What's the best way to host video for SEO purposes?
-
Hello SEOmoz folks,
I'm curious as to whether it will be more beneficial for a website to host a video on the site itself or to host it on YouTube and then embed the code on your site.
The options so far, as it seems, are:
1.) Host the video on YouTube or Vimeo or wherever else, then embed the YouTube code into your own website's HTML.
2.) Host the video on your own website by itself.
3.) Host the video on your own website AND YouTube AND Vimeo.
I'm wondering which option is best. And if hosting your video on your own website is a good way to go, whether to go that route solely or in addition to hosting on YouTube, what is the best way to go about that? Do I have to embed a player AND the video info into the HTML of my website? What player is best for this? Flash, or something else?
And once I get the video on my site one way or the other, how do I write the code to make sure the video thumbnail shows up next to my search results in Google to maximize the SEO potential for the video clip?
Sorry for the long question, but I've been searching everywhere for this and I'd love just a direct answer on it. Thanks for your help!
Cheers,
Dani
-
Don't put product videos on YouTube, Vimeo or anywhere public outside of your domain. Commercial content like that inevitably does poorly on YouTube and the negative user engagement metrics will then just suggest to Google that the content isn't high quality and it wont rank anywhere. Moreover, product videos are only really valuable if they're viewed in the context of the product - where users have a clear funnel for conversion.
I would securely host them with a third party platform and then aim to get rankings and rich snippets. While you can mark YouTube videos as "unlisted" in order to stop them being public, the content then won't rank.
-
Here's the post i've just published on the topic - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/hosting-and-embedding-for-video-seo
Please have a read through, as it will add a bit more clarity to the benefits of each option. Your summary is great Kane.
-
Hi Guys,
I'm actually writing a post on this very topic at the moment, which is due to be posted tomorrow on the main SEOmoz blog post. Hopefully that will answer most of the questions you have and we can continue the discussion in the comments if you have any further queries or points.
Cheers,
Phil
-
Sorry, I was referring to regular Vimeo, not Vimeo Pro. I believe you are correct that Vimeo Pro can be set up to act as a file host, and the video can be associated with your site.
Another good article that discusses Vimeo Pro specifically, but worth reading for video hosting concerns in general:
http://www.distilled.net/blog/video/getting-video-results-in-google/
-
I am suddenly confused. I thought Vimeo was recognized as being on the imbedded website (unlike Youtube). You are stating that it is treated the same as Youtube. This sounds like Wistia is the only good choice for SEO.
-
If you're going to have that many videos, I would say hands down to pay the money and go with Wistia.
Having those videos rank in search results for the product name and take people straight to your product page is invaluable.
I should clarify that those Wistia videos appear as if they are hosted on your website - not sure if that was clear.
-
dont host the video on your webserver... that will make stuff waaaaaaay slow!
-
That's a great article, thanks a million for the referral!
The only thing that didn't get mentioned in that answer (and maybe I should have clarified this detail better in my question) - is what is the best tactic for product videos for ecommerce sites?
It seems that commercials are better off when hosted on YouTube or Vimeo or Wistia then embedded in the website. Makes sense.
But I imagine product videos would be different...any insights?
-
I like option one the best. Make sure you optimize the title and description of the video, and link to the video on youtube accordingly. With facebook I like to upload it separately to cover more ground.
-
Phil Nottingham has a great response to a similar question that you should read here: http://www.seomoz.org/q/best-way-to-host-video
Also check out his article on Distilled's site with a great walk through on how to get the video to appear for your site in SERPs: http://www.distilled.net/blog/video/getting-video-results-in-google/
The short answer is that the best option (if you can afford the monthly fee) is to use a service like Wistia. They will assist you with the video sitemaps and any integrations necessary to get the video snippets that you mentioned.
If you don't have the monthly budget, then it's probably best to use Youtube or Vimeo, depending on the type of content. Adding it to your site would be a matter of using the embed code.
The downside to Youtube or Vimeo is that the video isn't recognized as content on your site, so you lose that value. The upside is that you have the opportunity to get in front of Youtube's large audience and get more views than you might have on your own.
I would not host the video yourself. The video will always load faster through one of the established video providers.
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
-
Local seo strategy for local gardening business ideas?
