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
-
Ilcho,
It sounds like you probably have a technical issue which is preventing your content from being indexed. I'm afraid I can't really offer more advice on this point, other to suggest paying a specialist to take a look into your specific situation.
Thanks,
Phil.
-
Hi Phil,
Just saw your answers, and they grabbed my attention. My problem is similar to Craig's.
In our case, we have the video pages indexed, but not the videos itself. We added both page URL (<loc>) and video content location (video:content_loc) in the video sitemap.
Is there a chance of canibalization or prioritization, since only the content loc URL has been indexed by Google, instead the full page URL?
Note: we added the schema.org properties as well (Embed URL).
Thanks</video:content_loc></loc>
-
Roger that Phil,
I figured as much, but didn't realize it could take that long. Since updating our sitemaps, it says that they have already crawled and indexed about 200,000 regular pages.
Hopefully the videos will kick in as well.
Thanks!
Craig
-
Hey Craig,
Unfortunately it's really difficult for me to offer you a decent answer for this blind (without trawling through the site and sitemaps) - but I expect that it's just a waiting game, yes.
If you've updated all your video embeds and the sitemaps to match that - then essentially Google need to recrawl and verify all your pages and videos. This will take time, especially for the number you're talking about - as, yes, Google will see these as new videos (they technically are).
There isn't a way to go back on this either, as if you've refreshed all your content and sitemaps - Going backwards Google will still need to recrawl everything.
I don't know how long you've been waiting - but I'd expect it to be a couple of months before everything is as it was, and that's if your site is SEOmoz kinda strengh - so DA90 odd..
Basically - I'd recommend just tracking this week by week and seeing if things improve. Make sure all the Sitemap entries are referenced via robots.txt as well as WMT and then hold tight. If you're still not having all the videos indexed after a couple of months, then you might need to drill down a bit deeper.
Cheers,
Phil.
-
Last question Phil. While webmaster tools is saying what it is saying, I am definitely seeing our old video records disappearing from Google. so this drop from 70,000 to 28,000 doesn't just seem to be a webmaster tools thing, but does appear to be showing itself in Google as well.
A search that was showing several video results a week ago, now shows none.
Should I be concerned or will the new ones come back in their place you think?
Is it just a waiting game at this point? I know that's the case with regular sitemaps, but those reference the same pages. I am a little concerned since Google is seeing these as all new videos. So, if Google sees them as all new and sends them to the back of the line, I think I would rather have the other flv ones back.
Thanks!
C
-
I've tried that before and only had it not work - I think it just confuses the algorithm. No real advantage in referencing both the .mp4 and .flv of the same file, as Google aren't preferential regarding the encapsulated format.
-
Thanks Phil!
Yeah, I am definitely learning how un-reliable WMT is and trusting it less and less...
Thanks for the input. Very much appreciated!
Craig
-
Hmm. Ever heard of putting in 2 different URLs for the same video? i.e.
<video:content_loc>House_Cat_Mauling_Postal_Worker.flvvideo:content_loc>
<video:content_loc>House_Cat_Mauling_Postal_Worker.mp4video:content_loc>
Thanks for the answer!
Craig
-
Hey Craig,
In short - it sounds like you're doing everything right and I'd be inclined to question the indexation stats first rather than the method you've implemented.
Q1) Neither are a major factor in the video getting indexed. Indexation on that front is essentially binary - it's either indexed, or Google doesn't accept some of the inputted tags and then won't provide a rich snippet
Re - deindexing old ones and indexing new ones, i think that's exactly what's happening. If you refresh all the content and the sitemaps, it will take a while for Google to crawl through and reindex everything properly.
I'd advise just sticking with it for now and waiting a few weeks to see if you can get everything indexed as it should be. If you've got some of the new videos indexed - then it means your implementation is correct and you'll probably just need to be patient given the amount of content you've got.
Additionally, I wouldn't trust the Google webmaster tools data on indexation either - it's notoriously unreliable and may be undereporting the amount of videos you actually have in the search results.
Cheers,
Phil.
