What Does Embed Mean? Top Pros And Cons

So, you are here to know what does embed means?

Haven’t you seen YouTube videos appearing in between the content of articles and press releases?

Do you have any idea why YouTube videos come in between the content of most websites? It obviously is intentionally done. And definitely, it is done for a cause.

Don’t you think you should embed YouTube videos onto your website as well? If yes, it would be better to know more about embedding before you make a decision.

You might now have a lot more queries about embedding. So here we are, solving all your questions related to embedding. This article will definitely be a savior to you for deciding whether to embed YouTube videos on your website or not.

What Really Does Embed or Embedding Mean?

Not only YouTube videos, but you might also have seen Twitter cards and other social media posts appearing in the content part of web pages. Such integration of images, social media posts, and YouTube videos in your website is commonly called embedding.

The primary purpose of embedding is to add a visual element to the content and give a better experience to the audience or readers. For example, sometimes, you would refer to a YouTube video or Twitter post in an article and ask your readers to watch or read the same. Instead, you can embed that video onto your article and let them enjoy the same without the need for directing to another web page.

So, what primarily does embed do to your website? Does embed mean driving more traffic? Are there any downsides to embedding?

These are some of the essential things you should know to understand what really does embed means and what it does to your website? We will discuss these topics in the upcoming sessions of this article.

How To Embed YouTube Videos On Your Website?

Are you wondering how to embed YouTube videos on your website? If yes, here is a simple step-wise guide for you.

Step One: Open the YouTube video you have to embed on your website.

Step Two: Click on the ‘Share’ button.

Step Three: Select the option ‘Embed’ from the share list that appears on the screen.

Step Four: You will see an HTML code appearing on the screen in a small window. Select the option ‘Copy.’

Step Five: Paste the HTML on your website.

And yes, it is done!

The Pros Of Embedding YouTube Videos

So, what does embed do to your website? You all know what embed means, and now we have to figure out the pros of embedding a YouTube video onto a website.

So, here is what positive things embedding does to your website.

• Easy management

Although the word embed means and sounds like a complex task, it isn’t actually. You can easily embed YouTube videos onto your website. Most website owners use YouTube videos for providing tutorials because of the simple procedure.

Just upload tutorial videos on YouTube and embed them on your websites. It is simple as that. Most website owners now prefer to embed YouTube videos rather than any other means due to the ease of uploading and managing attributes of embedding. Embedding YouTube videos is a highly straightforward method. Therefore, embedding is used commonly by both beginners and experienced website owners.

• Free hosting

Do all video platforms provide free hosting? Obviously, not. One of the obvious reasons most website owners embed YouTube videos on their website is its free hosting services. To embed YouTube videos means increasing engagement and traffic without any investment. Doesn’t that make a great deal?

Therefore, embedding YouTube videos onto your website will help you cut down the cost of maintaining your website. In addition, the free hosting services of YouTube make it perfect for small business website owners.

• Generates more traffic

To embed YouTube videos on your website means generating more traffic. Although there are mixed opinions about it many believe that it helps in generating traffic. With videos consisting of website mentions or website URLs in the description part of YouTube, you probably know how much traffic a YouTube video can bring to your company website.

In order to know in-depth about SEO with Google – The Ultimate Guide To Rank High, you should be definitely reading this.

The Cons Of Embedding YouTube videos

Although embedding YouTube videos impart many benefits to your website, embeds also possess lesser-known disadvantages. However, you should essentially know the downsides of embedding before you decide on whether to add embeds to your website or not.

So, here are some of the lesser know downsides or consequences of embedding YouTube videos on your website.

• Pulls away traffic from your website

Embedding YouTube videos on your website obviously helps in generating more traffic. However, what if embedding YouTube videos can also pull away from traffic from your website?

You will be like, what does that mean? Actually, yes, you heard it right. Embeds are also capable of pulling away from traffic from your website, especially YouTube. Are you wondering how it is even possible?

Most social platforms, including YouTube, are strong in displaying related videos and grabbing the audience’s attention. In this way, the embedded videos can diverge the audience from your website to theirs. And this is the last thing any website owner will be scared of.

• Lacks professionalism

When you embed a YouTube video on your website, that might deteriorate your brand name. Don’t you think so? Yes, actually.

By embedding a YouTube video on your website, you are actually indirectly promoting the brand ‘YouTube.’ It is because YouTube videos contain the brand’s watermark and the ‘Watch on YouTube’ button.

Your brand should sound like the king of your website. Therefore, it is better not to promote other brand names, even YouTube, on your website. Because it might turn the audience’s interest in your brand to the brand of embeds, it obviously does mean a threat to your brand. That may, in turn, show the lack of professionalism of your brand.

• Low Ad revenue ceiling

When you embed a YouTube video on your website, YouTube’s ad revenue is increased. What about yours? Does YouTube or any other embed give you a share of the revenue from ads run on your website? Definitely not.

YouTube doesn’t even allow you to run your ad network on your website. So doesn’t that mean a loss to your website?

Yes actually. That makes the traditional method of going for paid hosting better as it allows your own ad network insertion. Running your own ad network on your website definitely helps you increase the revenue from ads on your website. So, it is okay to spend a bit to earn more. Doesn’t that sound good?

• Lacks customer support

Don’t ever expect to get support from the side of YouTube if you ever encounter a problem with any of the embedded videos. It is yet a mystery whether YouTube officially has a customer support team. All complaints and inquiries are left unanswered, and their customer support team is known to be notorious. So, when you embed a YouTube video on your website, you will not have a professional helping hand to solve any issues that in case occur.

• Arbitrary rules

The copyright rules and privacy guidelines of YouTube are arbitrary. Therefore, the YouTube videos embedded on your website are always at higher risk of removal, both from your website and YouTube. In addition, the arbitrary nature of YouTube’s privacy features can remove the video on your website anytime without any prior notice.

Conclusion

Now you better know what does embed means.

Embedding YouTube videos on your website is a pretty easy task. However, embedding YouTube videos comes with far more disadvantages than the advantages they possess. So, better research how embedding will affect your website before you choose to add embeds on your website.

If you want to learn beyond embedding then hop on to this episode.