Hi all, I am just setting up a local organic garden maintenance business in my home town. I have set up the website, got social media accounts active (FB, Twitter and G+), set up google local listing (currently 5th in the local maps thingy), I have done loads of citations (many more than my competitors, but not a ridiculous amount), I've got 4 customer reviews on google so far, checked my DA against my competitors (mine 1, my comps 8-9), checked my comps links (less than 10) and been writing a blog on my website every couple of days. I realise the one thing I have against me is that my domain is just less than a month old. How long until google builds a bit of trust in it to see it come up in the serps? Also, I would love some ideas of what else I can be doing in the mean time. The idea here is to get the site rocking on all cylinders before the gardening season starts again in March. Do-able?
Image & Video Optimization | | HappyOx0 -
SEO benefits of terms used in Alt-tag, image name, page title
On our website, we have products that come in different colours, and we have created a different SKU for each one .e.g. our Acacia Evening Dress comes in 3 different colours (black, blue and red) - Acacia Evening Dress Black (J7048BLK), Acacia Evening Dress Blue (J7048RB), Acacia Evening Dress Red (J7048R). Would it be beneficial for SEO if on the image Alt-tag we used the terms 'Jadore J7048 Red Acacia dress', 'Jadore J7048 Black Acacia dress' and 'Jadore J7048 Blue Acacia dress', because 'Acacia' is the internal name we have given to this dress, not the name provided by the label, Jadore, as more customers would search for terms such as 'black dress' or 'Jadore J7048'? Can we use the same terms in the Alt-tag on the image and the page title? How important is the Alt-tag in searching?
Image & Video Optimization | | CostumeD0 -
Any Free Video Analytics Tools?
Hi, we are looking for some free video analytics tools. We want to be able to provide our clients or prospective client some stats on how much reach (views, distribution, sites appearing on, etc.) their videos have. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.
Image & Video Optimization | | JohnWeb120 -
Google+ local SEO question regarding attorney services
Should attorneys check the boxes for: 1. My business has service areas where I visit customers at their location and
Image & Video Optimization | | cgman
2. I serve customers at my business address (within x miles) This is for a law firm that sees clients in the office, as well as making accommodations to visit them at their location when they are unable to come to the office.0 -
HTML5 Video - Rich Snippet Markup and Quality
Hi guys, We're trying to get Rich Snippets for videos on our pages. I feel comfortable-ish with getting this set up, but I have a few questions. I was wondering whether anyone had any experience with this? Is there any additional markup to the <video>tag to get rich snippets</video> How do you handle multiple qualities - i.e. HD? Does the ogg and mp4 file need to be included? Any help/links to articles would be really helpful. Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | tomcraig860 -
Where to host our videos
We're in process of moving HookahLounge.net to Hookah.org. We're upgrading all the software packages, adding features, etc. One of the things we're going to do is gradually add a lot of video reviews to our site (400+). All the videos are going to be hookah/shisha related of course. Should we host the videos on YouTube and put them on related pages in our website? (We have a hookah wiki section with a different page for every shisha flavors, hookah, etc). or Should we host it on another platform or our own server? SEO. I don't know how where we host the videos affects the ranking of those Wiki pages that the videos would be posted. View count. I think YouTube has a large number of viewers which would mean a lot more people will see our videos. That being said will that be mainly good for brand building? Or will I actually be able to put links on those pages and drive traffic to our site too? Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | Heydarian0 -
[local seo] How to compete against e.g. yellowpages on Google Rank 1 - 4?
Hi Folks, How to compete against the big SEO-powered pages like Yellowpages in the SERPs? I mean, they have thousands of Rd -> Rd Links as well as super Page and Domain Authority. How has a let's say Dentist or Electrician a decent chance to compete against those? Does Google give credit to them because of the Content they have on their page? These yellowpages totally take the fun out of it for my clients. Answeres would really much appreciated. Thank you. For me it feels like Don Quijote.
Image & Video Optimization | | gooddy1 -
Is there an easy way to see how competitive a local search term is?
Is there a quick and easy way to see how competitive local search terms are? I am looking at helping my clients show up on the local search results. Some times all I have to do is claim a listing and they move right to the top. Sometimes I claim a listing and nothing happens so I get links and I get reviews and it takes awhile. I want to be able to put an accurate price point on the service I am offering. I have looked at the search volume and it hasn't been the best indicator because some industries are more competitve than others. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | jimmyseo0