With just about every WordPress project we start, the client asks whether they’ll have the ability to embed YouTube videos on their new website. Small business marketers are fascinated with video – and for good reason. It’s a great way to diversify the content on your website and deliver a visual effect you just can’t achieve with written words.
So here are a couple of easy ways to embed YouTube a video in WordPress on any page or blog post.
Option 1: Simple Embed Via URL
WordPress recently introduced a new feature that made the process of embedding YouTube videos much easier than it was before.
Now you can simply copy the video URL from your web browser and paste it directly on your page or post using the Visual editor. Make sure you are using the actual URL (http://) and not hyperlinked text.
Paste into the body of the page from the Visual tab in WordPress …
As you can see, a video preview shows up right on the page so you know the YouTube embed was successful. Now you can preview and play your video while editing your WordPress page or post.
Troubleshooting: If you have trouble getting the video to show up in WordPress, it’s important to note that the YouTube video URL must be pasted on a line by itself. No other content or code can be on the same line. You must hit a hard return after pasting the video URL into WordPress.
Note: There’s a collection of shortcodes you can add to the end of the YouTube URL that provide a number of video customization options. Visit the YouTube Video Shortcode Article in the WordPress support forum for additional formatting options.
For many, the default settings of the simple URL copy/paste is enough. It’s quick, easy and effective.
But if you want more control over the video attributes and how it displays, then the “old” method of embedding YouTube videos in WordPress still comes in handy.
Option 2: Embed and Customize YouTube Videos
If you don’t like tinkering with shortcodes or the default settings aren’t a good fit for the page where you’re embedding the video, then the “old” method of embedding videos offers much more control.
1. Find a video on YouTube.
2. Click on the Share option located right below the video.
3. Click the Embed tab just below the share icon.
4. To customize video attributes, click the Show More option just below the default embed code that displays. Then click Video Size to set the length and width, choosing from a number of pre-defined sizes or select Custom Size to dial it in manually.
5. Copy the newly generated HTML code. Make sure to copy everything. If you miss just a single character, it won’t work.
6. Head over to WordPress and select the post or page you wish to embed the video on. Click on the Text tab and Paste the HTML code.
IMPORTANT: It’s worth repeating that you need to paste the embed code into the TEXT tab in WordPress – not the Visual tab like you did with the simple URL copy/paste method above.
7. Click Update in WordPress (or Publish if it’s a new page/post that’s in draft mode)
And that’s it! Now just view you “live” page and you should see the video embedded there.
You might also notice that in Step 4 where you modified the size of the video (the most common “customization”), there are other options that allow you to:
- Show suggested videos at the end
- Hide or display video controls
- Show video title and player actions
- Enable privacy mode
See Also: How to Schedule WordPress Blog Posts Without Using Plugins
Need Help With Your WordPress Site?
Whether you need a complete website makeover or just a little support for your existing WordPress site, we can help. Contact Juice Marketing to get more information and pricing on our web services.
Oh and by the way, here’s a live example:
Other WordPress Tips You Might Like:
How to Automatically Schedule Blog Posts in WordPress
How to Embed Google Analytics Code in WordPress (Without Plugins)
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