Video SEO, should I do what Roger does?
-
As per http://www.seomoz.org/blog/hosting-and-embedding-for-video-seo I want to rank with a rich snippet and improve my domain's overall ranking. So I am going to ignore YouTube and use Vimeo Pro (using old embed code). I will also submit a video XML sitemap and implement schema markup.
Gotcha. Now let's check this strategy with what SEOmoz is doing.
Let's take 5 Steps to Facebook Advertising - Whiteboard Friday it was uploaded onto the SEOmoz blog on 29 March 2013. Then on 4 April 2013 it was uploaded onto YouTube. As at 7 April 2013 (PST) I am not seeing the latest SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday Evolution of the Local Algorithm - Whiteboard Friday posted on YouTube. SEOmoz blog has a person written transcription, YouTube has an automatic transcript. There is a link to the SEOmoz comments below the YouTube Video.
Cricky! They've gone all YouTube. Stop the boat.
Or should I?
My assumption is that SEOmoz is big enough so that it is willing to risk losing a few links to their YouTube webpages. Indeed they delay posting the video on YouTube for a week after it has been posted on the SEOmoz blog. What's more it ensures that there is a very good transcript on their blog. Top that off with comments (and I assume video sitemap and schema) and it is happy it will gain more from the traffic generated from the YouTube community than the potential loss of links to its domain, forgoing potential domain authority increases and resulting traffic.
So Roger, I'm a little boat not a SEOmoz battleship cruiser, should I do what you do and wait for a week before I put my videos on YouTube? Or avoid the dangerous currents of YouTube stealing my domain authority and ignore YouTube all together?
-
Thanks Steven
-
Thanks Phil.
-
I am so glad Phil jumped in here. He's brilliant....and absolutely right of course. I think he's really got it the right way around with determining what you hope to achieve and what kind of content you want to produce and let that determine where you publish your vids. I happily defer to his recommendations and suggest you follow them.
-
The answer is, rather unhelpfully at first glance, "it depends".
It depends on your overall objective for the content - what is the goal you are trying to achieve?
It depends on your audience location - are they organic searchers, social media sharers, youtube searchers, etc?
If your primary objective is to get people to your site (link building) and you're using the lure of video to incentivise this, then Phil's "don't do both" comment is spot on. If on the other hand you want as many people to watch the video as possible and make it accessible through as many channels (because you have a diverse audience base and you're not link building) then I think you can do both.
I would say that Phil has more experience at Video SEO than me so his comments certainly count double on mine for this topic!
-
What i mean by "your content won't be suitable for both competitive keyword ranking and building links" is that the kind of video you'll want to create and embed on an important keyword landing page is probably not the kind of content that people are actually going to link to. It's extremely rare to find a video that will serve that landing page well (likely by being fairly commercial in nature) and a video that lots of people will want to link to (by being useful, informational or entertaining). That's not to say it's not possible, but I have never ever seen it executed successfully.
If your goal is basically just getting these rankings so you can drive traffic that may then link to you - then yes, I would recommend using Vimeo Pro or similar (if you're using vimeo pro, Disable the community pass). If no-one is searching for those general topics on YouTube - it's probably not going to be worthwhile putting your content on there. You can test it, of course - but make sure that the metrics you're tracking are traffic from YouTube and engagement on the platform. It's easy to get swayed into thinking YouTube is useful because of high view counts - but views are essentially just "hits" and there's no way of knowing whether those views could have been driven to the version on your site instead.
When you embed the content, you'll also need to provide a custom embed code for others that includes a textlink back to your site - as the standard vimeo embed code will only link back to vimeo.com
-
Very insightful thanks Phil, though I'm not sure I follow, "your content won't be suitable for both competitive keyword ranking and building link". I'll do some more reading on this point.
It made me review what my objective is with video which is to build links (which I thought was to to boost keyword rankings, domain authority and increase traffic). So I'll allow embeds 'links' and host with Vimeo Pro.
I did use the YouTube keyword tool but there is "Not Enough Data" for any of my important keywords. So I looked at SERPs by using my SEOmoz keyword 'Rankings' report. I have 38 very important keywords, 7 of which show video results in the Top 50, 2 showing results in 10th/11 place. (Ironically I have one of those 2 results but it points to my Vimeo Pro page not my website reinforcing my desire to get video SEO right!). 6 of these are for YouTube. Only 16% are YouTube, so I take it that means YouTube is not for me.
Goodbye YouTube.
-
What I am right about, is that you need to consider your content type into the equation here and let that influence the technical implementation.
