bruce Hurst 07 / 05 / 2012 Reply

    YouTube has much more but Vimeo is quicker to Upload & lets you leave site while they upload your vid.

  • Tyrone Johnson 08 / 05 / 2012 Reply

    I like the feedback and sense of community at Vimeo, as well as the quality of the site. But it is all about exposure and making money, as well as celebrating your creativity or you’ll go broke. YouTube is the ideal place to get attention from a wide audience and make money. The revenue payments matter when you’re a struggling artist.

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