Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Does Google prefer YouTube video's embedded on a site or put in a Pop up image class for SEO purposes
-
Our company is an eCommerce site for aftermarket automotive accessories, we have been posting videos on our site. On some pages we have videos embedded from Youtube and on other pages the videos are embedded but in a Popup Image Class.
Below I'll provide an example of one way we put the popup image class on our site
<iframe id="vidf" style="display:none;" width="460" height="320" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MattCutts?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
Now concerning SEO would it be better just to embed a video the traditional way or use the popup image class? The reason I ask is because the popup image class hides the video on the page with an image on top then once you click that image the video pops up. Can Google still crawl/see the video?
What would be best practice for SEO?
-
The answer would be - neither.
It's not quite correct to describe something as being preferable to Google in this instance (because ultimately Google want everyone to put all their videos on YouTube then embed them everywhere so they can make loads of money in ad revenue), but in terms of SEO for an eCommerce site, and assuming your videos are to some extend product focused pieces - you should avoid YouTube altogether, because it can cannibalise your rankings, while giving you very little benefit in terms of seeding on YouTube.com (people don't go to YouTube to find products to buy...)
I've written about this extensively here: http://moz.com/blog/building-a-video-seo-strategy and here http://moz.com/blog/the-marketing-value-of-youtube
So, your best bet is using a third party paid hosting platform, e.g. Wistia, Vzaar etc... where you can retain full control of the videos and use them to drive traffic to your site and generate leads/sales.
In terms of implementation, It probably won't matter a great deal, as long as your videos are visible to Googlebot on pageload and not delivered dynamically with JavaScript etc..
All you need to do then to get the rich snippet is submit a video sitemap.
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
-
How do you turn off ads on your YouTube videos?
How do you remove ads that pop up on your youtube videos? I have created several videos only to have my competitors ad be the first thing to show up on the videos. Curious how you turn that off.
Social Media | | RobDalton0 -
How to rank videos in YouTube higher
I have a question regarding the ranking of YouTube videos. What are the ranking factors and how we can use them in our favor to rank our videos higher in search results within YouTube.
Social Media | | Sakshamk117ue0 -
Is there a Bug or other problem with Facebook Page 'invite friends' feature ?
Hi Im trying to use the invite friends feature on Facebook pages to send a page invite to some email contacts, as per #3 in this SME recent post of FB tips: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/five-lesser-known-facebook-page-features-for-marketers However whenever i click the 'invite friends' option the dialogue box swirls for a bit then disapears and nothing whatsoever happens, not just not being able to see invite email options but nothing at all happens, the loading box just disapears. Does anyone know if this is a current know issue bug or other way of doing this so it works ? (I have tried on 3 different pages) Many Thanks Dan
Social Media | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
Videos perform poorly on facebook...why?
I have a facebook page with 42,000 Real fans. Images, screenshots, links, questions, etc all perform well. But videos get 0 interaction. If I get 5 likes that is saying something. Why would facebook not send out my videos to people? Is there a way to increase them? It is very frustrating to post our youtube videos to get no response. My fans are most 13-30 yr old gamers, so videos should be right up their alley.
Social Media | | Atomicx0 -
Realtors SEO and Active Rain
Does anyone know if active rain social network for realtors pass any link juice through the attached blogs features? They have both a free and paid service. Does anyone have any insight on this?
Social Media | | bronxpad0 -
Youtube SEO: Does your channel name / user name matter?
My predecessor left me a gift of what is arguably the worst kind of Youtube channel name: Our company's name condensed to an acronym with some additional gibberish that may or may not have meant something to her. In short: Our channel name will never be searched for, will never provide any ranking boost. Now our Youtube success has been very marginal so far: 31 subscribers, 7,300 video views. Given that situation, should I seriously consider scrapping my channel and starting something new with a keyword targeted channel name? Or does channel name matter so little that I should hold on to my 7300 video views?
Social Media | | AdoptionHelp0 -
Best social bookmarking sites
What are the best 5 ( or 10 ) social bookmarking sites to promote a new site ? If we were to launch a new site, what bookmarking sites would be beneficial to spread the word about it. Thanks
Social Media | | seoug_20050 -
Is there any SEO benefit to hosting your Facebook photos on your own site?
I will often post photos that I have taken to my Facebook page (either personal or my fan page). Sometimes these can get lots of likes. I got thinking that perhaps I host these photos on my site (i.e. www.example.com/images/photo1.jpg) and then share that "page" on Facebook. That way any of the likes would be counted towards my site. What do you guys think?
Social Media | | MarieHaynes0