3 Steps to Add Videos to Your Food Blog
Videos have taken over the world of social media! Does this mean we should be adding videos to our recipe blog posts as well? That decision is up to you 😉 however, if you want to test it out, I’m sharing my simple 3-step process for adding video to your recipe card and blog post’s body below!
Step 1) Upload the Video
The first step is to upload the video. However, I don’t recommend uploading it to WordPress (WP). Adding videos directly to your WP media library will use up quite a bit of storage space, causing you to reach your host’s limit quicker and it could even slow down your site!
Instead, upload your recipe videos to an external platform like YouTube or Vimeo (make sure it’s listed as public). Adding them to YouTube is great because it can help grow your audience there – win, win!
Or, if you’re a Mediavine or Raptive publisher, you can add them to your publisher dashboard (shown below). This will allow you to earn ad revenue when readers watch them on your blog.
Step 2) Add to the Recipe Card
Go into the recipe card settings for the post you want to add the video to. You should see a spot where you can add a video URL or embed code. If your recipe card plugin doesn’t have this feature, I’d recommend switching to a better plugin (I use WordPress Recipe Maker).
Paste your YouTube or Vimeo’s URL into the Video settings. Or, if you’re hosting the video on Mediavine or Raptive, copy and paste the provided embed code.
Helpful Documentation:
Step 3) Add to the Post Body
Note: You can totally skip this step if you want the video to only be in the recipe card.
If you’re using WPRM, you can place the video wherever you want in the post body (in addition to the recipe card)!
All you have to do is add a Shortcode block where you want the video to go.
Then type [wprm-recipe-video] into the Shortcode and publish your changes.
Quick Tip
Turn the Shortcode block with the WPRM video shortcode into a synced pattern to easily place it into any blog post. This will also give you the ability to edit the block across all posts at the same time.
Now readers will see your video where the shortcode is and in the recipe card!
If you have a Jump To Video button at the top of your post, it will jump to the video within the blog post rather than the one in the recipe card.
Want to see how it looks? Check out my sourdough discard pancakes recipe post!
Frequently Asked Questions
Either should be fine! Most of my readers are on mobile and I don’t currently create horizontal videos, so I use my vertical videos.
Test out different styles and lengths and see what your audience likes best!
You can, but I do not recommend this. Adding videos to your media library will take up a lot of unnecessary space. It’s best to host them externally (like on YouTube) and embed them in WordPress.
Not necessarily. If they’re helpful or entertaining to your audience, I’d recommend adding them. For example, a simple drink recipe may not require a video, but one might be really useful for a croissant recipe. You could try it out and see how your audience interacts with them!
