If a YouTube video shows up in your email but is blank on the template's landing page, or the video won't load in the HTML Builder at all, the link is usually in a format other than YouTube's standard link. Replacing it with the standard link format fixes the issue.
Why Is My YouTube Video Not Showing on My Landing Page?
Emails and landing pages display YouTube videos differently. In an email, the video appears as a thumbnail image that links to YouTube. On the landing page, the video plays directly on the page, which requires YouTube to recognize the video from the link.
When the link uses a nonstandard format, the email can still look correct while the landing page shows an empty space where the video should be. Refreshing the page or clearing your cache will not fix it. The link itself needs to be updated.
Which YouTube Link Formats Cause This?
The standard YouTube link format looks like this:
Other formats may not work in the HTML Builder or on landing pages, including:
Live links - contain /live/ and are common for videos originally broadcast as a livestream through tools like Streamyard (youtube.com/live/VIDEOID)
Share links - created with the Share button on YouTube (youtu.be/VIDEOID?si=...)
Shorts links - used for YouTube Shorts (youtube.com/shorts/VIDEOID)
Links with extra parameters - such as a timestamp (&t=) or playlist (&list=) added to the end
How to Convert a YouTube Link to the Standard Format
Every YouTube link contains a video ID, an 11-character code that identifies your video. In the examples above, it is the part shown as VIDEOID. Do not include anything that comes after the ID, such as ?si=, &t=, or &list=.
Copy the video ID from your link.
Paste the video ID after https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= to build the standard link.
Open the template in the HTML Builder.
Select the video block.
Replace the existing link with the standard link.
Click Save.
Reload the template's landing page to confirm the video appears.
AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude can also convert the link for you with a prompt like "Convert this URL into a standard YouTube link: [your link here]".
How to Avoid This When Adding YouTube Videos
Open the video on youtube.com and copy the link from your browser's address bar instead of using the Share button. For standard videos, this gives you a link in the correct format that works in both the email and the landing page. For livestreams and Shorts, the address bar link may still use the /live/ or /shorts/ format, so convert it using the steps above before adding it to your template.