Do you have a video on your website that you want to promote or advertise? Have you made a video that you want your customers to see? With a video sitemap you can help promote your video online and make it easier for Google to find your video. Not only that but your video can get listed in Google’s video site video.google.com, which is the largest search property on the web. Videos are a powerful online marketing tool and they can appear on page one of Google in organic search listings.
In this blog I am going to do a step by step guide to creating, optimising and submitting video sitemaps to Google.There is quite a lot of text in this blog but I think it is necessary to explain the construction of video sitemaps.
Step 1. Video Sitemap Content.
Step 2. Create Video Sitemap.
Step 3. Upload xml File to Your Website
Step 4. Submit Sitemap To Google Webmaster Tools.
Step 1. Video Sitemap Content
Below is a sample Video Sitemap provided by Google.
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1">
<url>
<loc>http://www.example.com/videos/some_video_landing_page.html</loc>
<video:video>
<video:thumbnail_loc>http://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://www.example.com/video123.flv</video:content_loc>
<video:player_loc allow_embed="yes" autoplay="ap=1">
http://www.example.com/videoplayer.swf?video=123</video:player_loc>
<video:duration>600</video:duration>
<video:expiration_date>2009-11-05T19:20:30+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:tag>steak</video:tag>
<video:tag>meat</video:tag>
<video:tag>summer</video:tag>
<video:category>Grilling</video:category>
<video:family_friendly>yes</video:family_friendly>
<video:restriction relationship="allow">IE GB US CA</video:restriction>
<video:gallery_loc title="Cooking Videos">http://cooking.example.com</video:gallery_loc>
<video:price currency="EUR">1.99</video:price>
<video:requires_subscription>yes</video:requires_subscription>
<video:uploader info="http://www.example.com/users/grillymcgrillerson">GrillyMcGrillerson
</video:uploader>
</video:video>
</url>
</urlset>
This might look like a load of incomprehensible code but fear not! I will explain each tags function and give a brief explanation. For the purpose of this blog I am going to use a video we created about On-Site and Off-Site SEO as an example. I will firstly explain the piece of code and then use our SEO video as an example.
Step 2. Create Video Sitemap.
The following code is explained and I have used our SEO video as an example (where relevant).
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1">
This piece of code should be in every sitemap. It sets up the video sitemap coding.
<loc>
The tag specifies the landing page (aka play page, referrer page) for the video. When a user clicks on a video result on a search results page, they will be sent to this landing page. Must be a unique URL.
<loc>http://www.organicseospecialists.com/seo-social-media-training.html</loc>
<video:video>
This Tag opens the video sitemap for descriptions, times, tags etc.
<video:thumbnail_loc>
A URL pointing to the URL for the video thumbnail image file. They accept most image sizes/types but recommend your thumbs are at least 160x120 pixels in .jpg, .png, or. gif formats.
<video:thumbnail_loc>http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/KXfQUzPyRGY/1.jpg</video:thumbnail_loc>
<video:title>
The title of the video. Limited to 100 characters. This should be a descriptive title that uses strong keywords that relate to the video.
<video:title>SEO Advice for On-Site and Off-Site Optimisation of Website</video:title>
<video:description>
The description of the video. Descriptions longer than 2048 characters will be truncated. Again use strong keywords that relate to the video.
<video:description>Search optimisation advice that help website owners to optimise their videos. Included in the SEO tips is information on the basics of SEO, SEO terms, Keyword Research, Meta Tags, Google directory listings. The video explains on-site and off-site SEO in simple terms.
</video:description>
<video:content_loc>
At least one of <video:player_loc> or <video:content_loc> is required. The URL should point to a .mpg, .mpeg, .mp4, .m4v, .mov, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .ra, .ram, .rm, .flv, or other video file format, and can be omitted if <video:player_loc> is specified. However, because Google needs to be able to check that the Flash object is actually a player for video (as opposed to some other use of Flash, e.g. games and animations), it's helpful to provide both.
