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Embedding Media on Your Website
Embedding Media on Your Website

Want to add media to your website (embedding) but don't know where to start? Here's a quick guide to get you off the ground!

Caroline F avatar
Written by Caroline F
Updated over a week ago

Putting media on your website is the best way to get your message across. The act of putting media on your website is called embedding, and in this guide we’ll show you how to get it done right.

Pre-Embedding

Once you’ve uploaded and customized your media, you’re ready to go ahead and embed. Huzzah!

Fun fact: even after you’ve embedded an episode to your website, you can still make changes to it in Customize. Those changes will automatically update your media anywhere it’s embedded. If you want to use different customizations across multiple embeds of the same media, you can make multiple copies of the media or use advanced embed options in your embed codes.

Generate an Embed Code

An embed code is a snippet of code that you can use to add content (like a video!) to a web page.

To generate an embed code for your media, start by clicking “Embed” on your media age. That will open the “Embed Media” modal, where you can choose your embed code type and fine-tune it for your page.

There are two main types of Wistia embed codes: Inline embeds and Popover embeds. Read on to learn more about both!

Inline Embeds

From A Folder

Embedding media from a project

Inline embeds will place the player directly on the page, inline with the rest of your content. Here’s an example “Standard” inline embed:

This is what a standard inline embed code looks like:

<script src="//fast.wistia.com/embed/medias/s3lqfi0zn7.jsonp" async></script> <script src="//fast.wistia.com/assets/external/E-v1.js" async></script> <div class="wistia_embed wistia_async_s3lqfi0zn7" style="height:349px;width:620px">&nbsp;</div>

Feel free to grab that embed code to try it out, or go to your Wistia account and get an inline embed code for you own video or audio episode!

Within the “Embed Media” modal, you can view a preview of your embed, and set it to be responsive, or fixed size. Click “Show Embed Code” to see the code, and when you’re ready to embed, click “Copy Code.”

Tip

Wistia embeds are extremely configurable, and lots of fun to work with (if we may say so ourselves). If you want to get fancy with our JavaScript API 💃, this link is for you.

From A Channel

Channel inline embed

If you’re sharing a Channel, the process is basically the same as for a folder, but you’ll access the embed codes in a slightly different way. First you’ll want to navigate to the Channel preview page by clicking the Edit/Preview Channel button.

Channel Preview Button

Once you’re on the Channel preview page, click on over to the Share tab on the left hand side of the page. You’ll see several options which are preset to generate an inline embed code!

Fallback (iframe) Embed

In A Folder

If you need to use an iframe to embed your episode, look no further than our fallback option:

Fallback embed code

An iframe is an HTML component that acts like a window into another webpage and will allow you to embed your Wistia media onto your site. Although we highly recommend going with our Standard Inline Embed code, the iframe is a reliable option if you can’t include JavaScript on your website.

Think of it like a Subaru Impreza: simple, reliable, and if you ask us, a pretty nice way to get from point A to point B.

To get use an iframe embed code, click “Advanced Settings” within the embed modal, scroll down, and select the “Fallback” option.

Here’s an example of a fallback inline embed code:

<iframe src="https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/76s5twgvtw?seo=true&videoFoam=false" title="Lenny's Halloween Costume Video" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" class="wistia_embed" name="wistia_embed" msallowfullscreen width="620" height="349"></iframe>
<script src="https://fast.wistia.net/assets/external/E-v1.js" async></script>

Note

iFrames do not have the same SEO benefits as our Standard Inline embed. If you use an iframe, you may need to add our player script to your page to connect some integrations.

In A Channel

At this time we do not have iframe embed codes available for Channels!

Popover Embeds

In A Folder

popover embed

Popover embed codes make your medias pop over the rest of your content instead of playing inline.

Within the embed modal, click into the “Popover” tab. From here, you can choose how you’d like to display your popover. You can launch a popover media with either a text link or thumbnail image. When clicked, that link will open a lightbox with your media inside.

Here’s a popover embed code:

<script src="//fast.wistia.com/embed/medias/hfhtu17gah.jsonp" async></script> <script src="//fast.wistia.com/assets/external/E-v1.js" async></script> <span class="wistia_embed wistia_async_hfhtu17gah popover=true popoverAnimateThumbnail=true" style="display:inline-block;height:169px;width:300px">&nbsp;</span>

Copy and paste that into your website to give it a try! Be sure to read the section on Responsive Design with Popover Embeds as well.

Tip

If you would like to modify the behavior of your popover embed beyond what the options in the Embed & Share screen provide, check out the Popover Customization page.

In A Channel

Creating a Popover is as quick as breaking a few eggs and mixing in some flour and milk! Make sure to preheat the oven to 400 degrees and, wait, wrong kind of Popover.

