Embed Video on Website

June 19, 2023
Contents

Adding videos to your website is an effective way to increase engagement and convey important messages. 

Videos significantly impact user engagement, conversion rates, and SEO. 

Embedding videos on websites can enhance user engagement by 86%. This tutorial will cover how to embed videos on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, and HTML. 

It's a simple step that can make a lasting impression on visitors.

What is Video Embedding?

A small code known as an embed code can be added to a website to display a video from its original source without hosting the file.

This process helps quicken the website loading speed and allows for using different hosting services.

Video formats for embedding

It's important to differentiate between desktop and web formats when embedding videos. 

Desktop video formats include AVI, MP4, MKV, WMV, TOD, and TS. 

On the other hand, streaming videos are only available in formats such as WebM, MP4, QT, MOV, WMV, FLV, SWF, 3GP, and RM, but they need middleware to enable streaming. 

The most commonly used format for online video streaming is MP4 (H.264, AAC), which is compatible with most desktop and mobile browsers.

Web Video Standards

A non-technical person had a real challenge 2011 uploading a video to a website. 

There was just one online standard, known as HTML4, and it prohibited webmasters from simply embedding videos onto web pages. 

It was necessary to use iframe> or object> tags referencing some middleware (such as Flash Player or RealPlayer). In HTML4 coding, embedding a video looked like this:

Thankfully, everything changed in 2015 with the introduction of HTML5. 

Using the video> tag in the web page markup, this new standard made it possible to embed videos without using any middleware. 

A video file in the required format and basic web player code, such as this one, are all you need to embed a video on your website:

The cross-platform support of HTML5 over HTML4 is undoubtedly a benefit. 

The same HTML5 video can be played on a PC, smartphone, or tablet.

Why Should You Use Videos on Your Website?

Now that we have a basic understanding of what embedding a video means, let's explore the importance of these videos and how they can enhance your ability to reach your intended audience. 

As a company specializing in offering a powerful online video creator, we firmly believe in the efficacy of video as a marketing tool. 

Take a look at some of the advantages listed below.

Engage your audience

Videos are important for engaging visitors and attracting new ones to your website. 

To make the most of each visitor, delivering information dynamically through videos is crucial.

People love watching videos online, as evidenced by the 100 minutes per day spent on them.

So, take advantage of this trend and incorporate videos into your website. 

The goal of videos is engagement. The primary goal is to engage new visitors when they arrive on your website. 

Provide another medium

Written content and photographs are acceptable and will remain on your website. 

Consider using video as an additional strategy to capture more of your audience's attention. 

But it is acceptable and comfortable for some website users to prefer reading articles and not clicking "play" on videos. 

By giving visitors many ways to access content, incorporating video helps cover all your bases and increases the likelihood of getting their attention.

Deliver a quick message

Video is a great way to convey a lot of information in a short amount of time. 

Even a ten or 15-second video can be very effective. With people's shorter attention spans, getting your message across quickly is important.

Most companies now recognize the value of online video, which will only become more critical. 

All companies should consider how they can use video to their advantage.

Create Engaging Landing Pages 

High-quality landing pages are essential for reasonable conversion rates. If your pages are too text-heavy, you may be losing potential customers. Adding a unique video to each landing page is an effective way to adapt your message and appeal to a larger audience, potentially boosting sales.

The Pros and Cons of Embedding Videos On a Website

Returning to the article's topic, let's now weigh the benefits and drawbacks of video embedding. 

As we have already covered, you have two basic options for displaying a video on your website: upload the video to your server, or embed a code that plays the video from another location. 

Although employing embedding has many benefits, it has its drawbacks. Here is a brief list of some pros and cons:

PRO: Loading Speed

Embedding videos on your website can improve loading speed because they are hosted elsewhere. 

This is important as slow websites are not favored by Google. If you experience slow loading speeds with direct video uploads, try embedding videos to see the difference.

PRO: Saving Space

On your server, you most likely have a finite quantity of space. 

Overpaying necessitates switching to a bigger, more expensive server. 

Videos can quickly use a large amount of storage space. 

Therefore integrating videos from other sources is an excellent method to manage space and reduce expenditures. 

You can host all your videos in a cloud, allowing you to keep them off your server and know they will always be accessible on your website or social media accounts. 

Additionally, you can find out how to compress a video before embedding it if you discover that your file is too large.

PRO: Simplicity

Embedding videos is straightforward once you get the hang of it. 

Once your video is prepared, you should be able to load it onto the platform of your choice, obtain the necessary embed code, and upload it to your website quickly. 

