Discussing YouTube alternative for your website and why
A note before diving into the newsletter. Special thanks to Geroge for his generosity in setting aside time and indulging me to pick his analytical and insightful mind on the use of videos on websites. It was a topic I was eager to talk about with someone to satisfy my curiosity and I sure did pepper him with a lot of questions and was grateful for the opportunity.
It was a topic I was eager to talk about with someone to satisfy my curiosity and I sure did pepper him with a lot of questions and was grateful for the opportunity.
In the previous email newsletter, I had with our web developer and good friend George Nicholau about the use of videos on the website, In September we covered critical action to take with your videos and last month’s discussion about why using YouTube embeds is better on your website. (later in November we’ll release the article on our site in case you may not have it handy in your inbox) Also, I had promised to offer the 2nd part of the discussion about alternatives to YouTube Embeds for your website. You can watch the full unplugged discussion on our site, and below were portions of what we talked about (edited down for this article)
Video Talk with George
What method was better to either use YouTube video embeds on your site, or another approach of placing an image on the site, paired with a url link for the audience to click on it. Here’s what George said.
Robert: I know the last time we talked, we were talking about websites and how you gave examples of why YouTube embeds would be a good thing for people to use for their websites, whether it’s drive traffic to their websites or just a better way of being able to have their content archived and what have you. And so the way I ended it in the last video, or at least in the last newsletter article, was just to throw out different ideas as to maybe doing the same thing, but just to kind of get your take on it.
Robert: And so some of the things I suggested were like, well, we talked about YouTube in bed, but what about the idea where people would use videos on their Facebook business page? Or maybe like they may not use YouTube, but because they want to use Vimeo? Because one of the common things that people talk about either with peers or colleagues is that they just didn’t like to see YouTube making suggestions of other videos that would pull them away from the website or maybe even from the YouTube channel as an alternative option. I know that we alluded to the prior talk, it just really depends on the people’s objectives, goals, purposes, and such. But we had a chance to talk further about your thoughts on other measures. But we had a chance to talk further about your thoughts on other measures.
George: Okay, so let me clarify some things. YouTube years ago had decided that whatever happens, they wouldn’t allow you to embed a YouTube video unless their branding remained on the video. What that means is on YouTube you can click the little YouTube icon even if the video is on your website and will take you to YouTube. This is okay because presumably, the video came from your channel. But it’s a problem if you want to visit, actually stay on your website, which may be your point. So that’s when people started looking into alternatives like Vimeo, because Vimeo allows you to embed it without forcing you to go to Vimeo to watch the video because that’s how the model works. That’s one thing. Now if you’re talking about putting videos on Facebook, for example, or the platforms, that depends on your audience. (For example, this is ) my personal opinion. I didn’t think people would be looking for web developers on Facebook, but they are because my sister sent me an image of somebody asking how much would it cost to make an e-shop.
The caveat with Facebook business page
George: And I’m like, why is he asking this on Facebook? It doesn’t make any sense. If he’s looking for a web developer, she should google web developers in Cyprus, for example. If I live in Cyprus, that’s why I use that example. But for me, even though it might not make sense, it might make people do that. But I don’t know about video production services, I don’t know if people would look for you on Facebook. That’s not to say that they might not. And I don’t discourage anybody from putting videos on Facebook. The only problem with that is, one, your content is Facebook, and if Mark Zuckerberg decides to close your account, you have no control over whether you can open it again. And unless you have your content somewhere else backed up, you will potentially lose that content.
(George offers more points illustrating examples of clients being pulled from Facebook before moving to his main point)
George: You are trained down by the policies defined by the platform, whichever policies those are. It’s not my policy, but it’s Facebook’s policy. And my sister was kicked out and that was that. I couldn’t do much about that. There’s nothing I can do. I can object to the kick-out, but that’s it. And of course, her account was never reinstated, but luckily, she had her own real estate. When I say real estate, I mean her own website, and she pays for that. And nobody can take her off the air unless I physically pull the plug on the website, which I won’t do, because what I’m saying is, you are chained in. This is why I would prefer to tell people, to use your website as your asset. But if your client tells you (to use) Facebook, obviously, until that day comes when Facebook doesn’t allow you to post your stuff on Facebook, post them on Facebook. It’s just making sure that when you post on Facebook I don’t like this word, but you sort of force people to go to your website because the plan is you want them to become your client.
Robert:…. since you brought up the point that with Facebook, you’re pretty much kind of bound with their guidelines and the tone they set. The same argument could be made about YouTube, correct?
George: It’s the exact same thing. It’s just on YouTube it’s more like don’t copy other people, don’t say something stupid, and don’t curse. I don’t know, bleep out all the curse words or whatever, but on YouTube that only affects you if you have like 5 million subscribers or whatever. I don’t think they would pull my channel down even if I cursed every single day because I have like 90 followers or whatever. I don’t think YouTube would care. But if I did something really stupid, I don’t know. I don’t want to say crazy things, but if I did really crazy things, they would pull me down. I’m just saying.
