Skip to content

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

Category: Image & Video Optimization

Explore how to optimize your website's images and videos for search.


  • I normally advise clients never to optimise around keywords with very low or even zero recorded Google search volumes. However, if the core keyword has decent volumes but the organisation is serviing specific towns/cities/locations would you consider it valid to optimise for : core keyword + focused location (even if this has zero search volumes). The Google Places results are obviously highly relevant but depending on the core keyword you sometimes get the 3-box places at the top but sometimes in the middle of the natural results.

    | bjalc2011
    0

  • Has anyone seen Google adding links to the site's videos right under the meta description for the result? I tried finding more information on it and couldn't find any. Anyone here know how to get a video link displayed with your search result?

    | J.Marie
    0

  • We are between UBL and LocalEZE for our preferred local listing submission vendor. DIfferences:
    *UBL does not have a relationship with local data vendors, but submits to axicom and infousa (as examples) which LocalEZE does not.
    *LocalEZE has active feeds set up with many local vendors. What are your preferences? We are leaning twoard LocalEZE, Razorfish (the agency) is among their notable clients. What about submitting to both? I would be fearful that the data will overlap.

    | qlkasdjfw
    0

  • Hi , Recently launched a video dictionary site - http://www.megavocab.com With whatever I could learn of SEO , I included the transcript for the video in the page - http://www.megavocab.com/dictionary-definition-maladroit.html But this makes the page look shabby (when compared to page like - http://www.megavocab.com/dictionary-definition-zealot.html) and the transcript per say does not help much to user ... I am in a delimma  whether to include the transcript or not ... please guide...

    | krishru
    0

  • I have a feed that is parsed on my website. All images do come form another source( and url that differts from my site). However I can change the alt text. I concerns hotel mages worldwide. In order to relate the images with the different language  I want to add a small phrase "airport hotel" translated in the  laguages that are present on my site Example alt text will be alt="airport hotel: Mercure Schiphol Terminal"  or in German alt="Flughafen hotel: Mercure Schiphol Terminal" Will this have a positive effect on my SEO despite the url of the images are not related to my site?

    | fctexel
    0

  • My client is a new business <1 year old.  Google has 4 unverified places pages for this business - all have slight errors in the business name and address.  Which one should I claim?  Will Google let me change the business name once I verify ownership?  How will I get rid of the other listings once I claim and correct one of them? In light of these data errors and/or as a general rule do you recommend the paid submission services for UBL and Localeze (http://getlisted.org/resources/why-listing-services.aspx)? Thanks for the help! Jeff

    | jeffgibson
    0

  • We're working with a client to create and submit a video site map. All of their videos are on separate pages, with unique copy, etc. The problem is that the videos may have to be within an iframe. Will this be an issue with regards to being included in video and universal search results? Or will the video site map take care of it? While we're on the topic of video site maps, does anyone know conclusively what the best thumbnail size is? Google has conflicting information, one resource says 160 x 120, and another says 120 x 90. Thanks in advance!

    | RedDoor58
    0

  • Hi, Is there any tool to create a Video SiteMap ? I have more than 300 vidoes on youtube and blip.tv ... can not create them manually. I am using Joomla... Please help...

    | krishru
    0

  • Hi Interested in your views on this and any references to research on the subject Using Google Books recently I have discovered multiple citations of a web site I produced years ago in a whole load of publication. Really quite touching to find these 10 years afterwards I imagine that this must have a positive effect on search engine listings for this site. The site has really good listings still. Has any research or any announcement been made by Google about this. Pushing this a bit further ; An advertising hoarding has a web site address http:// ... would Google StreetView pick this up and could it be used as a signal too ? Neil PS No I don't sell adversing hoardings 😉

