Where to Upload PowerPoint Presentations On the Web and Why ?

Comparing The Tools for Getting your PowerPoint Presentation Online 

Zoho Show, SlideShare, Scribd, SlideAware and Splashcast are some of the most popular hosting services for uploading PowerPoint files on the web for others to watch the slideshows online or for you to embed the presentations inside web pages.

If you want to skip the details, watch the PowerPoint embeds from all the different services compared side-by-side.[The embed feature is unavailable with ThinkFree Docs and Google PowerPoint inside GMail.]

Though we compared SlideShare and Zoho Show in the past, it's probably time to revisit the topic with the entry of some very good PowerPoint players like the one from SplashCast and Scribd.

Scribd [review] - This may surprise some but Scribd is an excellent place for uploading PowerPoint files. The big advantage of using Scribd is that visitors can search inside the content of your PPT files right inside the viewer. Another feature unique to Scribd is Zoom which is not available in any of the other PowerPoint players. And you can select the slide number that should load at the beginning.

SplashCast - This "one size fits all" web player allows you to embed PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, MP3 songs, videos and photographs right inside one player. And you know what - SplashCast gives a skinless PPT player - the navigation bar is visible only when the visitors wants to see else it remains neatly hidden. The transition effects between slides are again very impressive.

SlideShare [review] - The most popular PowerPoint hosting service is also the most convenient one. Upload, grab the Flash embed code and paste. Slideshare create a text transcript of your PowerPoint presentations making it easier for search engines to discover your content. Presenters can learn which websites are embedding their PPT presentations which is such a useful feature. The SlideShare player looks good but you cannot resize it and there's no autoplay option. Supports multiple uploads in one go.

Zoho Show [review] - Zoho is the only service to provide an IFRAME based embed code though the player is done in Adobe Flash like other services. With Zoho Show, viewers can jump to any slide by selecting the slide name from the drop-down in the player bar. They can also select the slide transition duration and run the slideshow. Zoho Show lets you edit your existing presentations before sharing them.

SlideAware [review] - Unlike other PowerPoint hosting services, SlideAware is mostly paid but they do have a free plan which should work for lot of presenters. The PowerPoint player of SlideAware can be resized and you can decide what buttons to display on the player skin. SlideAware provides excellent viewership stats per PPT slide - you'll know who viewed your Presentation, when they viewed it and how long they spent on each slide.

Live Example:
You can also compare all the different PowerPoint players. Here's a quick recommendation:

Recommendations:
If you a have a long text-based PPT, use Scribd since visitors can quickly search for text phrases.

If you want to edit the PPT online before sharing, Zoho Show is the way to go.

If you want to integrate the PowerPoint presentation with pictures from Flickr, videos from YouTube and even MP3, SplashCast is the perfect service for you. Very clean interface.

If you want a quick and easy way for sharing (multiple) PPTs, go with Slideshare. Your presentation will gain maximum visibility here.

Related: Upload PowerPoint to Flickr or Picasa Albums