Why host your own videos

Once we have finished a video project we always ask if the client will be hosting the video themselves or using a service such as Youtube. All to often the answer is "both".

Although I understand the rationale behind such a decision there really is no argument for storing your videos on your own server. Not only do they take up bandwidth and allowable space but there is always the possibility of something happening to them.

Sure if you require a certain amount of security or perhaps are a government agency the go ahead and store them there. But if you get a lot of views I can guarantee that the average business owner is going to incur a lot of bandwidth charges. And there really is no reason you shouldn't be using Youtube or Vimeo or such.

Youtube even offers a new upload tool that lets people upload videos to Youtube through your site - great for video contests etc.

If your worried about security the use Vimeos Plus service. It's only a few dollars a year and lets you block viewers and embeds as well as password protect videos. We use Vimeo all the time to allow clients to view rough drafts and it's flawless.

So there you go - stop hosting your own videos and start using some of the excellent free or low cost services out there.