Vimeo Pro, video SEO and rich snippets

[jasef]

Hi All,

we are producing product demonstration videos. One major aim with these videos is to help our rankings for these specific product pages and associated keywords... and to get rich snippets displayed on Google results pages against our listing.

• We have used schema.org markup in the product pages body code along with / next to the embed vimeo video code on the product page in order to hopefully get us rich snippet listing... we used schema.org markup as this seems to be the main current markup for rich snippets

• we have hosted the video via Vimeo Pro so that it is served quickly and not affected by speed of our hosting server or any possible bandwidth issues on our hosting server and ensure sthat the traffic comes to our site pages rather then Youtube or similar

• Vimeo Privacy settings for the video have been set so that we have not allowed it to be embed anywhere except for our own domain and the video is not displayed on Vimeo.com to ensure that the video is not duplicated anywhere else... so that this is unique content on our own site for maximum value for our domain

• We have used the "old code" from Vimeo Pro for embedding the video on our product page rather than the current iframe code as from what i understand Google cant follow very well and doesn't necessarily trust content displayed in iframes.

Video and schema.org markup code used is on product page is:

<div itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">video</a>" itemscope itemtype="<a class="attribute-value">http://schema.org/VideoObject</a>"> <p ><strong>Watch our <span itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">name</a>">Click 7 Lite Duo demonstrationspan>:strong>p>
<meta itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">thumbnailURL</a>" content="<a class="attribute-value">http://www.3wisemonkeys.co.uk/img/products/nextbase-click-7-lite-duo-thumb.jpg</a>" /> <meta itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">duration</a>" content="<a class="attribute-value">T2M23S</a>" /> <span itemprop="<a class="attribute-value">description</a>">A product demonstration showing what's included in the box when you buy a Click 7 Lite Duospan>...:<br /> <p align="<a class="attribute-value">center</a>">&nbsp;p>
<p align="<a class="attribute-value">center</a>"><object width="<a class="attribute-value">500</a>" height="<a class="attribute-value">281</a>"><param name="<a class="attribute-value">allowfullscreen</a>" value="<a class="attribute-value">true</a>" /><param name="<a class="attribute-value">allowscriptaccess</a>" value="<a class="attribute-value">always</a>" /><param name="<a class="attribute-value">movie</a>" value="<a class="attribute-value">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=67392721&amp;force_embed=1&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=1&amp;color=00adef&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;autoplay=0&amp;loop=0</a>" /><embed src="[http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=67392721&amp;force_embed=1&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=1&amp;color=00adef&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;autoplay=0&amp;loop=0](view-source:http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=67392721&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0)" type="<a class="attribute-value">application/x-shockwave-flash</a>" allowfullscreen="<a class="attribute-value">true</a>" allowscriptaccess="<a class="attribute-value">always</a>" width="<a class="attribute-value">500</a>" height="<a class="attribute-value">281</a>">embed>object>
p>
div>

Page this code is used on: http://www.3wisemonkeys.co.uk/proddet.jsp?id=2016&cat=1
Could anyone confirm whether the above seems to be what we need to do / should be doing to get the most value from these videos for helping our web site rank better with Google / search engine results pages as well as getting rich snippets displayed?
Lastly does the above code seem correct and include all the necessaries for rich snippets?

Thanks for any pointers.

[BlueprintMarketing]

Hi Phil & Jason,

I thought this may be of some use as well. It is pretty basic but gives some very good reasons for a modern updated website.

http://www.zemanta.com/blog/you-might-need-a-new-website-design/

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/leave-a-website/

I hope this it is of help,

Thomas

[PhilNottingham]

I actually don't think you should make the judgement regarding what needs changing yourselves - or take my word for it either! That said, I agree that the points you mentioned are particularly problematic

Your initial starting point should be to source some data from actual users and user testing groups regarding their perceptions of the site - particularly looking at what may have prevent conversions or almost stopped people from converting. There's tons of information about this stuff (CRO) online - but I'd start with running the Panda questionnaire that i mentioned previously and then use http://www.usertesting.com/ to source some good feedback from a wider selection of individuals.

From here - you should then hire a designer or get a freelancer in, who can action this stuff and come up with a refreshed design.