    | NeilInFrance
    0

  • Hello MOZ Helpers.. Sometimes video results pop up in Uiversal search..for example for "recycle paint" my video for recycle paint residing on my website shows up on a Universal SERP SEE IMAGE 1..This happens even when I use an ip mask or change local..the confusing part is why my personal version trumps my youtube version SEE IMAGE 2. What metric(s) is Google using to rank videos, and what kind of benefit does this provide if the video points to your site vs. a video service like youtube or 5min? I have attached 2 images with IMGUR but search "recycle paint" to recreate [" target="_blank">>](<img src= "Hosted by imgur.com") [" target="_blank">>](img src= "Hosted by imgur.com") [http://imgur.com/tdCVM.jpg](a href= "Hosted by imgur.com")" target="_blank">a> [http://imgur.com/tdCVM.jpg](a href= "Hosted by imgur.com")" target="_blank">a> [" target="_blank">>](<img src= "Hosted by imgur.com") [" target="_blank">>](<img src= "Hosted by imgur.com") [" target="_blank">>](<img src= "Hosted by imgur.com")

    | johnshearer
    0

  • I am considering paying for a listing on the legal directory on FindLaw.com, at a cost of $300 per month. This includes 5 deep links back to our site. I think the value of the listing and profile is next to 0 other than the SEO benefit to obtain a competitive position on the first page of the google map. But I am having a hard time ascertaining the SEO value.  They have a page rank of 7 (at times 8 in the past). I have already done many of the other directories, dmoz, BOTW, yahoo! and have a regular blog on my site and lots of content. Will this contribute any noticeable SEO difference? Any thoughts? recommendations?  If this will contribute a noticeable SEO difference, then imo it is definitely worth it.

    | jfeld222
    0

  • Recently I keep hearing "Flickr" and "SEO" pop up together. For example, this mashable article said it was good for seo. I don't understand since it's a no follow. Are there seo benefits to using Flickr. Thanks for your help!

    | DevonIntl
    0

  • So, hi mozzers! I have a website with press release, and i like to add the rss feeds to the google news of published press release. All press release on our website, are revied from journalists of press firm here, and than published. Can you tell us, more steps about the submission to google,msn and yahoo news? What kind of terms and conditions, etc... and where to add. Thanks

    | leadsprofi
    0

  • I ma looking to produce a list of the top 100 websites in a list format from any given keyword. Bascially a process or ftool that will generate a list so i dont have to copy and paste all of them.....any ideas guys and gals

    | raytax
    0

  • I'm working for a nationwide agency that has local agents scattered throughout the nation. I manually inputted each agent's listing and over half of them were rejected. I'm trying to find the common denominators among those that were approved and those that were rejected, but I can't find any. Does anyone know a way to get all of these locations approved?

    | Caitlin.Adria
    0

  • Hi, I have read the book "art of seo", now I found that there is a SEO training videos " Ultimate Advanced SEO Bundle: Tips, Tricks & Tactics Volumes 1 & 2 URL: http://www.seomoz.org/store/4 What is the content inside? is it worth to buy even if I already read the book "art of seo"? please advise. Thanks -David

    | David680
    0

  • Hi, is there a limit on the number of service areas I can choose for my Google place/map listing.? For optimization purposes should I include the whole state, or each specific city. My keyword for google maps is not very competitive and I want to cover a few different states , I have the time to put specific cities just not sure if there is a restriction on number of service areas. Cheers

    | pablogalante
    0

  • Looking for any help in understanding what I can do to get my images back up in the images index.  My site took a hit last month which I've been working to get back up but nothing has seemed to push the needle. Has anyone else experienced such a loss in the image index before? kVTuL.png

    | DotCar
    0

  • I am doing work for a local business who has duplicate Google Places listings.  I would like some input from those with experience in this as to how I should go about consolidating these listings. Listing 1 created ~3 years ago by someone in the local business. They don't have the login/password info for this listing. listing has inaccurate info, including the wrong url (it points to their old website which is no longer active, but redirects to the new site) 124 reviews associated with this listing listing is on 3rd page of Local Business results Listing 2 one year old All listing info is current and accurate and I have the login info 18 reviews associated with this listing listing is on 6th page of Local Business results Up until a week or two ago Listing 2 was ranked between 1-3 in the local business results along side the map.  Listing 1 was ranked around #6.  I assume that the duplicate listings with their conflicting info (different url's associated with each) hit some tripwire in Google and they have now been penalized.  Does this sound correct? What is the best method for consolidating the two listings and reestablishing the ranking?  Here are my thoughts, please let me know if there is a better way... gain access to Listing 1 by having the business claim/verify the listing update all info in Listing 1 so that it is current and accurate deactivate and/or delete Listing 2 Is this the best course of action?  Thanks!

