Why does SEOMoz use Wistia? Why would you not use YouTube as well? Does Vimeo factor into the equation at all?

[dunklea]

I am wondering what the best options are for video hosting websites (YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, etc.). Which host has the best interface that you would want to use to embed into your site? Any advice you have in regards to optimizing the videos on our site, then that would be much appreciated. Thanks!  And our YouTube channel is here http://www.youtube.com/user/gooverseas

[Bill4Time]

Well, for starters, Vimeo doesn't allow business videos since it leans more on artistic pieces or something that deals with art.

[KeriMorgret]

I don't have any insider knowledge of why SEOmoz chose Wistia, but there is some information in this post about the Top 10 Web Apps We Love. http://www.seomoz.org/blog/top-10-web-apps-we-love

Wistia is video hosting on steroids. Not only does this video hosting platform support HTML5, which makes your videos viewable on a slew of non-Flash enabled devices, but the platform is inherently designed for SEO.  Try searching Google for "Top 10 Web Apps We Love" and you'll likely see the above Wistia-hosted video that's included with this blog post. Their tracking and analytics are also the best we've seen in video hosting.  See a sample report here.

[RyanKent]

Thanks for sharing Keri. I missed that blog. Great info.

[dunklea]

Thanks Keri, that was helpful!

[WrightIMC]

One thing to also consider/remember is that when you submit that content to youtube, be sure to get the credit on your site.  So host the video on youtube/wistia/whatever, but the page that it is embedded on your site is also submitted via google video sitemaps.

[MEldridge]

Tony, can you clarify what you meant about the video sitemaps? Did you mean that you should create/submit your own video sitemap or let the video host do it for you?

[Francisco_Meza]

That has changed: http://vimeo.com/pro

[KeriMorgret]

Phil from Distilled just weighed in on how to choose a platform for hosting video, and when you'd want YouTube versus some other options in the thread at www.seomoz.org/q/best-way-to-host-video.