I’m trying to figure out the best way to use my YouTube videos to drive more traffic and improve SEO, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Is it generally better to post direct YouTube links when I share on forums, Pinterest, X, etc.? Or would it be smarter to embed the video on my business website and then share that website link instead?

My main goal is to get more traffic coming back to me and hopefully show up in more search results. I’m not sure if linking straight to my YouTube video on my channel is the best option, or if I’d be better off pushing traffic to my own site where the video is embedded.

Or maybe there’s another strategy I haven’t thought of yet that works even better.

Has anyone here tested this or found one approach that clearly works best for SEO and traffic growth?

How important is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? How important is SEO in digital marketing? What is SEO and why is it important? How does SEO work? What is the main purpose and benefits of SEO? What is the most important thing for SEO?