Robert: ….So it’s almost like a point you make with Facebook would apply with YouTube, but because…
George: …So on your website, nobody, unless you do something really illegal, can force you to take your website down. As long as you’re paying for the hosting and your developer has the code for your website, your website will be live. Unless they come in and say your website is doing something illegal. As for the police of this country, we are locking your website. Whatever. Then like, if you’re pirating software and the laws in your country do not allow that, then it’s most likely that your website will disappear from the internet at some point. But if you’re not doing that, potentially there’s a lower risk of your website ever being locked down. I’m not saying that it’s not possible, I’m just saying….. yeah.
Robert:…. The heart of the matter is the more control you have over your content and the more control of your environment, you’re in a better place of not only presenting your material but one where you don’t have to deal with such variables. Like, oh, my content is taken down because Facebook saw it like they saw the arm (mistaking the arm for a nude).
George:…. Yeah, or somebody reported me (in reference to the arm nude example) just because they want to kick me out. Because it is not always your fault, it may just be a rival.
(George added other examples of people making false reports as a way of removing the competition, the conversation continues on how Facebook policies can be an obstacle with its policies restricting the type of content businesses can post. We’re skipping towards the end of the discussion but you can click here to hear the conversation in its entirety )
Final Thoughts
Robert: It’s almost like the way I would look at it is just that for whatever reason, if people still want to post to their Facebook business page or YouTube channel, I know people have used the cost option where it’s a free site. But I think the problem in that is that even if it’s like you don’t pay the investment it is that you would with the website, you still pay in that you’re bound by whatever guidelines or restrictions Facebook or YouTube would have. So my thoughts to that is like, you definitely want a website, but bear in mind that if you posted, like on Facebook, or YouTube, you may want to consider making variations to, I guess you could say, like adhere to whatever.
George: To comply.
Robert: Yeah, to comply. But you definitely want at least to have your, I’m going to say your unplugged version, but one where there are fewer restrictions to your site, which you could use to your advance, saying, okay, here’s our video on Facebook. But if you want to see the complete version, go to our website. And that’d be the hook. I would say to be able to use the social media advantage where you say, okay, we got it here on Facebook.
George: You need social media to get people (online, but it depends on your business because not everybody’s business is social media-worthy. What I mean by that is, it might destroy your business if you go on social media. For example, I think if you’re a lawyer, why the hell would you, no offense, needs a Facebook page. Honestly, you’d be surprised. But that’s am I literally going to go Facebook’s lawyer and am I just going to go to the state bar association and find a list of lawyers and say, okay, this guy is best at blah, blah, blah, let me grab him if I have the millions of dollars they need for defense, whatever. But you get my drift, right? I wouldn’t be looking for a doctor on Facebook. I would go to the bloody hospital
Robert: Yeah, I’m not refuting it, but there have been instances where you see that you’re like, okay,
George: Yeah, I have seen that, but it sounds crazy to me. I don’t know how people think anymore. I’m a coder, so I don’t consider myself normal. I wouldn’t know what people search for on Facebook. They might search for doctors. Who knows? I don’t know.
Robert: I thought you could say, like, I’m not a doctor. I play one on TV, but I’m not an actual doctor.
George: That would be cool, me playing a doctor. Oh, man.
Robert: Then I have to call you. Do I call you Doctor George or Doctor N?
George: I don’t know, man. I’m not going to be a doctor.
Robert: A Doctor Divi * though (* Divi is a popular WordPress theme for your website, one that George specializes in as a web developer)
George: Well, you can call me that. That’s okay. I can fix divvy problems. It’s human problems I can’t fix. Yeah, if your website goes down, I can fix that. But if you go down.
Robert: Someone to help, a tagline. If you go down, I can’t help you. But if it’s your website, I’m your man. I dare you to use that as a tagline in your next Livestream.
George: I’m not doing that. Well, clearly that requires some skill to be able to use that punch line in it live now.
The wrap-up
Robert: As always, if people have any questions or concerns, whether it’s Divi-related or even like, further conversations of what we talked about by one developer review, where can people find you?
George: Well, you won’t find me so much on Facebook. I think you should have gotten the indication that you might not find me on Facebook because I just don’t spend loads of time there, but you can find me on Twitter @GeorgeWebDev, capital G, capital T, W. But I’m on there most of the time because 40 characters are enough to express my opinion and I don’t want to waste my time chatting. Or you can try my website, ( https://www.georgenicolaou.me/) I know it’s a bit strange, but I’m there if you want to find me. Or you can just ping Robert. He knows where and how to find me.
Final thoughts (or TLDR)
Simply the takeaway is to let your goals and objectives guide you with your decision as to which method works better for you. Keep in mind that when you use a site like Facebook and YouTube you do need to find What guidelines to adhere to in order for your videos to be seen, and not restricted, blocked or worst-case scenario, taken down. Posting on a website, you’re not bound by or scrutinized by another business site (I.e. Facebook, YouTube) Granted there are general guidelines and best practices you should follow, but the key point is that where you’re working in a defined space and system, you’ve moved out of that space and within the internet, where your space you’re working with is your website, and that you should have a lot more control than you would have in a Facebook or a YouTube channel.
Robert W. Lee