Top 10 Video Sharing Sites I Recommend

With the proliferation of video sharing sites, video marketing has become a popular way to spread the words for online marketers.  When it comes to video sharing, the most commonly referred website is YouTube.  What many people don’t realize is that there are tons of other sites you can upload and watch videos other than YouTube. I will list 10 of my favorite sites here which are all good resources depending on specific needs you have with the use of your video.

1. Blip.tv (Alexa: 2,022; Google PR: 7)

Blip.tv is a platform for creators of web shows offering free hosting, distribution, media management and optional advertising with a revenue share. The site claims itself to be the next generation television network.  Here is what you can read on the front page of Blip.tv:

We’ve been leveling the playing field for independent shows since May 11, 2005. Independent show creators are great at making content. We’re great at technology, business development, distribution and advertising sales. It’s a match made in heaven.

According to ZDNet blogger Donna Bogatin, “The blip.tv formula purposefully does not emulate the YouTube viral video sharing and friends and family video hosting model.” Videos uploaded to blip.tv can be automatically syndicated to YouTube, Vimeo, Roku, AOL Video, MSN Video and Live.com, TiVo, Verizon FiOS, Facebook, iTunes and other platforms. Blog software is supported as well, including Movable Type, WordPress and Blogger. Both basic and professional level accounts are available to users.

2. Vimeo (Alexa: 452; Google PR: 8 )

Vimeo is a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make.  The site supports embedding, sharing, video storage, and allows user-commenting on each video page.  Vimeo has gained a reputation as catering to a high end, artistic crowd because of its higher bitrate, resolution, and relative HD support.  All uploaded content must be original and non-commercial.  Both basic and Vimeo Plus level accounts are available for users.

3. Metacafe (Alexa: 150; Google PR: 7)

Metacafe is one of the world’s largest video sites, attracting more than 40 million unique viewers each month (comScore Media Metrix). The site specializes in short-form original content – from new, emerging talents and established Hollywood heavyweights alike.  Its videos are user-generated, user-selected, user-reviewed and user-rewarded.

4. Dailymotion (Alexa: 77; Google PR: 7)

Dailymotion is a video sharing site similar to YouTube.  Use Dailymotion to:

• Share your videos publicly, or privately with family and friends
• Discover new videos through channels or tags
• Get feedback on your clips and creative work
• Spread your videos across the web by posting them to your blog, website, or social network profiles

As a Dailymotion user, you can either choose to become a basic user or a Motionmaker. Here are the advantages for a Motionmaker:

• Give your videos a chance to be featured
• Upload videos files of unlimited length
• Superior quality – shoot in HD, receive HD encoding
• Distinguish your work within the site as creative content

5. YouTube (Alexa: 4; Google PR: 9)

YouTube is the most popular tubesite in the world today. YouTube users can upload videos which are smaller than 2GB.  Those videos must be 10 minutes or shorter in length if you’re using a basic account. There is no restriction in terms of the number of videos you can upload as long as they follow the 2GB/10min rule. YouTube lets you embed and customize the player, again, for free.

6. Tudou (Alexa: 57; Google PR: 7)

Tudou means “Potato” in Chinese.  The site is currently the most populated video sharing site in China.  Since Tudou allows its users to upload full-length movies, the total amount of minutes of video being streamed daily from Tudou is significantly larger – about 15 billion minutes vs. 3 billion for YouTube.  According to Tudou website, the Shanghai-based service uses Adobe Flash technology to publish more than 20,000 new videos each day, including amateur content such as videoblogging and original videos, movie and TV clips, and music videos.

Unregistered users can watch videos on the site, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos, using on-line and Windows-based upload tools.  When I have Chinese content video to upload, Tudou is my first choice.  Tudou has become popular with western users because it allows them to watch full episodes of TV shows or full-length movies, rather than being restricted to short 10 minute clips as with YouTube.

7. YouKu (Alexa: 59; Google PR: 7)

Youku.com is ranked #1 in Chinese video sharing sector by China Internet Society, iResearch and Baidu User Index. Youku permits users to upload videos regardless of their length and currently has over 161 million videos.  Youku has partnered with a number of TV stations, film and TV production companies in China that regularly upload media content on the site. According to a Compete.com survey, the site attracted at least 6.5 million visitors in 2008.  YouKu is my second favorite video sharing site when it comes to uploading Chinese content.

8. Veoh (Alexa: 224; Google PR: 7)

Veoh is a popular video portal, where you can access tens of millions of videos from major content publishers like CBS, ABC, WB, MTV Networks, ESPN, Sony/BMG and Lions Gate, to other video sites like YouTube and Hulu. Currently there are more than 100,000 publishers, using Veoh to connect with an audience of more than 28 million global, engaged, influential viewers. Veoh’s unique publisher optimization program gives publishers powerful tools to help them raise awareness of their content and cultivate loyal viewing audiences.

9. Viddler (Alexa: 2,234; Google PR: 6)

Viddler is another innovative video publishing platform.  Use Viddler to

• Upload as many videos as you want—you get nearly unlimited space with Viddler
• Record videos directly to the site using your webcam!
• Post comments and tags at specific points in the video
• Share your videos with RSS and iTunes

Besides a personal account, you can sign up for a partnership account, which adds advertisements to your videos but the storage and bandwidth restrictions are removed. Both the personal and the partnership accounts are free.

10. Revver (Alexa: 3,257; Google PR: 6)

Revver is a video sharing site which shares its ad revenue with its content creators. Its users can comment each other, post video responses, build a network of friends, and create customized playlists.  Videos posted on Revver can go to places like AOL, Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Blinx, iTunes, AppleTV, WordPress, Blogger, TypePad and mobile phones.  The Wordpress plugin enables its users to start start a vlog in a snap.

Hope this is helpful. What is your favorite video sharing site(s)?  Feel free to share here.