How to embed video on your website

Attention spans are short and lengthy blocks of text on your website can be a turn-off to visitors. Embedded videos can help make your content more dynamic and compelling.

By opting to share a video on your site or webpage, you can extend the average site view duration and boost conversion in the process.

In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of how to embed video on your website and help improve your video marketing strategy.

The fundamentals of embedding videos on web pages

Before we break down how to embed video, let’s go over some video embedding basics.

📼 Why you should embed videos

It’s in your best interest to keep users on your site (and engaged) for as long as possible. Google Analytics data shows that users who convert have over 10 times the average session duration. The longer visitors are on your site, the better chance you have of making a sale.

Adding video to your site is a great way to improve your average session duration — and increase conversions in the process. In fact, 87% of consumers and industry professionals say marketing video has increased users’ on-site dwell time. Coincidentally, 87% of professionals also say video integration has helped them boost sales. 

Embedding a video — especially one with a call-to-action — on your site should be a no-brainer for boosting click-through rates and conversions.

⌨️ How embedding video can improve SEO

Embedding video on your site can help your search rankings. Using video embedding code can help you optimize your embedded media for online viewing by enabling you to modify the video’s dimensions within the code. Even non-developers will find it simple to edit a short embed code. You can also optimize your video SEO by adding a title, description, and transcription.

Other SEO benefits of the video embed option include:

• SERP thumbnails: In certain cases, when video thumbnail data is scraped, it can come from a blog post rather than the full video itself.
• Video box: In searches where a video is a specific, relevant result, SERPs could include a video box containing three to five results from both platform sites (e.g., Vimeo, YouTube) and landing pages with embeds (e.g., blog posts).
• Creator attribution: If you’re the creator of both the blog post and the video embedded within it, the bonus attribution (from the metadata used in the SERPs) could help you stand out in the crowd.

Vimeo offers users low-lift video SEO improvements by following Google’s video player SEO best practices. This type of optimization allows users to index their videos at scale, and surface “Key Moments” — segments of video presented like chapters in a book — with no additional markup or effort.

🤔 Embedding videos vs. hyperlinking or uploading videos

POV: After realizing how transformative video can be for your analytics, you’re ready to add a video to your site. You have three options:

• Upload the video file directly to your site
• Link out to the video
• Embed the video

So, how do you decide which method to use? Uploading the video directly can slow your site down. We’ve likely all seen how site speed can spike your bounce rate — you don’t want to go this route. 

When you link videos and multimedia content, viewers have to exit your site to watch the video in a new tab. This leads visitors away from your site and defeats the purpose of using video to increase site duration. 

In a way, embedding MP4 and other video types provides the best of both worlds. *Cue Hannah Montana theme song.* When you embed a video, the video player appears on your website as if it were uploaded, but it won’t slow down your site because it’s hosted elsewhere (like on Vimeo, for example). It’s the perfect way to maintain your site’s bandwidth and storage while keeping your visitors engaged.

👍 How Vimeo does video embedding better

When you host your videos on Vimeo, each video is optimized for the best possible viewing experience based on the user’s internet connection. Vimeo also:

• Offers users more privacy options than other platforms
• Allows users to replace a video with an updated version without changing the URL of the video
• Lets paid users restrict video embeds to their own sites

📹 Types of videos to embed on your website

Having a diverse range of video content embedded across your website and social platforms is a great way to holistically maximize customer engagement. Below are a few examples of the different types of videos you can create with the intent to embed across your company’s web presence.

👋 Company and ‘about us’ videos

It can be helpful to provide meaningful information about your company both front and center on your website and across your social presence. Creating (and embedding) an “about us” video is an easy way to promote and build brand identity and awareness and highlight your organization’s culture. Check out some Vimeo Video Creator templates that make the process easy.

🗣️ Product explainer videos

Sharing product explainer videos — videos that visually walk a consumer through the instructions for and/or specifications of the product — are a vital part of any digital marketing strategy. In fact, 70% of marketing professionals produced product explainer clips in 2022. Succinct and informative product explainer videos can boost viewer trust and allow customers to ingest the details of your product or service effortlessly.

❓ FAQ or how-to videos 

FAQ and how-to videos anticipate questions that consumers might have about your product or service and seek to provide immediate answers and/or instructions. Creating a how-to or FAQ video is a unique way to provide your customers with the resources needed to resolve issues, increase satisfaction, and promote trust in your brand. These videos also help free up your support staff to handle more complex issues.

📑 Testimonials and case studies

Creating a video that highlights customer quotes and experiences about your business can be another great marketing tool to engage consumers. According to a LinkedIn collaborative article, video testimonials and case studies are impactful ways to illustrate brand credibility and build loyalty with customers (and generate leads!). Try this tactic with one of Vimeo’s testimonial templates.

🎆 Event trailer or teaser videos

Have an exciting webinar you want to promote? Speaking at a conference you want your clients or colleagues to know about? Try your hand at creating an event trailer or teaser video to get your shareholders and target audience excited about your event.

