Videos are a great way to increase visitor retention time on your website or blog. Even better news: they don’t even have to be your videos!
Now that’s an efficient win-win—you reduce the bounce rate on your WordPress (WP) pages, and the creator gets views and shares on their video.
You can embed YouTube videos (as well as media from a host of other platforms) directly into your WordPress pages using the block editor. Here’s how.
How to Embed YouTube Videos in WordPress
There are a few ways to embed YouTube videos. Regardless of which method you choose, it only takes a few clicks.
Embed YouTube Videos With the YouTube Block
Navigate to the video you want to embed. Click Share > COPY to copy the link to your clipboard.
Head over to WordPress. Add a block to your page. Search for or select the YouTube block. Paste the link in the prompt and click Embed.
That’s it, you embedded the video!
Embed YouTube Videos With the Embed Block
This process is almost exactly the same as using the YouTube block. The only difference is you select the Embed block rather than the YouTube block.
Navigate to the video you want to embed. Click Share > COPY to copy the link to your clipboard.
Head over to WordPress. Add a block to your page. Search for or select Embed. Paste the link in the prompt and click Embed.
You’re all set!
Embed YouTube Videos With the Custom HTML Block
You can also embed YouTube videos using the Custom HTML block. The process is largely the same.
Navigate to the video you want to embed. Click Share > Embed > Copy to copy the embed code to your clipboard. You can also modify values such as where the video starts when played after clicking Embed.
Head to your WordPress site. Add a block to your page. Search for or select Custom HTML. Paste the embed code in the Custom HTML block prompt.
That’s it! You can select Preview at the top of the block to see how your video will look when the page is published.
How to Embed Videos From Other Sources in WordPress
The astute will notice a pattern forming: embedding videos from sources other than YouTube follows the exact same process.
Click the share icon of whatever video you want to embed, copy the link or the embed HTML, then add an Embed or Custom HTML block on your WP page and paste the link or code respectively.
Pasting a link in an Embed block may just change to a different link rather than showing you a video preview (as embedding YouTube videos does.) You can click Preview in the top right of the page to check if you embedded the video properly.
You can also add other custom WP blocks like “Instagram” or “Twitter” if you want to embed specific posts from social media.
Embedded videos have distinct advantages over self-hosting videos:
If the creator updates a video, the embedded version updates on your site automatically. No downloaded media to take up space on your cloud or computer. There’s no ambiguity surrounding licensing to redistribute the media.
It’s easy to see why embedding is a clear winner over self-hosting!
Give Your WordPress Site a Boost With Plugins
Now that you know how to embed videos in WordPress, why not look for more ways to up your game?
Plugins are an excellent way to do that. They add all sorts of functionality from SEO analysis to page loading speed improvements.