    | fastestmanalive
    0

  • Hi, I'm setting up a Barcelona guide as a hobby: barcelonacitybreak.com. Naturally I take care to use good alt-tags, checking Google images I see one of the photos I took listed as number one: "hibernian bookstore barcelona". There is no doubt that this is the photo I took myself, but when  I place the mouse over the photo the origin is listed as:http://www.auladirectiva.com/. What is even more worrying though is that when I press the image I automatically download this: "Antispy 2011" from http://protectionxpscannermaster.com! Evidently some kind of "anti-virus" program. How is this possible?

    | vibelingo
    0

  • Hi - If I remember rightly someone from the SeoMoz team has mentioned a video submission site called Wisteria?  Is this right?  If so what is the URL and what are the benfits over TubeMogul from an SEO perspective / ease of use etc ? Thanks

    | PH292
    0

  • hey, I made a test & got backlinks to 2 youtube videos of mine and saw what should happening in next few days..but nothing got! I didn't get update or change in my videos even if the keywords are low competitions.. but when I read many posts & experts say that getting backlinks to your youtube video or VSEO count by google and we should doing it! the only way I've found to improve your youtube video ranking in google is to add it in blog & use video sitemap! but I'm also use video to direct affiliate link & there where I think backlinks should work to help me. I would to know from your experience is that worth to do or not or if backlinks for youtube are link ping we should do it directly when we upload video? PS: any info or idea you've it can be a very helpful solution for all! thnx

    | akitmane
    0

  • Or will those sources be discounted by google then similar to how google discounts link exchanges? I have noticed some pages, like mapquest, don't really have a directory, so google might not be aware of their content unless it is linked too??? In this type of a case, would it help to link to mapquest's search results? then the citation will get picked up by google? Example: http://www.mapquest.com/?hk=6-i30tP49i

    | adriandg
    0

  • Or does google treat this behavior the same way as a reciprocal link and discount any credibility of the citation?

    | adriandg
    0

  • If you use a non-landline number e.g 0330 or 0845 etc does this affect your position within google places? Is it better to use a local number e.g 0208 (uk) And if you use a local number for your google places account but have a different number on your website will this have a negative effect?

    | challen
    0

  • As we work with more local businesses, I'm looking for an efficient way to manage their information across all of the different local databases. site is www.ubl.org

    | ScottFasser59
    0

  • our google base klicks went down from 100 to 2.3 clicks per day. there has nothig changes. we did tests over tests, there is really nothing wrong. is there a way to find out if there is apenality?

    | kynop
    0

  • I've been reading up on this subject, but I still can't clearly decide which is better. Your insights will help me a lot. I work for a client with 1 powerful corporate website and many small dedicated websites to individual projects. Which strategy would I focus on? The powerful corporate or the small individual websites? As I see it: Which is better? One powerful domain with lots of pages dedicated to a single subject PRO: more inbound links, more pages, sometimes URL exact match CON: less focused on a single 'theme' Different domains dedicated to different subjects PRO: more focus per domain to a subject CON: less inbound links, less pages... less power Thanks in advance.

    | Partouter
    0

  • I have been trying to gain some position in our local O-pack results and have used whitespark to hunt for citations and aquire as many as possible, but even after 4-5 months google has still not detected many of the citations we have added.  What are you favourite citation sources? which ones really help? i.e. what are some quality canadian citation sources?

    | adriandg
    0

  • Is anyone here a channel partner with Localeze or has subscribed? Any thoughts? http://localeze.com They want a yearly fee and to me this doesn't make sense as all it is doing is sending information to the local listing sites and this should be a one-time deal.