[jasef]

Hi Phil,

thanks very much for your feedback. We're particularly interested in your statement "the actual aesthetic of the site, to me, does not indicate legitimacy or quality". With regards to the aestetics of the site we do agree there are some areas that need sorting... our main thoughts were

1). Graphics not crisp and clear enough

2). Colours not contemporary

3). Bit too busy

Focussing purely on the aesthetics would you agree with these or are there in your opinion 3 other main design elements that more urgently need bringing up to date...?

Many thanks again for your feedback.

[PhilNottingham]

Hi Jason,

In which case.... input and criticisms incoming

I can fully appreciate and support the intention you've had with these videos, but unfortunately I just don't think it delivers. The framing of the shots and size of the video on the page is extremely problematic because it's just not focused enough for me to actually be able to see what's going on with the products. A video that actually showed me what came out of the box and how it all fits together would zoom in on certain bits, have a voice over explaining how everything worked and would be quicker to give me the overview. Additionally, there are issues with the frames at the start and end. If you haven't been able to get some very basic animation together to show off your branding and the product at the beginning of the video, it doesn't suggest "quality" to me, but rather looks a bit amateur. I'm not sure why the video then ends with a slide suggesting people go to 3wisemonkeys.co.uk to find more information if they're only able to see this video when on the site..... And lastly, The music is also fairly sinister!

The speed issues I speak of are mainly an issue at the beginning where you have 10 seconds before we actually see anything of the product and instead just have a static text overlay and picture of the box that actually looks pretty unprofessional. I suggest looking at your Vimeo analytics to see how many users are dropping off early on in the video. If it's a significant percentage, this probably indicates my assessment has some merit.

My concern with the text isn't the quality of the written word, but rather how impenetrable it is. A wall of text split up into paragraphs is not easy to read through and does not immediately give me an idea of where to look to find the core information I might want if buying one of these - namely, what are the features and will it fit with my car? You also have issues of strange characters appearing under the bullet point sections.

I don't have any specific things to offer on the technical structure, though I agree the URLs aren't nice - but rather, the actual aesthetic of the site, to me, does not indicate legitimacy or quality. The site honestly looks like it's been designed by SEOs and IT experts, rather than anyone with a bit of creative flair or understanding of UI. If i were a manual reviewer on the Google webspam team, to be honest, I would think your site was on the borderline of being low quality. I suggest you look for some wider feedback on this by replicating the Google panda questionare (see here for some details on how to do this http://moz.com/blog/replicate-googles-panda-questionnaire-whiteboard-friday) and get a feel for what others think. Additionally, I'd recommend hiring a design, CRO or UI expert to help with improving the site.

Regarding SEO value of putting the video on the page, I don't think it'll necessarily help directly right now (there isn't much evidence for a direct correlation), but it's reasonable to expect that rich media types might be something Google would wish to reward down the line.

[jasef]

Hi Phil,

thanks very much for your input.

We created the videos to show customers the products in someones hands to help demonstrate size of unit, where sockets and other parts are located on the units and what comes in the box. We felt this added value for customers to help them see the products on the video rather than purely a flat image on a web page. Would you disagree that this sort of information would or could help a buyer and thus possibly increase conversion rates... Also do you feel that this video content doesn't help to improve the value of our pages from an SEO perspective?

Speed wise of the video we are trying not to rush through too quickly as when the demonstrator points at a part on the player there is a text label shown on the video to describe what the socket or part of the product is ... so gives the viewer a chance to read those text labels. Again feedback and criticism on our thoughts here is more than welcome!

Content on the page is (or was when written at least) unique content written in house by some one who actually knows the product well to give good info rich product descriptions for customers (rather than the standard brief 3-4 line description and spec sheet that may larger brands give)... again hopefully this helps our customers to make a buying descision and differentiates us from other larger brands... plus helps our SEO and Google rankings. Would you disagree?

With regards to site structure we absolutely agree that site and URL structure is lacking and are currently looking at a move across to Magento Community to help structure the site and give good keyword rich, well structured URLs etc. Is this the type of thing you mean when you say "the page structure as a whole, is pretty bad" and "improve your site design and structure"?

Your input and criticisms are gratefully received.  

[PhilNottingham]

Your schema implementation seems fine, but I'd also recommend creating a video sitemap if you struggle with indexation, since this is typically a more surefire way of getting the videos indexed. The YouTube embed may also be confusing for Google with regards to "which video do i index", so a video sitemap would help with this as well.