-
Google looks at the URLs in sitemaps, not the titles, so if you changed the URL then Google will see it as a new video (multiple videos can have the same title, but URLs are unique to each piece of content).
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
-
YouTube Filtering Business Videos as Inappropriate Making them Unavailable When Safety Mode Enabled
My client is a public banking software company and recently many of their videos are unavailable to those browsers with "Safety Mode" turned on. What elements within these innocuous videos could be triggering the safety filter? Is there anything we can do about it? I've already reviewed titles/descriptions and reviewed the transcripts for words like 'sex" but I can't find anything that could be inappropriate. Is there any way around this? Is there a process for having this status changed? Thank you
Image & Video Optimization | | RosemaryB0 -
Best Video Sitemap plugin for wordpress? And do I need both a video sitemap and a normal one?
Hi all, I currently use the Google XML Sitemaps plugin on my wordpress site. But we've recently began adding (self-hosted) videos that we've been careful to markup with the relevant schema. However, there's a couple of things I don't understand and am hoping someone could help: Do we need a separate video sitemap that either works alongside Google XML Sitemaps or replaces it? If we do need a video sitemap, what's the best video site map to get? (we are using the Thesis theme so can't use the Yoast one unfortunately as they don't play nice together...) Thanks for your help! Andrew
Image & Video Optimization | | seowhiskey0 -
YouTube Video Transcription
Hello there! I'm wondering if there is any legalities involved with transcribing a video on YouTube and posting the transcription on a site that does not have the rights to the video while sourcing the video and giving credit.
Image & Video Optimization | | OnlineMarketingGuy0 -
Video and SEO
I am planning on placing some short how to videos on my site. My question is what is the best way to implement video. Youtube Vimeo Self Hosted Video How do I ensure that the video can be viewed by all devices if it is self hosted?
Image & Video Optimization | | bronxpad0 -
What is the best way to embed a link back to our site in our video embed codes?
Our site has over 100 great videos. We are currently streaming them all from our YouTube channel. I noticed SEOMoz is using http://www.wistia.com and that when I copy and paste a video from SEOMoz that code has a link back to the SEOMoz site in it, which of course is awesome for SEO. My question has several parts: Is this possible to do with an embed code from YouTube? Specifically directed towards SEOMoz: Which of the 3 types of player did you choose, HTML5, Flash or javascript? Why? Is Wistia just creating a video feed, or are they actually hosting your video content too? Our goal is two-fold: 1. We want people who embed our videos to be also embeddding a link back to our site and 2. We want our videos to be found in SERPs and have those direct people to our site instead of our YouTUbe channel. I'd welcome any comments regarding video SEO in this thread. Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | danatanseo0 -
How to get video content indexed (incl. example)?
Hi, I am currently working with my first client on SEO, and I've been asked (among other things) to help them get their video content indexed by Google. Since this is my first client, and I haven't worked much with videos, I hope I can get some tips. An example of one of their "theme pages" is about studying in Australia. The site is in Norwegian and don't mind the pop-up: http://www.studenttorget.no/australia I would love to get some feedback to what I should do about this page in order to help them get their videos indexed. By the way, they're considering hosting their own videos, and creating a system to keep everything local. Is this a better solution to seo than if the videos are hosting on YouTube/Vimeo or something else? Thanks. Jens P. Berget
Image & Video Optimization | | berget0 -
Best way to host video?
Hi, We are planning to host videos on our site for the first time. It looks like YouTube is a bit too over focused on ads these days for commercial use, can anyone recommend any better video hosting services? I also realize that hosting somewhere like YouTube has little SEO benefit, am I better off hosting them on our site if possible? Please share your experiences with the various services and methods of hosting. Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | Maximise1 -
Video Optimization (micro data)
Hello, people. I have a questions regarding on Video Optimization using microformat. As you all know, Google, Yahoo and Bing now support Schema. I want to use microdata or micro format to add explanation for my video. I am wondering now... that Schema has "VideoObject" micro data. Also Google support "facebook share" for video. Which one should I use for my video? Can anyone tell me difference between above two? HELP PEOPLE~! PLEASE!
Image & Video Optimization | | Artience0