You can easily assign this task to a worker or virtual assistant to save time.

CON: Giving Up Control

The fact that you are not hosting videos on your server offers advantages. 

It also implies that you are uploading the videos to a different server.

Because you have no control over how that server is run, you will be forced to find a new solution if your platform stops functioning or you decide to remove the video.  

CON: Potential Branding Issues

The branding on the videos may not be as straightforward as you would like for them to be shown on your website, depending on how and where you decide to embed them. 

In other words, viewers may see some advertising while watching the video. 

The logo of the hosting company may also appear in the video. It will not be a big deal for many website owners, but it is something to be aware of.

5 Ways to Put a Video onto a Website

Let's examine the most common methods for embedding videos, their advantages and disadvantages, and which websites they work best with.

  1. HTML5 video player

If the audience for your website is made up of users of various devices, an HTML5 video player is the best option. 

You must prepare video files in three formats—MP4, WebM, and OGG—as different browsers support various levels of video quality—to add HTML5-compatible video to your website.

If you prefer internal video hosting to public video services, an HTML5 video player is ideal for your website.

  1. YouTube

The simplest and most popular method for including a video on a website is the YouTube web player. 

Since 2015, YouTube has offered both Flash and HTML5 video playback. It implies that both computers and mobile devices can stream videos published on YouTube.

Your website's video player will resemble YouTube in appearance. Although you can alter and hide its size, the player controls it.

You can embed YouTube videos into any large website. 

Smaller websites can host videos for less money, while larger websites may use their videos to increase brand awareness on YouTube and Google searches.

  1. Vimeo

Another well-known website for sharing videos is Vimeo. It provides both paid and free video hosting, in contrast to YouTube. 

Uploading and embedding HD videos, customizing the HTML5 player, comprehensive video management, and privacy controls are all features of Vimeo Plus & PRO. 

Users can also obtain video embed code for their websites using a free Basic account.

  1. HTML video embed (via Flash Player)

In many web designers' opinion, the Vimeo player is more stylish than the YouTube player.

 However, the options for Vimeo to promote videos are much inferior to those of its primary rival.

For Plus & PRO users, embedding Vimeo videos is the best option because it allows them to take advantage of the advantages of public video hosting and customize the web player to their preferences.

You may quickly adapt this player to your needs if you know how to code in HTML. For HTML4-coded websites intended for desktop users, Flash Player is an alternative.

  1. WordPress web video player

The most well-known open-source blogging platform overall is WordPress. 

It has gone through dozens of updates since 2003. In one of these releases, you could upload and embed videos into posts in the same way that you could upload photos. 

The video must undoubtedly be in a streaming format. Posting videos larger than 100 MB to WordPress accounts will also be challenging.

Direct embedding from video sites like YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Vine, and others into the article by pasting the URL is another fantastic WordPress option. 

To accomplish this, select the Insert from URL tab rather than Upload files, paste the video URL, and your video will be embedded into the article. 

Alternatively, provide a video link in the post, and WordPress will automatically install its online player.

Embedding a Video Quickly and Easily on All Platforms

You must follow specific steps to embed a video depending on where you host the video and what platform you choose to manage your website.

Although embedding generally works the same everywhere, the specifics may change. 

How to Embed a Video in WordPress

There is a high chance that your site utilizes WordPress, the world's most widely used platform. 

If so, you have a few incredibly easy options for including videos on your website. 

How to Embed a Video in HTML

It is easy to embed a video anyplace you want on your website if you are dealing directly with the HTML code. 

Copy the embed code from the video's hosting site, then paste it into your HTML document. 

You are done now! 

You should not have any trouble inserting this code into the proper location if you are familiar with the fundamentals of HTML and how web page files are put together. 

How to Embed a Video in Wix

Embedding a video is as simple for WIX users as for WordPress users who host websites. 

You can click "Add Video" when the site editor is active and choose the procedure you want to employ. 

It covers adding a YouTube video directly to your website or embedding one there.

How to Embed a Video in Squarespace

Using Video Blocks to embed videos in your Squarespace website would be best. 

You may include video blocks on your pages and provide Squarespace with the information it needs to locate the video. 

If you use a video from Vimeo or YouTube, just use the URL. 

If not, you will need to have an embed code on hand. 

Following the addition of the video block, you may add the necessary URL or embed code and finish the remaining steps, such as adding a thumbnail or caption.

Embed videos with a URL

If you know the video's URL, copy and paste it into WordPress's visual editor. You should see the video on your page. 

