Where to host your course videos
A lesson video can come from YouTube, Vimeo, or a direct file link, and the right choice depends on whether the lesson is free marketing or paid content. Here is the honest breakdown.
Free lessons: use a public YouTube video
If the lesson is free, being public is a feature. The video grows your YouTube channel, shows up in search, and markets the paid course around it. Paste the normal watch link into the lesson and you are done.
Paid lessons on YouTube: use Unlisted, never Private
A Private video only plays for Google accounts you invite one by one, so inside a course your members just see "Video unavailable". Unlisted is the setting that works: the video plays in your lessons but is hidden from YouTube search. Know the trade: anyone who gets the link can watch it for free. Keep the link tight by never adding the video to a public playlist, not featuring it on your channel, and turning comments off.
Paid lessons that need real privacy: use Vimeo with domain restriction
Vimeo paid plans let you hide a video from vimeo.com entirely and allow embedding only on domains you list. Add your store domain (yourstore.shopspace.io, plus your custom domain if you use one) and the video will only ever play inside your course. Paste the Vimeo link into the lesson exactly like a YouTube link.
Good to know
- Rule of thumb: public when the lesson should market you, unlisted when easy sharing would not hurt you, domain-restricted Vimeo when customers are paying for it.
- You can mix per lesson. Many creators make lesson one a public preview and protect the rest.