How to embed video across your platforms 

Whether you’re working within Vimeo or another platform or social media profile, we’ll teach you how to embed video on your site. Let’s jump in.

▶️ How to embed a Vimeo video

Learning how to embed Vimeo videos is super easy. All you have to do is follow the instructions outlined in the video below, and voila, you’re on your way to embedding your first video.

As a Vimeo basic member, you can customize the player size, text, and play bar colors. You can also choose to hide your portrait, byline, and video title. Paid members get extra customization options in their video settings.

To access them, just go to the “Embed” section of your video settings. Here, you can customize the embedded player and create a preset for convenience. After that, press the “Embed Code” button in the top right corner and then copy/paste to your desired destination.

▶️ How to embed a YouTube video

When learning how to embed videos from YouTube, start by navigating to the video’s YouTube play page, clicking the Share button, then clicking Embed. Next, all you have to do is copy and embed the code. 

When it comes to customizing an embedded YouTube video, you can change the displaying/covering player controls or set your video to start from a certain time code. To customize further, you can add autoplay, color, language, looping, and other parameters within the iframe embed. 

▶️ How to embed a Facebook video

Embedding a Facebook video is super simple. When you see a video you want to embed, all you have to do is click the three dots in the top right corner and select “Embed.” 

You can even include the full social media post by clicking the check box. This allows you to add the video to your site along with its corresponding caption. 

▶️ How to add a video to a Shopify website

The first step to adding a video to your Shopify website is to copy the embed code of your video. You can do this on whatever site the video is coming from (like Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook, etc.). 

Next, log into your Shopify admin dashboard and navigate to the page you want the video to live on. 

Once you’re on the right page, choose the rich text editor and click the video icon in the toolbar. A window should appear with a place to insert the embed code. Once you’ve pasted the code, just click “Insert video,” and you’re done!

How to embed a video in HTML

Use the <iframe> element to embed your video in HTML, the “width” and “height” attributes to set the dimensions for the video player, and the “src” (source) attribute to include the video’s URL.

Typically, your video hosting platform will provide embed codes automatically, so you would just paste that into the area between “<body>” and “</body>”.

How to embed a video in WordPress

As far as embedding videos in WordPress, you have three options: use the embed code, copy and paste the URL, or use a plug-in for a specific video platform. 

⚙️ Option 1: use the embed code

Use the embed code if you want to customize the video display or if your video is hosted on a platform that WordPress’s automatic embed feature doesn’t support. 

To embed the code in your WordPress site, go to the Text editor to edit the HTML of your page. 

Find the spot in your HTML where you want your video to go and leave your cursor there. Next, take your embed code and paste it into that spot. Click “Publish” to save your work. Then check the preview of your page to make sure your video is live and in the right spot on your page. 

📌 Option 2: copy and paste

When using a video hosting platform like Vimeo, you don’t need the full embed code. All you have to do is copy the embedding URL from Vimeo and paste it into your visual editor on WordPress — no coding necessary!

🔌 Option 3: video platform plug-in

WordPress also enables users to download video embedding plug-ins directly onto the platform. Some of the available plug-in options include Vimeo, YouTube, and Dailymotion.

How to add a video to a Wix website 

Learning how to embed videos on a Wix website follows a process similar to that of WordPress. If your video platform is supported by Wix, you can use your video’s URL. Otherwise, you’ll have to use your video’s embed code. 

⚙️ Option 1: use the embed code 

Start by copying your video’s embed code. Next, open the Wix editor and select “More” to find the HTML iframe. Plug your embed code into the iframe, press “Save,” and your video should be live. 

📌 Option 2: copy and paste

For the copy and paste method, open your Wix editor, press the “+” icon, and select “Video.” You’ll then choose your video hosting platform under “Single Video Player.” Next, click “Change Video” and paste your video’s URL. You can customize your playback and control options by adjusting the toggles and adding your description in the “What’s in the video?” field.

Wix makes it easy to change the placement and size of your video — all you have to do is drag and drop. Make sure to press “Save” before exiting the editor.

How to embed a video in Squarespace

Adding a video to Squarespace follows a process pretty similar to the platforms above. You still have the option to add an embed code or a URL. 

Get started by opening the website builder and adding a block that supports video. Next, either copy and paste the URL or click the embed icon to paste your embed code. 

Customization options on Squarespace are limited. But you can edit the title and description of the video and add your own thumbnail by unchecking the “Use Thumbnail” circle. As long as you’re using the embed code option, you can take advantage of the advanced display settings provided by your video host and enable autoplay.

Video sharing is easy with embedding

Embedding video on your site is pretty simple when you understand the steps for the specific platforms you’re using. Taking the time to embed a few videos onto your site will draw customers in and keep them engaged, improving the likelihood that they’ll make a purchase. 

Now that you understand how to embed Vimeo videos to your site (and the basics of embedding videos to other popular publishing platforms), it’s time you start making professional-quality videos yourself!

Make something incredible with Vimeo’s Video Creator