In addition to images, videos are always great for attracting and keeping visitors to your website. Embedding videos can also help your page look . Therefore, we would like to share with you some methods on how to embed a video in WordPress and show you some plugins that will help you with video embedding. Let us begin.
How to embed videos in posts or pages
In this section we show you how to embed videos from , however these steps are very similar for other popular video platforms.
Embed method (oEmbed)
oEmbed is a protocol that allows you to embed videos, images, text, etc., from site A to site B by simply entering the source URL.
It is the easiest way to embed a video in WordPress. You don’t need to understand programming to do this. Here are the steps:
- Go to YouTube.
- Find the video you want to embed.
- Move your mouse to the URL bar and copy the video URL.
- Now, go to your WordPress visual editor.
- Paste the video URL and WordPress will automatically embed the video.
Example:
Final score:
iframe method
The second method allows you to customize how your video will be displayed on your post or page. You can do it by following the steps below:
- Click the button Share above the subscribe button.
- click on Embed Code.
- You will find the iframe code and some other options. The option Copy video URL from current minute It will allow you to embed a YouTube video that will start at a specific time. To adjust the time, you must first watch the video and pause it at the desired time.
- Go to the WordPress visual editor.
- Switch visual mode to text mode and paste the embed code.
Embed videos in your sidebar
Sometimes you may prefer to add your videos to your sidebar instead of inserting them into your posts. Follow the steps below to embed a video in WordPress sidebar:
- From your administration panel, go to Appearance -> Customize and click widgets.
- You may have multiple sidebar areas to add your videos. Choose the sidebar and click the button Add a widget.
- Now, type “video” in the search box.
- Next, you will have the video widget on your left side. Click the button add video and choose Insert from URL.
- Then copy and paste the YouTube video URL into the box.
- After the video preview appears, press the button add widget to confirm.
- You will be able to add the video title in the video widget on the left side.
- Finally, click the button save and publish to publish.
WordPress supports automatic embeds for many more platforms than just YouTube. You can also embed your Facebook posts and tweets in WordPress. Below is a list of platforms that support the WordPress auto-embed feature.
- Vimeo
- Flickr
- DailyMotion
- Hulu
- photobucket
- scribd
- SlideShare
- soundcloud
- Spotify
- TED
- Tumblr
- WordPress plugin directory
- wordpress.tv
Why you shouldn’t upload videos to your hosting
Now, you might be thinking why should I embed the videos when I can upload them directly to my website? There are several reasons, in fact, and if you want to find out, read on.
Maintain server resources
Uploading your videos will consume your server resources. Also, if you use , this will affect other websites that share the same resources as you. Video management may also require , which will increase the load on your server. As a result, your site’s performance could degrade. Embedding a video in WordPress is a perfect option when you want to add value to your website by adding content without slowing down its performance.
More traffic, visibility and shares
YouTube is the third most visited website in the world. Therefore, by uploading your video to YouTube you will get more visitors and traffic, instead of uploading it to your own site. It’s also easier to manage your videos through YouTube.
Plugins to embed video in WordPress
You have learned that inserting a video in WordPress is really easy. However, these video embed plugins will be able to help you embed and manage your videos even more.
1.
This free WordPress plugin is a perfect option if you want to turn your website into a video-based one, like YouTube. By using this plugin you have several options to use different video players like Video.js, Mediaelement.js, JW Player 6 or Adobe Strobe Media Playback Flash Player. The best thing about this is that the videos will resize and snap into place no matter which player you choose. This plugin will also generate the video thumbnail.
two.
This plugin may be the most comprehensive plugin for WordPress video embedding. This user friendly plugin will help you get better indexing by specifying the title, description and upload date. As its name suggests, it supports embedding of . Plus, you can get those features without any complicated setup. You will only have to paste the URL of your video as we explained in the oEmbed Method.
3.
This embed plugin is made specifically for those who need to embed YouTube videos frequently. YouTube Embed has some interesting key features. First, you can make your own video playlists and play them however you like. Second, you can generate playlists and give recommendations based on search or username. Also, this plugin supports dynamic video sizing which will be perfect for your responsive.
conclusion
Videos enrich your content and add value to your website. Although you can upload your videos, it is definitely more advisable to embed them. And since you just read about some of the ways to embed videos on your website and a list of plugins to manage them, why not give it a try? Do you have experience in embedding a video in WordPress? Share it with us in the comments section below.
Deyi is a digital marketing enthusiast, with a background in web design, content creation, copywriting, and SEO. She is part of ‘s SEO & Localization team. In her free time, she likes to develop projects, read a book or watch a good movie.
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