    | qlkasdjfw
    0

  • I would like that my videos rank better in Youtube. How to do that?

    | MichaelJanik
    0

  • With page size being a big factor in Google’s algorithm what’s the best way to implement a flash file without jeopardizing rankings? What’s your thoughts on embedding the video in an IFrame?

    | SEO-Team
    0

  • Hi, I'm working for an apartment rental agency.The agency is based in one country/city and naturally the Google Places listing is shown when people search "apartments + location", but what to do when we expand abroad? Naturally we want to have a Local Business listing for "apartments + location 2" as well. Is it sufficient to have a "local office"? I see competitors have urls: www.domain/paris and www.domain/london that are listed in local search when searching " apartments + paris" and "apartments + london". Basically, the same site, different locations. I'm wondering if the solution is that simple?

    | vibelingo
    0

  • They have a couple listings of us with screwy info but i can't actually use their website, all the buttons that say "join" or "write a review" "uplaod an image" etc, are just an href="#" and don't actually do anything??? I figured maybe they have some broken javascript so i tried using different browsers (firefox & chrome in mac, and IE in windows.) Here's our listings in there: http://www.camerchants.com/Business/Storage+-+Self+Service/Storwell.Self.Storage/MTAyODAzNQ# http://www.camerchants.com/Business/Movers/Storwell.Self.Storage/MTEwMjMyOQ
    http://www.camerchants.com/Business/Movers/Storwell.Self.Storage/MTEwMjMyOA
    http://www.camerchants.com/Business/Recreational+Vehicles+Storage/Storwell.Self.Storage/MTAyODU4OQ# Are you able to click anything on this website and it actually functions as advertised? am i just using the wrong browser, or is this some kind of tool competitors use to blackhat our local listings into oblivion?

    | adriandg
    0

  • I am working with a local business owner who has purchased multiple domains. One includes the geographic area she serves and the type of business she runs. The other includes her business name and the type of business she runs. She is unsure of which domain she would like to use as the main URL for her business website. When choosing a domain for a small, local business, would you consider it advantageous to have the main geographic area that the business serves in the URL rather than the actual name of the business? What would be the best use of domain name which isn't selected from a SEO standpoint?

    | Neustop
    0

  • In Google places my address shows up in two different ways. I want to establish a consistent way of listing my business, but how do I determine what's best at this point? My listings now show up as the street name: "122 Maple Street" and in other listings as the Route number: "122 Route 44 "   The locals all know this street as Maple Street, but we are a tourist business and tourists probably know the Rt. # better. Is there a systematic way I can determine which is going to be the best way to list this? I have the same question about variations like using Rt. or St. versus Route or Street. Thanks Tio

    | stephenfishman
    0

  • I'm concerned about this for local SEO and citation purposes. It's not spammy and it flows well, and it sounds like a logical extension of our name, but I'm concerned that it will make it harder for Google to pick up our citations. Any thoughts?

    | greghard
    0

  • I have probably set them for each of my storage locations over 20 times now.  They stick for a week, only to find them have all been deleted once again. Also, why are my competitors able to choose custom categories, where as I am not?

    | adriandg
    0

  • I've had problems with a client that is a local medical center with multiple sites/addresses. We've created a Place Page for each location and linked it to the location page on the client's website that matches the address on the Place page.  But that means we're not linking to the medical center's home page -- and Google Places doesn't like that. I know this because after we'd owner-verified each Place Page, Google went in and just changed the website link that was a deep link to a location page and replaced it with a link to the home page. But now there's not an address match. How should we handle this? Related question:  Does it make sense to claim a separate listing in Yelp and other local directories for each of the separate locations since they each have a unique address?  Will Yelp & other local directories allow for links to non-home pages on the client's website?

