2007 will be the year of the multimedia blogosphere. If you don't have video, podcasts, photos, screenshots and other visuals on your blog, well then you're soooo 2006. Not to worry. Adding a YouTube video to your blog is as easy as copy and paste. Here's how you do it. But first, why? There's something immediate, authentic and engaging about a video that even a well-written blog post can't emulate.

Companies as various as IBM and Six Apart (makers of Movable Type and TypePad) are creating and posting videos to YouTube. Take a look:

Step One

But let's take this one step at a time. If you haven't created and uploaded your own video to YouTube yet, not to worry. Start by visiting YouTube and typing in keywords related to what you're interested in. One of my current clients, MACPA, found a humorous public service announcement about financial literacy. It's called Feed the Pig. You can also see it embedded on CPA Success, MACPA's new blog.

Step Two

Look for the little window on the YouTube page labeled “Embed.” Here's what it looks like below. Notice that there's also a window with the direct URL for the video. That's *not* what you want. The URL is what you use when you want to direct someone to the specific video on the YouTube page.

youtube_embed_code.jpg
Grab the line of code in the Embed window (do a “select all” and then “copy). It starts with <object width=”425” height= … 

Step Three

Now paste it into your blog in the HTML or code view (i.e. not the WYSIWG view that you normally use when typing a new blog entry). Here's what it will look like on a TypePad blog:

 

youtube_code.jpg

Step Four

Click publish to make your blog entry live on the Web. Below is what you'll see on the public face of your blog. Click the arrow icon and the video plays. It's magic! Read Pete Blackshaw's ClickZ column about this viral video created by Unilever / Dove as part of their Real Beauty campaign.

[youtube]iYhCn0jf46U[/youtube] 

Have fun experimenting and let me know below if you have any more simple tips for creating or posting online video.