<aside> 💡 This part will help you optimize your videos for SEO
</aside>
Table of contents:
Video indexing can help you have your videos appear in Google search results. Videos are another way to be found by users on Google. It’s especially true for informational requests.
Here’s an example of Youtube being one of the main competitors on informational requests.
If you have videos, you can thus use this powerful tool to gain more visibility!
Here are some advices that will help your video indexing:
Upload your videos on Youtube and not only on other platforms such as Vimeo
Create a video sitemap of your website. It will regroup all the videos you have on your website, and once you submit it to the Google Search Console, it will help Google bots discover the videos of your pages.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="<http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9>"
xmlns:video="<http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1>">
<url>
<loc><https://www.example.com/videos/some_video_landing_page.html></loc>
<video:video>
<video:thumbnail_loc><https://www.example.com/thumbs/123.jpg></video:thumbnail_loc>
<video:title>Grilling steaks for summer</video:title>
<video:description>
Alkis shows you how to get perfectly done steaks every time
</video:description>
<video:content_loc>
<http://streamserver.example.com/video123.mp4>
</video:content_loc>
<video:player_loc>
<https://www.example.com/videoplayer.php?video=123>
</video:player_loc>
<video:duration>600</video:duration>
<video:expiration_date>2021-11-05T19:20:30+08:00</video:expiration_date>
<video:rating>4.2</video:rating>
<video:view_count>12345</video:view_count>
<video:publication_date>2007-11-05T19:20:30+08:00</video:publication_date>
<video:family_friendly>yes</video:family_friendly>
<video:restriction relationship="allow">IE GB US CA</video:restriction>
<video:price currency="EUR">1.99</video:price>
<video:requires_subscription>yes</video:requires_subscription>
<video:uploader
info="<https://www.example.com/users/grillymcgrillerson>">GrillyMcGrillerson
</video:uploader>
<video:live>no</video:live>
</video:video>
<video:video>
<video:thumbnail_loc><https://www.example.com/thumbs/345.jpg></video:thumbnail_loc>
<video:title>Grilling steaks for winter</video:title>
<video:description>
In the freezing cold, Roman shows you how to get perfectly done steaks every time.
</video:description>
<video:content_loc>
<http://streamserver.example.com/video345.mp4>
</video:content_loc>
<video:player_loc>
<https://www.example.com/videoplayer.php?video=345>
</video:player_loc>
</video:video>
</url>
</urlset>
Make sure to create a dedicated page for each video you want to be indexed.
The video has to be the main element of the page.
Ideally, the video should also be at the top of the page, to be one of the first elements the bots (and the users) see.
In order to do this, avoid any complicated user interactions to start the video (texte input, click, etc)
Avoid having twice the same video on your website. It might cause issues of cannibalization: the two pages competing with each other in the search results.
Complicated JS code can also prevent video indexing. The video must be accessible as soon as possible, for both users and crawlers. It’s a good practice to have the video load during the First Contentful Paint (FCP).
Urls containing # won’t be accepted
Videos must be easy to find on your video page. Avoid having several videos on the same page, for instance.
Add any useful supporting information. For instance, a video description, the transcript, relevant inks, etc
Include the videos in dedicated HTML tags such as <video>, <embed>, <iframe> or <object>. Most CMS do it automatically.
For more information, don’t hesitate to check Google documentation: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/video?hl=fr#help-google-find
Add a specific schema (metadata) on the video pages of your website: videoObject. Schema types are metadata that’ll help Google understand the content of your pages better.
<html>
<head>
<title>Bald Eagle at the Park - Livestream</title>
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "<https://schema.org>",
"@type": "VideoObject",
"contentURL": "<https://example.com/bald-eagle-at-the-park.mp4>",
"description": "Bald eagle at the park livestream.",
"duration": "PT37M14S",
"embedUrl": "<https://example.com/bald-eagle-at-the-park>",
"expires": "2018-10-30T14:37:14+00:00",
"regionsAllowed": "US",
"interactionStatistic": {
"@type": "InteractionCounter",
"interactionType": { "@type": "WatchAction" },
"userInteractionCount": 4756
},
"name": "Bald eagle nest livestream!",
"thumbnailUrl": "<https://example.com/bald-eagle-at-the-park>",
"uploadDate": "2018-10-27T14:00:00+00:00",
"publication": [
{
"@type": "BroadcastEvent",
"isLiveBroadcast": true,
"startDate": "2018-10-27T14:00:00+00:00",
"endDate": "2018-10-27T14:37:14+00:00"
},
{
"@type": "BroadcastEvent",
"isLiveBroadcast": true,
"startDate": "2018-10-27T18:00:00+00:00",
"endDate": "2018-10-27T18:37:14+00:00"
}
]
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
For more information, go to https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/video?hl=fr#best-practices-youtube
Use the video thumbnail as the OpenGraph image for consistency
<meta property="og:image" content="url fof the thumbnail" />
It’salso important to optimize the SEO of your videos on Youtube, as they’ll be more likely to be found by users, and they can indirectly help your website as well through the use of backlinks. You must see Youtube as the search engine of videos.
Here are some rules to follow to optimize your Youtube videos (and shorts):