I didn't say "don't put the content on YouTube", but I don't believe anyone can offer you the correct advice until they've had a look at your content in detail, alongside your site and worked out what the best implementation can be. There is no one answer to the "where do I host my video" question - and anyone who offers one without taking the specific content type into consideration hasn't thought it through (That's not to criticise any of the other answers here - but I think they're all too quick to offer you a solution without the proper process of discovery.)
Reread this post http://www.seomoz.org/blog/building-a-video-seo-strategy
You're currently at the position of the first graphic, where you're letting your goal define the technical implementation - but are completely ignoring the content type within that equation.
You originally said that you want to rank with a rich snippet - but now you say the goal is building links. I can almost guarantee your content won't be suitable for both competitive keyword ranking and building links - so which one is more critical and what sort of content have you created? Is the content suitable for building links? And if so - is it suitable also for the YouTube community? Is anyone on YouTube searching for relevant keywords?
For purely building links, you can go through the path of uploading to YouTube after self hosting that dana mentioned (which i detail in this post http://www.reelseo.com/video-link-bait/) but bear in mind when you do this that you will allow some links to point to YouTube that you otherwise may have been able to get back to your site. It may also mean YouTube outranks you for the video for a time, until you reclaim the links and take it down
The technical implementation will always be a compromise and I suggest that you'll be best off nailing down what it is you really care about and what the content's suitable for, rather than hoping for everything with one series of content.
Does that make sense?
-
Thanks Steven, very helpful.
What do you think of Phil's comment,
"Don't do both - as you'll cannibalise your overall success on YouTube - while potentially driving traffic there. Either be really good on YouTube or don't bother and then self host."
Currently the question remains answered as to whether I should do both.
-
Thanks for your answer Phil (hat tip to you being a video seo subject matter expert).
My objective is to build links (to boost keyword rankings, domain authority and increase traffic). I've read your blog posts in detail, gone to DistilledU video seo posts, sat on the sofa and mulled it over ... and I think that hosted through Wistia or Vimeo Pro, allow embeds and shares is the right video approach.
It's kinda 3 (Dana, Steven below and Roger) against 1 (yourself) when it comes to whether it should go up on YouTube at some stage in the future. I'm willing to believe you're right but ... are you sure you're right about not uploading to YouTube in the future?
-
It definitely does have a volume control!
-
And I HATE the fact that Wistia doesn't have a volume control! Thats why they shouldn't use it
-
Hi Bruce,
Just to add some detail into the mix here; for video hosting and embedding, SEOmoz uses Wistia (who you can a discount with your PRO package) which has some great SEO features and a very reliable (and cheap IMHO) transcription service.
I like this approach because, as Dana has pointed out, the content is excellent and the only way to get it is to come to the site - this encourages links, social shares etc.
The advantage to using YouTube however is that, in itself, YT is a gigantic search engine and therefore SEO opportunities are significant.
We host our video content using Wistia and embed on our site as well as posting to YT, but all of our inbound activity directs would-be viewers to the embedded pages.
Ultimately, depending on the content of the video, you have to consider where your audience is and what your objectives are in sharing it with the internet.
Good luck!
-
Actually, IMHO, no you absolutely shouldn't do that.
I think Roger (sorry Roger) is doing it all wrong. SEOmoz whiteboard friday should always be on YouTube - rather than using Wistia. SEOmoz don't really have anything to lose by people watching the videos on YouTube rather than SEOmoz.org (so don't really need their own domain to be the one that ranks) - yet separating their traffic means their YouTube viewing figures are really really low compared with the views driven on SEOmoz and as such their YouTube optimisation is pretty poor. Embedding the YouTube versions of the video for this informaional content would help moz to dominate YouTube and likely wouldn't have an adverse effect in terms of traffic or conversions elsewhere - since the community is so strong.
Does that mean you should just use YouTube? No - of course not. Ultimately, it depends on your goals and more importantly, what kind of content you have.
If you have "conversion/sales" focused content - essentially product videos - then they should be self hosted and embedded on the product landing pages. If you have more informational, bloggy kinda content - then you should put this on YouTube and embed the YouTube versions on your site. Don't do both - as you'll cannibalise your overall success on YouTube - while potentially driving traffic there. Either be really good on YouTube or don't bother and then self host.
Ask yourself why do you want to rank with a rich snippet - and then determine which solution is appropriate for you. If it matters that you retain the traffic and get all the links - then your content likely isn't appropriate for YouTube anyway. Conversely, if where the audience views the video wont really matter (does it make sense isolated from your website) and the video is fulfilling a genuine informational query (look at the YouTube keyword tool to see if anyone is searching for relevant keywords) - then go with YouTube.
-
I think that's wise Bruce!
-
Thanks for your answer Dana, and I didn't take it that way at all. Actually I evernoted your own blog post on this an hour ago.
