8 Reasons to Choose Professional Video Hosting

We all hate to part with our hard-earned cash. So, many people ask why they should pay for video hosting when they can use a free website like YouTube. The answer is that paid video hosting services provide crucial benefits that free hosts don’t, from tech support to effective marketing tools. We compiled a list of a few key advantages of professional video hosts:

Customer Support

You know what they say: you get what you pay for. And a free product means no customer support. Any good professional video provider will be available to solve problems you may encounter and to make sure you have a positive experience.

Actionable Analytics

While YouTube provides some aggregate data on video views, professional level video hosting allows you to see exactly who watched your videos, how much they watched, and which parts engaged them the most. Professional video analytics are designed in such a way that understanding and effectively targeting your customers through video becomes a reality.

Security

If you want to control who is watching your videos because, for example, you wish to share confidential information, professional video hosts are for you. Most provide rigorous security, so you can share private content with the confidence that you know who is watching.

Collaboration

For works in progress, professional video hosting allows you to limit your videos’ audience and solicit comments in a private environment. These review and approval controls make it easy to collaborate on content. No more of YouTube’s spam comments, just thoughtful remarks from collaborators and customers.

Branding

No matter how hard you try, you can’t fully remove the YouTube / Vimeo branding from their players. A paid service should allow you to ‘white-label’ the player and environment, so that the focus is on your brand.

Focus on Your Goals

YouTube’s incentive is to entice users onto to their site so they can bombard them with ads. Features like “Related Videos” are designed to keep people watching YouTube videos and not to encourage users to sign up for your product.

Company Firewalls

Many company firewalls block free offerings like YouTube. When sending sales leads a promotional video to view, you certainly don’t want your video to be restricted.

Community

The YouTube community is a horde of out-of-control, often funny, sometimes crass, group of fun loving hooligans. The environment that this community creates is not necessarily bad — but it’s definitely unpredictable.

Asking why you should pay for video hosting when you can get it for free is like asking why you should pay for food when you can eat out of trash cans. If you want to showcase something of quality, you need to isolate your content from the distracting garbage on the internet. With a professional video host, you can use online video to your advantage without compromising your goals or professional standards.