How can I make embedded YouTube videos point to my domain in the search results?
-
We've recently moved to using YouTube for embedded videos on our site. We have a number of videos that are embedded and then a larger number of videos which are part of our YouTube channel.
I've been reading recently that it's possible to get Google to list embedded video links pointing to your site rather than to YouTube itself. I am interesting in driving traffic directly from the search results to our pages rather than via YouTube. Could somebody provide a basic step by step guide on how to do this please? Or is this something that is not possible? I've been doing a lot of research online but, sadly, can't work out how to do this.
-
Yeah - that's a terrible and misleading article from Mark Robertson. In his defense, he has admitted some of the flaws in the comment thread, but he never clarified in the article that "indexed" does not equate to "ranking with a rich snippet in the Google organic results".
TL:DR - No, you can't do it and even if it does start working, it's a bad strategy as it's never going to be consistent when other's can also embed your YouTube videos and rank for them.
-
Thank you both - it sounds like we could have made a mistake here. I thought that there might be something fishy going on when I couldn't find any more information on how to do this!
Phil - the link is http://www.reelseo.com/embedded-youtube-indexed-google/.
-
Hey John,
Not sure where you've read this (please send me a link if you have one!) but basically, no, you can't do this.
When you consider the logistics of the situation, it becomes obvious why. There is no barrier to entry to embedding YouTube videos - meaning any site can embed any YouTube video, with Google having no concrete method (yet) to determine which video belongs to which site.
While YouTube videos can get indexed on pages on your site - allowing your pages to rank in the video search results for relevant terms - 9 times out of 10, the youtube.com version of the video will be the version that ranks in universal search results.
If you want your site to rank for your videos, you should be securely hosting rather than putting your videos on social platforms like YouTube. YouTube is great for videos with a viral or informational element that isn't tied to your brand, but for content that's only relevant when viewed on pages on your domain, the content really won't do you any good on YouTube.
Here is a bit more information...http://moz.com/blog/the-marketing-value-of-youtube, http://moz.com/blog/building-a-video-seo-strategy
-
I've never heard of this, i'd be surprised to hear it is true. You can use a standalone player like Flowplayer and host this videos yourself pretty easily.
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
-
To use or not to use YouTube - That is the question!
We often get clients asking us what is the best option for getting the most out of their videos. We typically default to this blog post: http://moz.com/blog/hosting-and-embedding-for-video-seo We have had clients question this information, sending us such links as: http://marketingland.com/infographic-video-youtube-wins-google-universal-search-37971
Image & Video Optimization | | Booj
http://www.seoinc.com/seo-blog/why-you-should-embed-youtube-videos/
http://www.sitepronews.com/2012/07/03/how-to-use-youtube-to-boost-your-web-sites-seo-rankings/ Would you consider the information in the Moz blog post to still be accurate. What are your opinions on the perspectives presented in the other posts? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you 🙂0 -
Apparently now OK to use PO boxes to optimize local search?
I've always stood behind what I thought was Google's policy of not recognizing PO boxes. But it seems like all you have to do now is create one and take 2 seconds to create a low-quality G+ page. The below link is to a screenshot that shows my guy (yay new, high quality site with growing, relevant, authoritative content!) just out of the local results. He's not technically in Athens, so we knew it was an uphill battle. What's annoying though is the low-quality G+ PO box result above him. https://www.diigo.com/item/image/4bxh7/yi1x I know the PO Box result is not great in a vacuum in terms of conversion, but fact is if it's just phone numbers you're after they're at a distinct advantage, with no effort. For my client, we've indicated in G+ that he has a service area that extends into Athens. If Google is now favoring G+ results, I'm wondering if my guy should get a PO box instead? yi1x
Image & Video Optimization | | PerfectPitchConcepts0 -
Local Search for Multiple Locations
Hi Folks, The company I work for is based in Kendal in Cumbria in the United Kingdom (that's our head office) but as we are a training company and we have training locations all over the UK, how would I go about updating the local listings to reflect this. I'd like to specifically target our London based venues. Any help much appreciated. Gaz
Image & Video Optimization | | PurpleGriffon0 -
When I host my You Tube Videos on my website how do I get remove the ads that You Tube puts in them?
I am looking for some advice regarding You Tube and removing the adverts that are within the videos when I host them on my website. I 'Googled' the answer and all the information that I found was relevant before the latest You Tube update? Many thanks in advance for your help.
Image & Video Optimization | | mblsolutions0 -
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 -
Which domain to use for SE business listings?
For a first time, new website. I have a Barber shop in Hartford named "Dixie Cutters" with two domains, dixiecutters.com and barberhartford.com. Obviously the latter domain has two main keywords, barber and location...Hartford. So it would be better to use that and use a 301 redirect for dixiecutters.com to redirect to barberhartford.com. Many online directories including SE listings on Google Places, BIng and Yahoo have already been set up withe domain "dixiecutters.com" and the email address info@dixiecutters.com. If I choose to make barberhartford.com the primary domain with dixiecutters.com 301 redirecting to it....does this mean that I should then change the directory listings and more specifically, the SE business listings so that they have the primary domain listed (barbarhartford.com) with an email address like...info@barberhartford.com? Or can I leave all of this alone and keep as stated above without any SEO local consequences. I know consistency is a big issue with NAP. I also know it's recommended to use an email address with your domain name in the SE business listings. If a 301 is in place, can I use dixiecutters.com in my listings?
Image & Video Optimization | | MozMan20 -
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 -
Local Search - New Business - 4 different Erroneous, Unverified Google Places Pages
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
Image & Video Optimization | | jeffgibson0