May be I'll wait 6 months and then post all of them up at that time that way I'm totally "in the clear".
I'll wait to see if Roger answers (though I understand he's too busy with crawling) before giving you 'Good Answer'.
-
I just wanted to add that my comment may have sounded rude and I apologize for that. It wasn't meant to be. I am just trying to make you understand that for an established site like SEOmoz, the standard and timing is going to be way different than it might be for the rest of us.
-
The answer IMHO is ...Yes....and Yes...but wait 4-8 weeks before posting on YouTube (if you really feel like you have to) instead of 1 week. Why? Because SEOMoz is fascinating content to Google, and they are going to get indexed very often.... You my friend are not. Establish your video via Vimeo, give it 4-6 weeks before posting on YouTUbe....if you must
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Video Schema needs a 2nd opinion
I added a video on one of my client pages via html5, added the video schema to the URL, and submitted a video sitemap and the video still isn't showing up a week later in the SERPs. The keyword I'm typing in is a keyword that DOES trigger video results, so I'm wondering if I screwed something up and would like a second opinion. Search Query that should trigger the video: https://www.google.com/search?q=clinton+township+silverado+1500&oq=clinton+township+silverado+1500&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.3798j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8 Actual page URL: (html5 video at bottom) http://www.moranchevrolet.com/models/chevrolet-silverado1500 Video Sitemap URL: http://www.moranchevrolet.com/video_sitemap.xml I've added videos in the past via the Wistia automatic schema/sitemap generators and it worked, but via the html5 setup its a little different (like no embed). However, the video appears to check out just fine via the Google schema validator tool. Please let me know if you see anything that doesn't look right. Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | Cobalt0 -
Link building to Google+ profile: any local SEO value?
Has anyone found value in building links to Google+ profile for local seo rankings? My gut tells me that it will, but I am not 100% sure. If it does, then does that mean that all the traditional SEO factors that would go into ranking a site organically also work for ranking locally for certain keywords? So far, I have found that the best thing for moving up rankings is reviews on Google+, but then does that make local SEO (from a high view point) just a race for high reviews and building the most citation? I am feeling like the differentiator for local SEO is UN-structured citations and links to Google+ profiles. Any thoughts? See you at MozCon!
Image & Video Optimization | | tonyflorespsa0 -
Vimeo Pro, video SEO and rich snippets
Hi All, we are producing product demonstration videos. One major aim with these videos is to help our rankings for these specific product pages and associated keywords... and to get rich snippets displayed on Google results pages against our listing. We have used schema.org markup in the product pages body code along with / next to the embed vimeo video code on the product page in order to hopefully get us rich snippet listing... we used schema.org markup as this seems to be the main current markup for rich snippets we have hosted the video via Vimeo Pro so that it is served quickly and not affected by speed of our hosting server or any possible bandwidth issues on our hosting server and ensure sthat the traffic comes to our site pages rather then Youtube or similar Vimeo Privacy settings for the video have been set so that we have not allowed it to be embed anywhere except for our own domain and the video is not displayed on Vimeo.com to ensure that the video is not duplicated anywhere else... so that this is unique content on our own site for maximum value for our domain We have used the "old code" from Vimeo Pro for embedding the video on our product page rather than the current iframe code as from what i understand Google cant follow very well and doesn't necessarily trust content displayed in iframes. Video and schema.org markup code used is on product page is: <div itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">video</a>" itemscope itemtype="<a class="attribute-value">http://schema.org/VideoObject</a>"> <p ><strong>Watch our <span itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">name</a>">Click 7 Lite Duo demonstrationspan>:strong>p> <meta itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">thumbnailURL</a>" content="<a class="attribute-value">http://www.3wisemonkeys.co.uk/img/products/nextbase-click-7-lite-duo-thumb.jpg</a>" /> <meta itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">duration</a>" content="<a class="attribute-value">T2M23S</a>" /> <span itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">description</a>">A product demonstration showing what's included in the box when you buy a Click 7 Lite Duospan>...:<br /> <p align="<a class="attribute-value">center</a>"> p> <p align="<a class="attribute-value">center</a>"><object width="<a class="attribute-value">500</a>" height="<a class="attribute-value">281</a>"><param name="<a class="attribute-value">allowfullscreen</a>" value="<a class="attribute-value">true</a>" /><param name="<a class="attribute-value">allowscriptaccess</a>" value="<a class="attribute-value">always</a>" /><param name="<a class="attribute-value">movie</a>" value="<a class="attribute-value">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=67392721&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0</a>" /><embed src="[http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=67392721&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0](view-source:http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=67392721&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0)" type="<a class="attribute-value">application/x-shockwave-flash</a>" allowfullscreen="<a class="attribute-value">true</a>" allowscriptaccess="<a class="attribute-value">always</a>" width="<a class="attribute-value">500</a>" height="<a class="attribute-value">281</a>">embed>object> p> div> Page this code is used on: http://www.3wisemonkeys.co.uk/proddet.jsp?id=2016&cat=1 Could anyone confirm whether the above seems to be what we need to do / should be doing to get the most value from these videos for helping our web site rank better with Google / search engine results pages as well as getting rich snippets displayed? Lastly does the above code seem correct and include all the necessaries for rich snippets? Thanks for any pointers.
