Video Sharing Platform: What Is It & Which One to Choose?

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Video Sharing Platform: What Is It & Which One to Choose?
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Visitors to the World Wide Web tend to spend most of their time online searching for and watching videos. Video hosting services and video sharing platforms not only attract the attention of the widest possible audience, but also retain it for a long time. In fact, video hosting services have already completely replaced centralized television.

The main advantage of video hosting is the ability to view content completely free of charge and from the most convenient device. Users do not need to download anything to their device's memory. The video plays online and does not require any additional actions from visitors.

As for content creators, such video websites use various third-party and internal video hosting tools for effective monetization. Thus, the audience watches videos that arouse their interest, and channel owners receive a certain income for this. And everyone wins.

Despite the fact that Youtube is rightfully considered one of the most famous and popular video sharing sites, it is far from the only one. There are many video platforms like youtube.

Moreover, it is quite difficult for novice bloggers to enter such a competitive free video hosting platform. It is often faster and easier to start your professional activity with something simpler and, as your recognition grows, to cover more labor-intensive sources of traffic.

What is video hosting?

Video hosting is a platform specializing in publishing videos. Some users create and publish content, while others watch it. Thus, video sites’ visitors independently engage not only in generating new information, but also in its subsequent promotion.

Video sharing allows you to promote various brands. This applies not only to bloggers and streamers. Businesses are actively developing their presence on popular platforms in order to reach the target audience in places where they congregate. Therefore, successful companies do not limit themselves to working with their own website or communities on social networks. By regularly developing and publishing video content, you can attract the attention of customers, increase brand awareness and audience loyalty.

The volume of marketing tasks that can be solved thanks to active work on video platforms is difficult to overestimate. Commercials are becoming an integral part of effective sales funnels. They allow you to make successful touches at the most important stages of a lead's life.

From a business point of view, the benefits of video hosting are as obvious as possible. Who wouldn’t want to demonstrate all the advantages of their products to a multi-million audience. These platforms are used by everyone: from large corporations to private entrepreneurs.

Of course, the most popular sharing video site in the world is YouTube. This platform gathers a huge audience and has an equally large base of quality content. In recent years, YouTube has been filled with so many videos that it is simply impossible to physically watch them all. Visitors here watch over six billion hours of video every day. A thoughtful and intuitive user interface makes your stay on the platform as pleasant as possible, as a result of which the audience returns here day after day.

From the point of view of an ordinary visitor, the most popular platform in the world allows you to watch new works by top bloggers. And the recommendation system helps you discover more and more new channels with relevant materials.

YouTube's structure is beneficial not only from the point of view of viewers, but also for businesses that seek to make money from the content they publish. Built-in tools for monetizing views and organizing a well-thought-out marketing promotion strategy open up opportunities for effective earnings. As a result, you can earn income even in the absence of business on the side that would be advertised in published videos.

YouTube not only opens up wide opportunities for earning money, but also encourages active competition in entertainment and information areas. Popular bloggers with many years of successful experience gather the main audience, leaving virtually no chance for newcomers. As a result, it is difficult to attract initial views and audiences even if you create interesting and thorough content.

Top best video hosting sites

Most popular video streaming sites are widely known. They have firmly entered the life of an active user of the Global Network who visits them daily.

YouTube

Gathers over two billion active users every month. Thanks to this popularity, YouTube is the second most popular site in the world. With thirty-four billion visits per month, it is second only to the Google search engine. But it is now out of competition with eighty-nine billion monthly visits.

The wide range of traffic exploitation tools available is what attracts both bloggers and businesses to YouTube. Because, in addition to promoting your own products and brand, there are also opportunities to make money using tools such as:

Official contextual advertising – Google AdSense.

Another monetization method becomes available after the channel becomes a “partner” status. To do this, you will have to collect at least one thousand subscribers and four thousand hours of views over the past year. The affiliate program allows you to claim a portion of the platform’s income. Impressions of advertising materials and income from premium subscriptions of the channel audience are taken into account.

Sponsorship. Many popular bloggers receive sponsorship from major brands. At the same time, advertising materials can be as native and inconspicuous as possible. It all depends on the chosen marketing strategy.

Advertising integrations. One-time inserts with promotional materials, which are paid based on the average number of views under each video. The more attention a channel attracts, the more you can earn from it.

Donation system. So-called “donations” bring good money to channel owners. Today, donations have begun to be used not only by streamers, whose activities are encouraged by live viewers, but also by ordinary bloggers. You just need to correctly present the idea of donations to your audience.

As a rule, streamers and bloggers use several options for monetizing traffic. It is very important to provide your viewers with the opportunity to support the author of the videos in the most convenient way for them. Users may have different preferences and available tools. There is no need to limit them when it comes to financial assistance to the channel owner.

Twitch

A popular service specializing in live broadcasts. Here you can find streams for most eSports disciplines and regular casual games. Available tools allow you to organize joint viewings and rebroadcasts. Mutual promotion opportunities help streamers support each other and encourage the most interesting and promising channels.

Twitch is shareware. It allows visitors to purchase a premium channel subscription in order to support their favorite streamers. More than six hundred thousand monthly visits allow the most active and successful channels to gather a good audience. Although most of the platform’s visitors are children and teenagers. Nevertheless, they are quite actively donating, albeit in small amounts.

