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
-
Google Indexed Images: Website Vs Social Media
I use Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram to post images that are already featured on my website. I have been following a routine of uploading the images to these social media platforms only after I can see Google has indexed the image from my original site. My website is ecommerce and the product images drive sales more than any other factor. The thinking behind my method was that when these images are posted on Pinterest, Twitter and the various Instagram crawler sites (I realise Instagram images aren’t indexed directly), Google would recognise that the image was already attributed to my website. The ‘duplicate’ image would not therefore be indexed and the originally uploaded website image would remain in ‘Google Images’. After completing various searches and reviewing other Q&A’s on Moz, it seems as though this is in no way guaranteed and images reposted on social media platforms may still replace the already indexed image from the website. I am assuming this is because Google views these platforms as more authoritative than mine. I usually change the image by adding logos, text, backgrounds, borders etc before posting on Pinterest and this seems to have worked most of the time (both the original and ‘amended for Pinterest’ versions are often indexed) but images posted on other platforms are usually identical. Does it make sense to continue with my method or am I shooting myself in the foot by reposting these images on social media at all? I obviously want customers searching for products, who then click on an image, to be directed to my site rather than one of my social media pages or worse, an image reposting site. Additionally, If I post images on social media before they are uploaded to my website (for example to tease a product launch), would Google likely class these images as the ‘original’ and therefore be less likely to index the website version of the image once it is uploaded? Any thoughts are appreciated.
Social Media | | g3mmab2 -
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 Facebook Ad equivalent to Google MCC?
Hi Mozzers, Really unsure if we are missing something here, but whilst trying to set-up paid ads for some of our clients on FB we have run into a significant issue. We need to be able to allow FB to debit multiple business accounts for varying ads on different pages. However every time we try to access the ads manager to set-up a new ad, FB takes us to the individuals (the person logged in to the page) account, rather than creating an ad account for that page/business individually. What are we missing? We use Google MCC for managing our PPC campaigns and so wondered if there is anything similar we can use for FB? Or any other recommendations on how to get round this without dragging each client into the office and asking them to log-in so that we can set these up? Thanks!
Social Media | | Silkstream1 -
How do I merge a google+ and a youtube account?
Before Google merged Google+ and Youtube, we had opened a Google+ account for our business from one email account and a separate account on youtube from a separate account. Now that Google merged the two channels, it created a new G+ page for our youtube account. but I want to merge the youtube account with our formal Google+ page. How do I go about doing that Thank you Joni
Social Media | | JonsonSwartz1 -
How Can I do SEO for a Escorts Website?
So here comes the hard part of working with SEO.... I've been doing SEO for a quite long time now and as far as I concern, it has been working and that's why I can tell people I'm a SEO Manager! It was all good until 3/4 months ago when I got this client that wanted me to do SEO for his Escort Agency. I've analysed his website and came across some structure error, poor linking and so on... I've started by reformulating his website, re-structuring his urls, keeping good pages and throwing alway the poor content ones, requested some website owners to remove links to that website and so on.... All good and sorted, but when it came to do the off-page optimisation it became a nightmare! It's pretty easy to get links for a clothing website or any other (not "obscure") kind of websites, but no serious and authority websites would link to an escort agency; It's also very easy to create something funny and nice and post it on a page of your website to get people sharing and liking on facebook, but again very hard to get people to share and like things posted by an escort agency... You can't really advertise on escorts directories and use keywords on the ad because godfather google would penalize you.... I really don't know what to do anymore, so I will list some questions and if guys SEO experts could help me out, I would be so grateful!!! How can I get people linking to the website without paying for it? How can I get good authority links to this kind of website? How can I advertise on paid directories without being penalised by google? How can i get shares and likes on social network websites? The website has about 3000 pages, been online since 2010, have at least 3 lengthy articles posted a day! Please guys help me out with this case that is making me loose my nights of sleep... If you guys need the website address and the targeted keyword I can PM you (I dont know if the forum allows me to post it here) Thank You so much for the help in advance....
Social Media | | douglasapuc8 -
Similar Sites to CrunchBase
Hi All, Are there any similar sites to CrunchBase in that you can submit your blogs, websites, social profiles etc all to one central 'People' type page? I'm after high quality directories like this that allow you to create profiles to link to all your other profiles. Only after quality sites like CrunchBase, not spammy ones. Any suggestions? Many thanks
Social Media | | bradkrussell0 -
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 -
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