Image & Video Optimization | | jasef0 -
Easy Local SEO NAP Question
Hello, Does differently listed phone numbers matter? For example, 208-998-9988 vs (208) 998-9988 vs 208.998.9988
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Video SiteMap Updating
Hi all! We noticed some issues with our sitemap and so we went through and optimized it to re-submit it. At the same time, it seemed prudent to optimize our video sitemap, however we probably should have thought through that more as we are seeing the numbers of indexed videos going down. Why and what we changed: We recently moved from flash/flv video to Html5 videos with webm and mp4. So it seemed prudent to change our sitemap which was using the old flv videos. At the same time updating our videos with more SEO friendly titles seemed prudent. So far our indexed videos from the video sitemap have gone from 70,000 to 28,000, so: A. How much does a video sitemap depend on the URL of the web page versus the title and the video itself? I am assuming that Google sees a new file extension and title and assumes that it is a completely new video and that might be why they are de-indexing the old ones? I suppose we could go back and put the old sitemap to the old flv videos back up, but maybe we should just tough out the change and wait for the new videos to be indexed. Thanks!! Craig
Image & Video Optimization | | TheCraig0 -
Doing SEO for multiple clients, who should make the content?
I realize that since content marketing is (or can be) a part of SEO, then it would logically follow that it's up to whoever is doing the SEO to create the content*. And when it's 1 person or a small group of people that work for 1 company, doing its SEO, that makes perfect sense. But I'm having a little trouble wrapping my mind around how that's supposed to scale up for an outside agency responsible for the SEO of 5 or 10 or 50 other companies. One of the biggest factors in my misunderstanding of the system is the reasoning for creating content in the first place. I absolutely understand how a professional in some field (let's say dentistry for example) could write up some insightful, accurate blog post about why flossing is great. After all, a dentist does (or should, hopefully) have a level of expertise on the subject that most people don't have. That blog post is a tangible addition of value to the website for anyone curious about the subject. But why would anyone want to read a blog post about wisdom teeth written by just some random person at a marketing company? If that person has the time to do a lot of research and BECOME something of an authority on the subject of dental care, then that's fine. But what if they also need to create content for clients that do plumbing, car repairs, and cooking? I don't really see how someone can become enough of an expert on enough subjects and still have any time to do the other parts of their job. Maybe I'm just expecting too much, but I sort of feel that the internet is already full enough of advice and information from people that have no idea what they're talking about, so content from someone that's not an expert (but is a marketing person that the expert hired) seems... frivolous to me. So to get back to the actual question, should/can an SEO ask their clients to create at least some of their own content, or is it the SEO's responsibility to generate all the content, even if it's not always stellar? Or is it just one of those "Could God make a rock so big that he couldn't lift it? Yes, he could, and then he would lift it" (or however that saying went) sorts of deals? Thanks for the feedback, this can all be kind of overwhelming for me at times. *"Creating content" in this specific case meaning writing blog posts, making videos, etc.
Image & Video Optimization | | BrianAlpert781 -
Video xml sitemap: how to build with 1000 videos on your site?
Hey Mozzers, We have a vacation rental site where every property has its own video of the property. (i.e. YouTube embedded video) So, with more than 1000 homes, how do you make a video xml map? Or, should we have an xml map with 1000 links on it? Can't wait to see your insights!
Image & Video Optimization | | Discountvc0 -
Video on Search Engine Results Page Ranking.
Hi, i have a question. I have a website of my company with Page and Domain Authority 55. PA:58 and DA:55 And now, i like to rank a video for my brand name on SERP. What to do? should i place the video on my main page, domain.com/index.php and to upload the video on the folder domain.com/video/ and than to optimize the video like images for SERP. I read articles online, about video sitemap, optimization etc.. but can you tell me the exactly steps to rank an video. What kind of video embed should i use? to upload at any vimeo,youtube, or should i upload on my hosting, what kind of coding etc.. if you have experience on video ranking, tell me the steps please. Thanks.
Image & Video Optimization | | leadsprofi0