Video is a powerful marketing tool for small businesses. Research shows that '54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support.'
This increase in consumer demand is an opportunity for your organization. By featuring videos on your business website, your team can display the latest products, highlight satisfied customers, and even showcase your brand culture. All of these marketing efforts are possible with YouTube.
Get the scoop on how to embed videos on your WordPress website with a YouTube plugin. Check out these seven plugins below.
1. Video Gallery
Video shines a spotlight on your brand and engages your visitors. With the Video Gallery plugin, you can build a top-notch repository of videos on your site. This tool comes equipped with a user-friendly editor, sleek lightbox, and 16 video gallery themes.
It’s important to tell an interesting story with your video galleries. Jacinda Santora, a writer specializing in eCommerce and growth marketing, agrees:
'For starters, your story has to be compelling. Most people want to feel something. If you’re just taking the same content that you already have in other places on your website and adding some video clips you’re probably not going to be getting the results you want.'
Video Gallery also gives you full creative control of your visual presentation. You can set the gallery name, add special effects, and insert custom links.
2. Embed Plus for YouTube
Say goodbye to the complexity of YouTube embedding. Embed Plus for YouTube gives you both basic and advanced features to organize videos on your website.
With this YouTube plugin for WordPress, you can format playlists and channel embeds in a gallery layout. The default setting generates a grid-based, responsive gallery for your visitors to browse through pages of video thumbnails. You also can enable auto continuous play, so visitors can play the next video without clicking a thumbnail.
The YouTube LiveStream is the standout feature of this WordPress plugin. The plugin’s wizard automatically finds an active livestream in your desired channel and displays it on your website. If none is available, you can enable settings to automatically display other videos for your visitors to watch.
3. WP Video Popup
WP Video Popup is an effective tool for adding a responsive YouTube video lightbox popup to any page or post on your website. Because embedding videos can slow down your website, this plugin only loads videos by clicking on the trigger element.
Also, don’t worry about coding anything. WP Video Popup lets you copy and paste WordPress shortcodes to embed the videos to your sites. You can then focus more on creating a worthwhile video message.
'Nail the messaging in both your videos and your video marketing strategy. Consistency is key. You cannot afford to create a video with one message and contradict that message in another video. Consistent messaging also ensures that your videos align with your brand voice,' writes Allen Martinez, founder of Noble Digital.
4. YouTube Gallery
Designed for simplicity, YouTube Gallery helps you display YouTube videos in a gallery or grid format on your website. Each YouTube video has its own page for your visitors to leave comments.
This WordPress YouTube plugin offers thumbnail quality options for your videos. For example, you can use an image 4:3 ratio rather than the default 16:9. However, it’s recommended that you use the same ratio for all your videos.
You can select between two gallery pages for your website. YouTube Video Gallery displays video thumbnail navigation at the bottom of the page, and the videos are paged after every 8th video. YouTube Video Grid Gallery displays high-resolution video thumbnails in a four-column responsive layout, and the videos are paged after every 16th video.
5. YourChannel
Does your business create or curate multiple YouTube videos? If so, you can transform that video content into an engagement platform on your site. YourChannel is a plugin for building your own video channel without having visitors leave your website. Plus, you don’t need more site storage or bandwidth.
'Uploading and optimizing social video to YouTube allows you to seamlessly embed videos across your website while also creating content that is discoverable on Google and other search engines,' says Brian Peters, former head of strategic partnerships at Buffer.
With YourChannel, you can display a banner image, profile picture, total videos, and entire playlists. Your video channel is built using a visual builder with live preview capabilities. Just add your YouTube username or channel ID to the plugin’s settings to get started.
6. YouTube Widget Responsive
The sidebar of your website is a prime location to highlight your most recent videos. YouTube Widget Responsive helps you embed videos on your sidebar to give your content more exposure.
With a couple of clicks, you can insert your videos into your sidebars or footers. Your custom YouTube widget allows you to control bar theme and progress bar color settings and add custom descriptions to pique the interest of your visitors. You can even enable video tracking to gain key insights about the placement of your videos.
It’s important to note that pulling data from any third-party website can impact the performance of your website. If you’re concerned about your WordPress site speed, run a PageSpeed Insight test before and after adding your videos.
7. YouTube Embed
YouTube Embed is a one-of-a-kind plugin for adding videos to your WordPress website. With this plugin, you can build your own playlists, automatically generate playlists based on usernames, and create multiple profiles. You can include a thumbnail of a video, too.
These benefits all lead to a better experience for your visitors.
YouTube Embed also comes with the option to add videos to your website’s sidebar using the widget tool. You can customize the appearance and add different videos to different sidebars.
Engage Your Site Visitors With YouTube Videos
Video marketing is your chance to connect with your visitors. With YouTube plugins, you can show videos directly on your WordPress website. So, take advantage of these tools to market your brand.
Shayla Price creates and promotes content. She lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology, and social responsibility. Originally from Louisiana, Shayla champions access to remote work opportunities. Connect with her on Twitter at @shaylaprice.