There are over 2 billion monthly users on YouTube with over a billion hours of video available every day.
It’s evident that this platform is a fantastic way to raise brand awareness, grow your business, and reach a worldwide audience. Perhaps you’re on the fence about signing up and you want to figure out whether YouTube is for you.
Sounds familiar? Luckily, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the pros and cons of YouTube.
The Pros
Before you find the best YouTube alternative, it’s important to understand what this platform offers. Then you can figure out whether using YouTube is for you. For instance:
Simple Setup
One of the top benefits of YouTube is that it requires little expertise or money to set up a channel. Regardless of your goals, you only need a laptop for editing and a digital camera, or smartphone, to shoot.
Plus, you can easily scale your YouTube channel and funnel money you generate from ads into better or more equipment. It’s a win-win!
Free Hosting
Looking for pros of YouTube?
Know the platform is free to use, and all content is hosted by the platform. This means you’re not burdened with monthly fees like you would with running a site.
Easy to Share Videos
The beauty of YouTube is that sharing your videos is easy. You can either shoot links to your loved ones or share via social media. Or blog about your new video and embed it onto your site.
Can Monetize Content
An attractive aspect of YouTube is how you can earn money from it. But to do this, you’ll need a Google AdSense account to profit from your views. Aside from this, you can also make money from affiliate links, sponsorships, and a line of merchandise.
Welcomes Every Niche
YouTube welcomes every niche so anyone can reap its benefits. For instance, musicians can showcase their latest tunes, whereas budding actors can wow with their comedy sketches.
If you’re stumped for ideas, upload onto YouTube stories or post polls to ask your audience what they want to see.
Helps Generate Backlinks
Creating a YouTube channel helps boost your SEO as you build backlinks. These are created when you add a website link or your social media channels within the video description.
Sprinkling these throughout your YouTube channel will then raise awareness and drive traffic to your site.
Video Length Isn’t Capped
A major advantage of YouTube is there isn’t a limit on the video length. This gives creators freedom over the type of content they produce. For instance, you could post a two-minute ad or an hour-long webinar to promote your product.
The Cons
On the flip side, there are reasons to not use YouTube. So before making a decision consider these cons of YouTube. For example:
Maintenance Costs
If you want high-quality production, then you must invest in your YouTube channel. You’ll need a camera, an editing team, and lighting to produce great content. Eventually, you can dip into your YouTube payment, but it’ll be from your pocket initially.
Too Public
Although you can reach a larger audience, posting on YouTube makes you susceptible to privacy invasion. There are also issues with copyright, especially with music. And, it’s important to note, you must find royalty-free tunes so you don’t get penalized by the platform.
Many Rules to Follow
Aside from copyright issues, your content must adhere to YouTube’s community guidelines. If you don’t comply with their terms and conditions, then your channel could get flagged or your Google Adsense account banned.
Because of this, be mindful of what you post and how your channel looks.
You Implicitly Advertise Your Competitor’s Videos
YouTube’s algorithm gives viewers the type of videos they want to see as it boosts ad revenue. The downside is that competitive content will be displayed in the sidebar while a prospect is watching your video. As a result, you’re unintentionally giving your competitors extra exposure.
No Guarantee People Will See Your Content
There are approximately 37 million YouTube channels, which proves competition is rife. It’s important to understand that simply having a YouTube account doesn’t automatically draw users to your channel.
You must find creative ways to drive prospects to your account by advertising on social media.
Negative Comments Ruin Reputations
We rely on reviews to determine whether we’d eat at a restaurant and the same works with YouTube. If there’s a collection of negative comments, then it can damage your online reputation so you lose subscribers.
This will affect your search rankings, so be mindful of how you treat your audience and don’t post controversial content.
Zero Customer Support
YouTubers know how frustrating it is to have no customer support. So if you’re struggling with your video embedding, then you’re on your own. It’s wise to browse YouTube forums to see if anyone has had a similar issue.
There’s Never a Guarantee
You could spend $20,000 in video production and only amass 200 views.
On YouTube, there’s no guarantee that your content will blow up so keep this in mind. Know that there’s always a risk and if you’re not seeing desired results, then market your YouTube channel on your other social media accounts.
These Are the Pros and Cons of YouTube
Hopefully, after weighing up the pros and cons of YouTube, you’ll know whether to take the plunge.
YouTube lets you share your content, engage with your audience, and generate backlinks to your site. But there is little customer support, you’re not guaranteed a huge following, and you must abide by YouTube’s rules. So, what do you choose?
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