    | DenisL
    0

  • I subscribed to Raven before SEOMoz but I genuinely consider Rand and the rest of you to be the experts. I am learning as I go but I really value your opinions. I just had some fun putting together a website/business promo video. Can I put it on here for legitimate feedback without being accused of spam. I hope so. I'm wondering if the video takes too long to show what it is about, maybe lacks a call to action, or focuses too much on the security. I think very few people realize how safe a secure transaction reslly is so I made a point of explaining that but may have gone overboard. I think it's pretty entertaining but I am terribly critical of everything I do, so I would like some expert unbiased opinions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSUGPxszmCQ One more thing, what is the best way to promoe a video like this? watch?v=FSUGPxszmCQ

    | berglin
    0

  • Hi I'm preparing a confernce in France to explain Google Places & Maps to an audience interested in promoting local businesses but mainly hotels and other tourism related. As you know, searches such as Hotel + City are giving a lot of visibility to Google Places results. Being in the top results is as important if not more important than organic ranking. I'm going to be looking into the new presentation of Google Places results in the SERPs and maybe underlining a difference in results between Places and Maps which I've just recently spotted. Can anyone recommend some good ressources online to explain the changes that came about with Google Places  and ranking factors I should be talking about ? If you have a pet theory on what triggers the different presentation of Places results in the main SERPS or what factors make one local business rank better than another in Google Places then please discuss below too 😉 Ah ! Almost forgot, any feedback on Google Boost use also interesting for us ; although it isn't in France yet Thanks Neil

    | NeilInFrance
    0

  • Hi, Are several listing in google places allowed ? I've got 1 address but with 3 differents services with 1 website for each activity . Tks a lot..

    | mozllo
    0

  • Please let me know the best practices of Video Optimization

    | gmk1567
    0

  • What are your top tips for optimizing video for search?

    | DGSEO
    0

  • Is there any issue with adding multiple clients websites/locations to our Google Places account?

    | cottamg
    0

  • I can't seem to easily find this answer anywhere (even in the Google Places FAQ page), so thought I'd stop digging around and simply ask it here: What are the meanings behind the icons to the right of the link and to the left of the "place page" link in Google's local search results? I see a checkmark/question mark in a circle, then a bar chart with various levels filled in, then a dollar sign in a circle, then a magnifying glass. 1. What are these telling me, as a searcher? 2. What are they telling the owner of the business? Thank you for your help; I just can't seem to find a reference for this...

    | keethgee
    0

  • Hi, I work for a weather company. I have recently begun to define a keyword strategy to target specific keyphrase segments with the objective to maximise webpage visibility and increase CTR. One growing keyphrase segment is "location weather" based searches (e.g. "London Weather", "Manchester Weather"). I am keen to understand how I can maximise our presence for location weather searches within the SERPs. This seems to be a common trends seeing as Google announced that over 20% of all searches contain a relevance to locality. I have been trying to understand if there is a way to maximise our location based weather pages, perhaps using the Google Local search tactic and if there are any recommendations you could suggest? ISSUE: In order to maximise your presence through local search you need a fixed address, something  our site does not offer, however it does offer bespoke landing pages for a specific weather forecast based on locality (city, town etc) Essentially, are there any recommendations you can provide a website that offers specific location based pages (without a fixed address) to maximise our location weather based search rankings within the SERPs? Many thanks Simon

    | simonsw
    1

  • Hey Guys, I was wondering if you've seen or practiced some effective ways to take up real estate in the SERPS.  Ideally I'd like to see more results from my own domain although I realize that G seems to only display 3 for any single domain.  I'm looking for creative ways to take up more real estate other than subdomains. I recently saw a municipal website with 4 results (1 being a PDF) which suprised me. I have a couple in my head but what's worked best for you?

    | reegs
    0

  • Hi, we are having some issues on our video site so I don't think we will be able to host them for a while, I think we will be uploading them to YouTube, so is there a tool/software that can help me make video sitemaps for my videos in YouTube? Thank you all!!! PS. I think I saw Rand or Danny a while ago in a video taking about a great tool for YouTube sitemaps, but I just can find it.

    | andresgmontero
    1

Got a burning SEO question?

Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


Start my free trial


Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.