However.... my main comment regarding the question of further value and improving rankings would be that you seriously need to look at your page types and the quality of the content you're creating.

I want to say this in the nicest possible way... but that video, and the page structure as a whole, is pretty bad. The video is incredibly slow moving and actually doesn't provide any valuable information, which could actively harm your conversion rate and bounce rate rather than help matters. I'd suggest you next spend time looking to improve your site design and structure - which should help improve your conversion rate. Following this, It'll be much easier for you to do things like link building which will help increase rankings.

[jasef]

Thanks to both of you - John and Thomas.

John, you are right... bad wording on my part. I am hoping that the video helps to improve SERPs position due to more media on the product page and more unique content (not just text and images)... and rich video snippets I hope to increase CTR and make us more visible, especially when we're lower down on a SERPs page and competing against large well known brands.

Video sitemap -  I wasn't sure whether I would definitiely need this once the schema.org code rich snippets code was in place if the page was already being found and indexed by Google... but going by both of your answers I am guessing this is a must!

Thomas... thanks. Lots of info which is gratefully received. With regards to the Distilled / Phil articles I had read and followed most of the info from there thus my use of Vimeo Pro and most of the rest of how I had set up the videos (thanks very much to Phil from Distilled - really useful articels for me setting up our initial video offering). As you agree with John looks like I shall be creating a video sitemap. I hadn't seen the Portent articles so thanks for those also.

[BlueprintMarketing]

John makes a very good point.

however if you need more help making it for your actual video player which is different for every company that hosts videos.

You'll want to take the advice from distilled along with portent the I don't think I can fathom two search engine optimization/Internet marketing companies I have more respect for. Considering they're both on the same page with this I would go with it why?

Creating Video Sitemaps for each Video Hosting Platform

By Phil Nottingham. Published January 11, 2013 in the Video category

The TL:DR of getting pages indexed with a video rich snippet is “submit a video XML sitemap“. Unfortunately, this advice is not much use for the majority of users, who host their content with external providers or social video platforms and are then forced to work out whether or not their hosting service does this for them, and if not, how they should create and structure a video sitemap for their specific circumstances. To help simplify the whole process, I have created this post as a reference guide for those who have video on their site and want an answer to the ”how do i get video snippets?” question without having to do the additional work.

here are the two seo greats agreeing with each other on how this is done. I would suggest that you read the link below.

http://www.distilled.net/blog/video/creating-video-sitemaps-for-each-video-hosting-platform/

http://www.portent.com/blog/seo/how-to-generate-video-sitemaps-using-google-docs.htm

I always check with distilled meaning reference their information when it comes to this topic, and I have found to a prior Moz question that is identical to yours. However, I think Phil from distilled does an outstanding job of explaining exactly what needs to be done. Now I've also included quite a few other alternatives just so you know that there are some automated systems out there I can't vouch for them like I can for distilled I trust distilled.net I trust portent as well

Even another Moz post

http://moz.com/community/q/how-to-format-a-video-sitemap-for-gwt-using-vimeo-iframe-code

hear your links just so you don't forget them.

http://www.distilled.net/blog/video/creating-video-sitemaps-for-each-video-hosting-platform/

http://www.portent.com/blog/seo/how-to-generate-video-sitemaps-using-google-docs.htm

And it is right you should place a video site map on your website in order for Google to be able to read the video. Even and what Vimeo calls an old  embedding you are not getting what you really want out of the video.

So if you make a site map I noticed your site was on a Microsoft IIS server

I then searched the web for a high quality easy to use site video map generator that is compliant with the new Google love videos.

This  is the authority I go by when using video site maps anything distilled.net and especially Phil when it comes to video I would pay close attention.

Here he goes about how to make a site map for each of the different video players though you really only need obviously 1 and I to hope you pay attention what he states about using Vimeo

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ah-Bo3dxy_ecdHV3c2JqZFY4am5qd2dhQzFUX3B3dHc&usp=sharing

http://www.distilled.net/blog/video/creating-video-sitemaps-for-each-video-hosting-platform/

Vimeo:

To get video rich snippets with Vimeo videos, you will currently need to create and maintain your sitemap independently of the platform.