Okay, now that I’ve had a snack, navigate to the share menu in your Channel preview page. Find the Embed Type option (second option down) and select Popover from the options listed. Once you’ve made that selection, the embed code at the bottom of the menu will update to reflect that selection!

Popover Embed Code

Embedding Responsively

Responsive media looks great on all screen sizes. Responsiveness works a bit differently for inline embeds and popover embeds, so let’s dig into both separately here 👇.

Responsive Design with Inline Embeds

Inline embed codes are responsive by default, meaning that your media will automatically resize itself to the width of its container. Hooray!

With a responsive embed, you will never need to manually adjust the dimensions of your embed code. If the player isn’t quite the right size, try adjusting the width of its parent container on your webpage first. If you get stuck, just reach out to our Customer Happiness team!

If you need to set the player to specific dimensions though and don’t want it to be responsive at all, just switch to the Fixed Size option and choose a width or height. The dimension you don’t adjust will automatically change to maintain the aspect ratio of your media.

Fixed size embed code

Here’s an example of a responsive embed to play with:

<script src="//fast.wistia.com/embed/medias/s3lqfi0zn7.jsonp" async></script> <script src="//fast.wistia.com/assets/external/E-v1.js" async></script> <div class="wistia_responsive_padding" style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"> <div class="wistia_responsive_wrapper" style="height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;top:0;width:100%;"> <div class="wistia_embed wistia_async_s3lqfi0zn7 seo=false videoFoam=true" style="height:100%;width:100%">&nbsp;</div></div></div>

Responsive Design with Popover Embeds

With popover embeds, there are two separate things to consider:

  1. The responsiveness of the thumbnail image (unless you’re using a text link).

  2. The responsiveness of the media itself, when it’s “popped over” the page.

The thumbnail of a popover embed is not responsive by default. But if you want it responsive, that’s as easy as clicking the “Responsive” checkbox:

popover display link as thumbnail

That’s all it takes to make the thumbnail responsive. Wahoo!

The media component of a popover embed is responsive by default. Since the media “pops” over the rest of the page, it doesn’t have to worry about bumping into anything else. It will automatically fill up most of the page, leaving some comfortable space between the media and the edges of the browser window.

Note

Looking for the responsive or fixed option on a Channel embed? It will be the 3rd option down just before the code box in the share tab! The default setting is set as responsive.

Media SEO

Media SEO is a set of tools and processes to help search engines identify and index your media. Wistia’s Standard embed codes are automatically SEO-friendly, and they’ll help people find your media on your website.

Check out the Video SEO help page for more detail 🔍 and tips on getting Video SEO done right.

Email Campaign Link

embed email campaign link

Email is a great way to share your media and re-engage with your growing audience.

Share Link and Social Sharing

In A Folder

Share link to media

If you are sharing a media from a folder, you can copy the direct link to your Wistia media and share it with the world. Viewers who are given this link will only have access to this single media and not the rest of your folder.

Would you also like to share your medias on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter? You’re in luck! In this section you can share directly to those platforms.

In A Channel

If you are sharing your Channel, you can copy the direct link to your Wistia Channel and share it widely. Viewers who are given this link will be able to view your entire Channel.

To generate a link, navigate to the Channel preview window. Open the Share menu and select the Public URL option. This will generate a URL similar to the one in the below screenshot. You will not be able to customize the URL.

Channel Share Link

Sharing an individual episode

Let’s say you want to direct someone to your newest podcast or Channel episode. Instead of sending them the Channel and having them look for the specific media, you can send someone a link to just that episode!

Head to your Channel overview page and select the media you wish to share. From there, click on the share option in the left hand menu.

Once you’ve opened that menu, you’ll see the different options available to you such as linking to the episode within a Channel (which will open up the Channel on the specified episode), or linking to a specific time in the episode (this can be helpful to direct someone to a relevant section in the episode).

Channel episode share link

You can share directly to Facebook or Twitter using the handy buttons at the bottom of that page!

Publish to Social

publish to social

Want to share and have your medias play inline on YouTube and LinkedIn? Check out our Publish to Social page to learn how to get these integrations set up and collect those sweet, sweet social stats!

Protecting Your Embeds

Want to make sure your media can only be played on your website (and of course, within your Wistia account)? Check out Domain Restrictions for that. For more information on keeping your media secure, see the Security guide.

Embedded Video Stats

Now that your media is embedded on your webpage, you can use Wistia’s analytics to see how your viewers are interacting with the content. Read up on Wistia’s analytics functionality.

Troubleshooting Embed Issues

Embedding can be tough! If you’re stuck, check out the Embed Troubleshooting documentation.

If something seems fishy on Wistia’s side of things, you can always check out our Status Page for more information about what might be going on. Still no luck? Contact us. We’d be more than happy to help you out!

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