It is the simplest method of adding video because it should only take a few seconds to finish.

Embed videos with an embed code

Use an embed code if you want more control over the video's appearance and functionality on your website. 

These scripts are available on almost any video hosting service; more on that later, and they are also simple to add to WordPress. 

To use this option, you must switch to the text editor and enter the code.  

Guide to Embed Codes

You must locate the video's embed code to add it to your website. Fortunately, almost any platform you choose to host your videos on will find this a relatively simple operation.  

How to embed a YouTube video

Trying to embed a YouTube video? To locate the embed code, go to the YouTube play page and select "Share" before selecting "Embed." 

The embed code can then be copied, and you can change a few settings.

You can choose whether or not to display player controls here. 

You can also arrange your video embed so that it begins playing at a different location in the video than the beginning. 

This option is helpful if you only want to mention a portion of a video in your content rather than the whole thing.

If you want to customize it further, add several options to the YouTube URL within the iframe embed. These include features like auto-play, color, language, looping, etc.

How to embed a Vimeo video

By selecting the Share icon on the Vimeo play page, just like with YouTube, you can get an embed code for Vimeo. 

It will open a box where you may copy the embed code, share it with social networks, or send an email.

To edit your embed code, click +Show Options. 

The player's color, size, and specific "special stuff," like setting looping and autoplay options on and off, can all be changed. 

However, we advise keeping the player's size set at Responsive.

If you upgrade to Pro, Business, or Premium, you will have more control over how embedded videos appear on your website, including editing end screens, playing speed, and logo placement.

How to embed a Facebook video

You can utilize Facebook's post embed capability to upload a video from their platform to your website. 

Pick "Embed" by clicking on the..." in the top right corner of the Facebook post.

You can choose to "Include full post," including the Facebook post's associated text.

How to embed an Instagram video

Like how Facebook videos are embedded, Instagram videos can also be embedded. 

Open a web browser on a computer and navigate to the post you want to embed. 

Then, click the "..." link in the bottom right corner.

Copy the embed code after choosing "Embed." You can choose whether or not to include the caption at this point.

How to embed a Twitter video

Open the tweet on your computer (the Twitter app will not function for this) and choose "Embed Tweet" from the drop-down menu next to the "Follow" button. Choosing "Embed Tweet."

The complete Tweet will be displayed if you copy and paste the embed code.

Please get in touch with your webmaster or hosting company if you have tried following the directions in this article but are still having issues embedding a video on your website. 

Because every website is set up differently, you might need to do extra steps depending on your particular circumstance.

Ongoing Embedded Video Maintenance

Once your videos have been placed on your website, you can often leave them alone. 

You can continue working on other projects now that viewers should have no trouble playing those videos. 

To make sure everything is still operating correctly, check in sometimes, just like you would with any other aspect of your website.

A few potential problems could arise and prevent your video from playing.

First, the platform where the video is hosted can decide to remove it for any reason. 

Although it only happens occasionally, this can happen. 

Your visitors' on-page experience will undoubtedly suffer if your video is removed because they will probably only see an error message.

You won't have too many issues with these things if you develop a few good habits.

Run a Check After the Site Updates

Ensure it works properly before adding a new plugin or altering a website's layout. 

You never know when there might be a disagreement between programs.

Always make sure to double-check that everything still functions as it should.

Keep Track of Your Embedded Videos

It is a good idea to periodically check the availability of your videos to ensure nothing has changed. 

If your website has many embedded videos, you can do this once a week or monthly. 

Put this task on your calendar and rapidly check each to ensure it remains active. 

The effort investment is minimal, and you will avoid having missing videos on your website for a long time before your team members notice.

FAQs: embed a video on the website

How do I embed a video into a website in HTML?

To add a video to a website, use the embed option on video hosting services like Youtube or Vimeo. You'll get HTML code to paste into your site.

What is the difference between embedding and linking a video?

Embedding a video allows users to watch it on your website without leaving the page while linking a video shares the URL and brings readers to the hosting website.

How do I turn a video into an embed?

You can convert a video into Embed. There are available software and online converters that will allow you to get the Embed codes for your videos.

How do I embed an mp4?

After opening your mp4 video, click the Share option. Click "Embed" and paste the embed code into your website's code.

Conclusion: Embed a Video on Website

Embedding videos is easy but may require additional steps depending on your website setup. 

It's preferable to embed videos for a better viewing experience. 

Linking to the video's host page is more straightforward but will redirect users away from your website. Take advantage of embedding videos to enhance your website and business growth.

Written By
Kim Pañares

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