NOTE: I do not condone trying to get rich snippets using a free Vimeo account as a sensible strategy, as if the vimeo.com and yoursite.com pages are targeting similar keywords, the vimeo.com version will often outrank you. Moreover, you dilute your potential traffic and links unnecessarily (See here for more details). If you can afford it, i recommend upgrading to a Vimeo Pro account and disabling the community pass  to ensure you can’t be outranked for keywords relating to your video by the page on vimeo.com__

• You’ll need to upload your chosen thumbnail to your own site to reference in the video:thumbnail_loctag.</video:thumbnail_loc>
• To locate the player URL for the video:player_loctag (which, in this instance you should use rather than video:content_loctag) go to the video page on vimeo.com and click “share” in the top right hand corner of the video frame. From here, click “show options”, scroll to the bottom of the options then displayed and select “use old embed code”</video:content_loc></video:player_loc>

• The code in the box will then change. Pull out the src element of the <embed> tag, which should be a URL that looks like http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12345678 followed by a load of parameters” Remove all of the parameters past and including the initial ampersand, so you’re left with a plain URL, with which to populate the player location field in your video sitemap.
• Embed using either the iframe or “old” (flash based) embed code

** I would follow this to the letter.  Phil is an authority on video SEO I would take his advice.**

The alternative below is an excellent one unfortunately you are using a non-WordPress website so you cannot use a plug-in. The reason I have left it on here is if anyone searches I would like them to have the knowledge if they are using a hosted WordPress website they can utilize the plug-in below.

Alternatively, if your site is on a WordPress platform, you can use the Yoast Video Sitemap plugin

I know your site is not WordPress based because I did a check on it

here is a great tool that tells you how a site is built  builtwith.com

here is your website http://builtwith.com/3wisemonkeys.co.uk

Sincerely,

Thomas

Here is another excellent answer from portent

http://www.portent.com/blog/seo/how-to-generate-video-sitemaps-using-google-docs.htm

if you would like a less complicated but I can't guarantee as high quality however I do think this is a good quality website I would recommend using

http://www.inspyder.com/products/SitemapCreator/Default.aspx

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/video-sitemap.html

http://schema.org/docs/search_results.html#q=vodeo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqR_ux1j3ng

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2413309&topic=1088474&ctx=topic

Google query

by inspecting your site with some of these tools to give you the correct answer for what I believe will be the easiest solution for your problem. I have come across some of this information I don't know if it is correct or not if you would there verify it I would be happy that this tool has done its job so far.

Google1,060

Bing4,730

Yahoo-

You can use it for free if your site is less than 25 pages however if it is more is $39 per life and it claims to be a set it and forget it tool

there are many more site map generators can be found here..All of them focus on video the above site map generator does and more importantly its one you can download and use for Microsoft Windows.

http://code.google.com/p/sitemap-generators/wiki/SitemapGenerators is is is is anything we have videos he is

for more help in how to build a video site map and check it so that you get the results wanted from Google I have collected some links I hope will help you

1st you could simply use what I consider the best video product Wistia & Moz gives a percentage off in their Pro   members through perks or what I believe now is just https://moz/perks I do not know if it is still called pro perks or just perks.

http://wistia.com/product

I use and would encourage you to use Wistia however I understand completely if you have purchased a year video and do not feel like changing. Though I do want you to know Wistia does offer a solution for any website that needs a video site map all you have to do is change the robots.txt I use it, and you get 3 free videos for life. So depending on how many videos for doing this might be the right solution and it might not.

Here is a direct link to Google's how to make a video site map this is what you must do in order for it to be picked up by Google successfully.

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=80472

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[Johnny4B]

Firstly the rich snippets do not help your website rank better !!! Although they should help immensely  with CTR assuming you are using them correctly and effectively. A rich snippet is a way of informing people searching for relevant content some extra details ... more than say Google will display within the SERP, so if you have this as detailed as possible, people are more inclined to click through to your page / video

So, you will still need to work on getting the video ranked within the SERP

Have you submitted a video sitemap, if not I would advise you to do that, that will help with Google finding your video for a start. If not I would also advise your create relevant content within the page in your website you display your video, this will help once again with the ranking of the Video or that page that contains it.

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=80472&topic=10079&ctx=topic

As for the markup for the actual video, looks fine from here

Hope that helps

John