Best practice: Help ensure that only Googlebot accesses your content by using a reverse DNS lookup.
<video:content_loc>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXfQUzPyRGY </video:content_loc>
<video:player_loc>
At least one of <video:player_loc> or <video:content_loc> is required. A URL pointing to a Flash player for a specific video. In general, this is the information in the src element of an <embed> tag and should not be the same as the content of the <loc> tag. Since each video is uniquely identified by its content URL (the location of the actual video file) or, if a content URL is not present, a player URL (a URL pointing to a player for the video), you must include either the <video:player_loc> or <video:content_loc> tags. If these tags are omitted and we can't find this information, we'll be unable to index your video.
The optional attribute allow_embed specifies whether Google can embed the video in search results. Allowed values are Yes or No.
The optional attribute autoplay has a user-defined string (in the example above, ap=1) that Google may append (if appropriate) to the flashvars parameter to enable autoplay of the video. For example: <embed src="http://www.example.com/videoplayer.swf?video=123" autoplay="ap=1"/>.
Examples:
<video:player_loc allow_embed="yes" autoplay="ap=1"> http://www.youtube.com/v/KXfQUzPyRGY?fs=1&hl=en_US </video:player_loc>
Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x1o2g
Best practice: Help ensure that only Googlebot accesses your content by using a reverse DNS lookup.
How did I find this part of the code? If you look below it is after the <embed src=.
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KXfQUzPyRGY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KXfQUzPyRGY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
<video:duration>
The duration of the video in seconds. Value must be between 0 and 28800 (8 hours). Non-digit characters are disallowed.
<video:duration>90</video:duration>
<video:expiration_date>
Recommended when applicable The date after which the video will no longer be available, in W3C format. Acceptable values are complete date (YYYY-MM-DD) and complete date plus hours, minutes and seconds, and timezone (YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+TZD). For example, 2007-07-16T19:20:30+08:00. Don't supply this information if your video does not expire.
<video:rating>
Optional The rating of the video. The value must be float number in the range 0.0-5.0.
<video:content_segment_loc> Optional Note: Use <video:content_segment_loc> only in conjunction with <video:player_loc>. If you publish your video as a series of raw videos (for example, if you submit a full movie as a continuous series of shorter clips), you can use the <video:content_segment_loc> to supply us with a series of URLs, in the order in which they should be concatenated to recreate the video in its entirety. Each URL should point to a .mpg, .mpeg, .mp4, .m4v, .mov, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .ra, .ram, .rm, .flv, or other video file format. It should not point to any Flash content. The value of the optional attribute duration specifies the length of each clip in seconds.
For example:<video:content_segment_loc duration="600">http://example.com/url1</video:content_segment_loc>
<video:content_segment_loc duration="500">http://example.com/url2</video:content_segment_loc>
<video:content_segment_loc duration="700">http://example.com/url3</video:content_segment_loc>
<video:content_segment_loc duration="600">http://example.com/url4</video:content_segment_loc>
<video:view_count>
Optional. The number of times the video has been viewed.
<video:view_count>262</video:view_count>
<video:publication_date>
Optional The date the video was first published, in W3C format. Acceptable values are complete date (YYYY-MM-DD) and complete date plus hours, minutes and seconds, and timezone (YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+TZD). For example, 2007-07-16T19:20:30+08:00.
<video:tag> Optional
A tag associated with the video. Tags are generally very short descriptions of key concepts associated with a video or piece of content. A single video could have several tags, although it might belong to only one category. For example, a video about grilling food may belong in the Grilling category, but could be tagged "steak", "meat", "summer", and "outdoor". Create a new <video:tag> element for each tag associated with a video. A maximum of 32 tags is permitted.