Unlike YouTube and other video uploading sites, Twitch allows you to make money by integrating advertising materials, regardless of the number of subscribers and views. All partners and affiliates of the platform can use advertising blocks lasting from thirty seconds to three minutes. In this case, income directly depends on the size of the audience that sees promotional materials. The service administration recommends using several short integrations in the middle of the stream. This way you can collect views and not abuse the loyalty of viewers.

TikTok

As of today, TikTok is rightfully considered one of the most popular tube sites in the world. And this despite the fact that it was implemented as a social network for sharing short videos. The main distinguishing feature of the platform is a three-minute limit on the duration of materials.

TikTok quickly gained popularity and became a place for generating top memes. And although the main audience of this platform is children and teenagers, businesses are actively exploring it in an attempt to profit commercially from its incredibly large audience.

The site's monthly audience exceeds one billion people. Opportunities for earning money here are significantly limited. Options for popular bloggers include direct brand integrations or a donation system. Donations are used almost everywhere today. They help viewers support their favorite streamers and bloggers. Inside TikTok, there are tools for sending and receiving gifts, which are later converted into money.

Dailymotion

Popular hosting among the English-speaking audience. In the domestic segment of the Global Network it was blocked after a complaint about copyright infringement.

Most often people watch news shows and television programs here. In fact, this service imitates traditional television. Visitors to the service actively watch sports broadcasts, game shows and music videos.

The video hosting audience is about two hundred and forty million visitors per month. Of course, it is not comparable in popularity to YouTube, but you can also make good money on Dailymotion. Especially if your content is thematically relevant.

Internal tools allow you to activate an affiliate program, which opens up the opportunity to monetize published content. Platform restrictions prohibit posting videos longer than one hour and larger than four gigabytes.

Vimeo

A popular American video hosting service launched in 2004. It receives over one hundred and seventy thousand visits per month with twenty-five million registered users.

Vimeo limits channel owners to two hundred megabytes of video uploads per week and twenty-five gigabytes per year. If you want to publish more content, you will have to pay for a premium plan. This service can be quite difficult for untrained bloggers and streamers to master.

The most popular areas are entertainment and documentary materials. Like most video hosting sites, Vimeo actively hosts music videos.

Content monetization is possible through an internal affiliate program or direct support from the audience. The donation system allows you to earn significantly more in comparison with domestic similar services. English-speaking users are more active in encouraging quality content.

DTube

An analogue of YouTube, which places the main emphasis on the decentralization of its own infrastructure. It was built on blockchain technology and is positioned as a platform that refuses annoying advertising and any censorship of videos.

Channel owners have the opportunity to independently integrate commercial materials and use any other tools to monetize traffic. In terms of functionality, DTube almost completely copies YouTube. It allows you to organize live broadcasts and save them for later viewing.

Bloggers here actively publish reviews of branded products and services. The promoted permissiveness leads to rather chaotic monetization. However, only transactions with cryptocurrency are provided as payment within the platform. Therefore, cashing out income can be quite difficult.

Vevo

Music video hosting. It is owned by some of the world's largest record labels:

  • Sony Music Entertainment (SME)
  • Universal Music Group (UMG)
  • Warner Music Group (WMG)
  • Abu Dhabi Media
  • Google Inc

The platform was developed to promote the musical works of famous performers and young authors. Access to Vevo content is limited to a small pool of countries: US, UK, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Poland and Mexico. To visit the resource from other countries you will have to use a VPN.

Dacast – former Vzaar

Professional video hosting focused on B2B content. Here you can find educational materials from leading experts in almost any industry.

The platform is used by more than three hundred thousand users who have created their own channels on it and promote original video materials. Among the most influential representatives of video hosting are television channels and radio stations. School and university projects are no less in demand.

Dacast is focusing its efforts on streaming. Real-time video streaming allows you to organize a variety of lectures and seminars. The platform is completely paid. The minimum tariff plan will cost nineteen dollars monthly.

The main disadvantage of the platform is the lack of internal traffic monetization tools. Owners of popular channels are forced to look for sources of income on their own.

Toxicbun

A new video hosting that opens up wide opportunities for novice bloggers. It does not limit its users in terms of the duration of downloaded content.

The built-in video player can be integrated into any external resources. Therefore, videos from this platform are actively used on third-party sites.

There are internal tools for monetizing content. Connecting automatic advertising is available if you reach a level of one hundred subscribers and thousands of views of published videos.

Video hosting is positioned not only as a source of active traffic, but also as a tool for promoting your own resources. From an SEO point of view, it is worth considering the possibility of integrating backlinks. Search engines love linking with large and popular sites. Therefore, Toxicbun can be used to increase the weight of your projects.

Important Considerations When Selecting a Video Hosting Service

There is a wide range of video hosting platforms available on the internet for content creators to choose from. When deciding on a video hosting service, сonsider the importance of driving traffic to your website. Some video hosting platforms offer features and tools to optimize website traffic and visibility.

Look for hosting services that provide detailed analytics, offering insights into viewership patterns, engagement metrics, and audience demographics. Choose a hosting service that offers customizable player options for a seamless user experience that matches your website's aesthetic.

Consider different pricing structures and plans, aligning them with your budget and expected value. Look for options like ad revenue sharing or subscription-based models to potentially earn income from your content. By considering these factors, you can select a video hosting service that meets your specific needs and goals.