How to Embed YouTube Videos to Your WordPress Website
Welcome to another installment of the WordPress Video series. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to embed YouTube videos into your blog posts. We’ll cover everything from adding the YouTube videos to your site, to tweaking the appearance of the embed section.
The Pros And Cons Of Embedding YouTube Videos
While there are many perks to embedding a YouTube video, there are a few cons as well. Let’s take a look at each point and why it’s important to think about before jumping into the tutorial.
Size
One of the primary cons of embedding a YouTube video is the size limit. You have only a certain amount of space on your website to accommodate all of the content you want to include. If you go over the space limit, you’ll start to see some errors when refreshing your page. For example, the video will briefly disappear before reappearing with a play button in its place. This may also happen with images.
The beauty of having a website is that you can add more content at a later date if necessary. You wouldn’t want to run out of space simply because you couldn’t fit in one more video. In this case, you’ll either have to go back and remove some of the content or move the video to another platform.
Quality And Resolution
When watching a YouTube video on your computer or mobile device, the quality and resolution often determine whether or not you feel that you’re truly getting your money’s worth. While you’ll certainly get the gist of what’s being said in a low-resolution video, you may find that parts of the content are a little fuzzy or unclear.
When viewing a YouTube video at 1080p, for example, you’ll notice that details are much more prominent. While you may find that some content is better viewed at a lower resolution, it all depends on the type of video you’re viewing. If it’s an HD documentary episode, you may not want to skimp out on the quality just to save a few bytes.
Accessibility
Another con of embedding a YouTube video is accessibility. If you’re not familiar, the WAI-TEC guide for web accessibility defines accessibility as “the degree to which a person with a disability can access the information and functionality needed to create and interact with content.”
Because videos on YouTube can be a bit more detailed than the typical blog post, they can be more difficult to digest for some users. If you’re creating a video with a lot of information that you think may be difficult for your readers to absorb, you may want to consider alternative platforms like Blogger or WordPress.com.
Social
While we’re on the topic of drawbacks, let’s not forget about the social aspects of YouTube. If you’re not careful, you may find that the content you create ends up being linked to or associated with in some way by the larger YouTube community. Because of this, you may find that your channel gets ranked higher in search results simply due to the content you’ve uploaded.
Additionally, whenever you share a blog post on social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, you’re likely to see a link back to the original content you shared. When this happens, it’s usually because someone clicked on the link and landed on your blog post. As a result, you may see a small uptick in views.
Mobile
Finally, let’s not forget about mobile. Because of the ever-growing popularity of video content, mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones have become a primary means of accessing content online. If your target audience primarily consists of mobile device users, you may want to consider whether or not to create videos for the platform.
If this is the case, you may want to create a separately accessible version of your site for those who choose to visit it via mobile. This could be as simple as creating a specific URL for mobile visitors or using a different theme for it. Alternatively, you could use a service like Ahrefs’ Free App to create landing pages for different platforms. This way, you can have a separate URL for each one. Keep in mind: if you have a WordPress.com account, you can use their integrated link shortening service to create all of these links automatically.
The Biggest Pros And Cons Of Embedding YouTube Videos
Now that you’re aware of the cons of embedding a YouTube video, let’s take a look at the bigger picture. There are many benefits to having videos on your site, and we want to list a few of them here. First, videos help establish your credibility. When a potential customer or reader encounters your video, they’ll know immediately that you’re an expert in your field.
Additionally, videos can be a lot of fun to create. You don’t have to be a professional filmmaker to be able to put together a funny video or one that explains something new. If you ever decide that you’d like to add more videos to your site, but you’re worried about how much space you have, you can always choose a free WordPress video hosting service like Wistia. With Wistia, for example, you only need to upload videos to one place to make them easily accessible to your audience.
Last but not least, videos can drive a lot of traffic to your site. After all, who doesn’t love free traffic? When people land on your site and watch a video, they often need to click on something to continue reading. As a result, you’re often introducing a new visitor to your blog or website every time someone watches a video on your site.
In short, videos can be a very useful tool for anyone who’s looking to generate more traffic to their site. Whether you’re a business or brand, or you just want to create an entertaining or educational platform, videos can help you achieve your goals.