<video:tag>SEO Video</video:tag>
<video:tag>SEO Advice</video:tag>
<video:tag>Search Engine Optimisation</video:tag>
<video:tag>Internet Marketing </video:tag>
<video:tag>Online Marketing</video:tag>
<video:tag>SEO Tips</video:tag>
<video:tag>SEO Help</video:tag>
<video:category>
Optional. The video's category. For example, cooking. The value should be a string no longer than 256 characters. In general, categories are broad groupings of content by subject. Usually a video will belong to a single category. For example, a site about cooking could have categories for Broiling, Baking, and Grilling.
<video:category>Search Engine Optimisation</video:category>
<video:family_friendly>
Optional. No if the video should be available only to users with SafeSearch turned off.
<video:family_friendly>yes</video:family_friendly>
<video:restriction>
Optional A list of countries where the video may or may not be played, in space-delimited ISO 3166 format. The required attribute "relationship" specifies whether the video is restricted or permitted for the specified countries. Allowed values are allow or deny. Only one <video:restriction> tag can appear for each video. If there is no <video:restriction> tag, it is assumed that the video can be played in all territories.
<video:gallery_loc>
Optional. A link to the gallery (collection of videos) in which this video appears. Only one <video:gallery_loc> tag can be listed for each video. The value of the optional attribute title indicates the title of the gallery.
<video:gallery_loc title="SEO Videos">http://www.youtube.com/user/OrganicSEOIreland</video:gallery_loc>
<video:price>
Optional. The price to download or view the video. The required attribute currency specifies the currency in ISO 4217 format. More than one <video:price> element can be listed (for example, in order to specify various currencies).
<video:requires_subscription>
Optional Indicates whether a subscription (either paid or free) is required to view the video. Allowed values are yes or no.
<video:uploader>
Optional A name or handle of the video’s uploader. Only one <video:uploader> is allowed per video. The optional attribute info specifies the URL of a webpage with additional information about this uploader. This URL must be on the same domain as the <loc> tag.
Now that we have created each tag necessary for the video sitemap I will put my sitemap together.
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1">
<url>
<loc>http://www.organicseospecialists.com/seo-social-media-training.html</loc>
<video:video>
<video:description>Search optimisation advice that help website owners to optimise
their videos. Included in the SEO tips is information on the basics of SEO, SEO terms,
Keyword Research, Meta Tags, Google directory listings. The video explains on-site
and off-site SEO in simple terms.
</video:description>
<video:content_loc>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXfQUzPyRGY </video:content_loc>
<video:thumbnail_loc>http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/KXfQUzPyRGY/1.jpg</video:thumbnail_loc>
<video:title>SEO Advice for On-Site and Off-Site Optimisation of Website</video:title>
<video:player_loc allow_embed="yes" autoplay="ap=1"> http://www.youtube.com/v/KXfQUzPyRGY?fs=1&hl=en_US </video:player_loc>
<video:duration>90</video:duration
<video:view_count>262</video:view_count>
<video:tag>SEO Video</video:tag>
<video:tag>SEO Advice</video:tag>
<video:tag>Search Engine Optimisation</video:tag>
<video:tag>Internet Marketing </video:tag>
<video:tag>Online Marketing</video:tag>
<video:tag>SEO Tips</video:tag>
<video:tag>SEO Help</video:tag>
<video:category>Search Engine Optimisation</video:category>
<video:family_friendly>yes</video:family_friendly>
<video:gallery_loc title="SEO Videos">http://www.youtube.com/user/OrganicSEOIreland</video:gallery_loc>
</video:video>
</url>
</urlset>
Step 3. Upload xml File to Your Website
We have now created our video sitemap file. The next step is to save the code onto a notepad file and upload it to your website.
Step 4. Submit Video Sitemap To Google Webmaster Tools.
You need to sign into your Google Webmaster tools and submit the sitemap.
Once your sitemap is submitted you will either receive a green tick, indication that you have created the sitemap correctly and Google has accepted it or a red tick, which means there are errors in your sitemap.
It may then take a couple of days for Google to index your sitemap. Once Google has indexed your video sitemap your video should start appear in organic Google search results
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