Video Sitemap Generator Increases Rankings
Posted by Dave in SEO, Traffic, Video
If you are using video to market your services or products and want to have visitors – and potential customers – show up at your site then there is one heavy weight player that you need to be aware of – Google.
Google has made it abundantly clear that video is important. They have even done us the favor of spelling out what you need to do to help Google find your video content so they can index and rank your video content in their search engine results.
Guess what? Google likes to see information about your video in a certain format. And I have to admit, it is not altogether pretty.
Google Video Sitemaps
There is a certain type of file, an xml file, that you can submit to Google that includes information about your videos.
This file provides details like a title, a description, the page the video is on, the location of the video content (this is different then the page the video is on), and a thumbnail of the video. Optionally, you can provide information regarding the video length, if and when the video expires, how many views the video has seen, when you published the video, descriptive tags, a category, is it family friendly or not, and any restrictions on where the video can be viewed.
Would you like to see what the file content looks like?
Told you it wasn’t pretty.
Video Sitemap Generator
If you are putting videos on Youtube, then what I am about to share isn’t relevant.
But if you are putting video content on your own sites – where you can control the visitor’s experience, and importantly, you own the content – then here is a way to generate a Google friendly video sitemap in just minutes.
I’ll start by saying that providing four of the five required pieces of information is very straightforward. It’s the last one that matters the most.
If you are using a professional video player like EZS3, then the location of the video content is typically “encrypted” to make it difficult for people to access your video directly. Unfortunately, this also makes it almost impossible to create a video sitemap.
Never fear, I wouldn’t lead you down this path without a solution.
EZS3 Sitemap Generator
Let’s assume you are using EZS3 to host your videos.
Using the EZS3 video sitemap generator provided here, type in the “easy” required stuff – location of the page that has the video on it, the video thumbnail location, title for the video, and a description of the video.
All that is left to do is provide the Video Content Location.
Go into your EZS3 account, find the video you want to create a sitemap for.
You can do this by:
1) Clicking on “Manage Players” for one of the supported formats like flv, MP3, Camtasia Studio, mov, wmv, etc.
2) Select Player to Edit – choose one of the videos and click on the “View Player” button.
3) Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on either “Javascript Code” or “HTML code”, click the Select Code button, then copy the content (Ctrl-C for the PC and Command-C for the Mac).
Now go back to the EZS3 video sitemap generator and paste in the contents you use copied to the Video Content Location box.
Now that the required information is out of the way, there are just a couple optional pieces of information I recommend you provide.
One of the them is the Video Duration and the other is Video Tags. Video Tags are short one or two word phrases that describe your video. For instance, if this article was a video, I would probably add “video sitemap“, “google” and “EZS3” as tags (one per line).
Finally, click on the Submit button at the bottom.
Create A Video Sitemap Page
If everything went well, then a new content box appeared at the top with instructions to “Copy and Paste this content into a .xml file, i.e. – video.xml, on your site.
Do just that. You don’t have to use the filename “video.xml”, that was just a suggestion. You could use something like “video-sitemap.xml”. Just make sure the filename ends with a .xml.
That’s it, you’re done. If you want, you can go over to the Google Webmaster area and submit your newly created video sitemap. Or …
Bonus
Here is an extra tip to help with getting your newly created video sitemap found.
If you use the Google XML sitemaps plugin with Wordpress, then from your Wordpress dashboard click on Settings > XML-Sitemaps, scroll about half way down the page and click on “Add new page”. Add the link to your newly created video sitemap, i.e. – http://www.example.com/video.xml, set the priority to 0.7, Change Frequency to Always, and add the current data in YYYY-MM-DD format. This will provide a link from our Google sitemap to your video sitemap.
Next, go to http://www.pingoat.com/, type in your site’s name, site’s URL, i.e. – http://www.example.com, and your video feed, i.e. – http://www.example.com/video.xml.
After I used pingoat, the Google bot found my video.xml file just 7 short seconds later. Sweet!
You Just Gave Google What It Wants
If Google finds your video content useful and relevant, you can expect to see more visitors to your video website.
Dave Wooding is a true genius when it comes to making the most out of this stuff. It should come as no surprise that he has also created an EasyVideoPlayer Video Sitemap Generator.
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23 Comments
07. Jun, 2010
Video sitemaps are totally HOT indeed! This is why I included this functionality natively inside my S3FlowShield plugin for WordPress.
If you are using WordPress and S3 to host your videos, the plugin will make it super simple to auto-generate a sitemap entry when you embed a video….and ping Google as well.
It automatically populates the sitemap info, such as category, tags, and even video views and ratings (if you enable this functionality in the plugin). Check out the features on the how-to page: http://www.s3flowshield.com/helpvideos/
Does not matter how you generate your sitemaps, as long as you DO IT!
Wil
07. Jun, 2010
Great post. Very interesting and a fantastic tool. I wish I knew that about 1 day ago.
07. Jun, 2010
Nice one Wil.
The reason I use an external player (EZs3) is I have content on many many sites. One player can be used across many many sites at once. Especially powerful for affiliates too! Your solution looks good for one or two dedicated sites.
07. Jun, 2010
James,
There is give and take for sure. One thing I do not like about services such as EZS3, which led me to develop the S3FlowShield plugin is the fact that once you start using that service, you are locked in. If you ever cancel, your videos will stop working (on all your sites). If they are ever down, your video will stop working (on all your sites). I could go on and on. My point is that I prefer to be locked into as few vendors as possible and keep as much control of the pieces of my business as I possibly can. The more critical the pieces are, the more concerned I get.
Not to mention that eliminating the monthly costs is a nice benefit as well.
Wil
P.S.: Remember that if your videos are stored on S3 (centralized), it is just as simple to embed them on a WordPress site with a plugin shortcode as it is to paste the EZS3 code…
07. Jun, 2010
Yes, agreed Wil.
At least with Amazon the videos are there all the time even if the player service fails one day.
EZs3 allows you to re-direct upon conclusion.
Affiliates can embed content on any page
You can measure analytics
You can create playlists
EZS3 gives you basic URL lockdown
EZS3 can be embeded into VBulletin protected membership areas
If I only had one or two blogs – yes – I would use a plugin.
07. Jun, 2010
I’ve heard good things about EZS3. I’ve talked to a few people who use it and they like it.
However…
I have first hand experience with S3FlowShield and it really kicks some booty. I’ve installed it, I’ve seen it in action and it’s great.
Wil also provides top notch support and frequent updates. You’ve gotta love that.
07. Jun, 2010
Cant comment on the plugin, looks pretty cool though.
But I’m definitely hooked on EZS3.
They’ve been adding some really cool features like redirects after videos / replacing your video with content or opt in box amongst other things.
Never had a problem with any of there players or anything, rock solid!
07. Jun, 2010
Thank you, I’ll be bookmarking this post for future reference.
The general consensus is that video ranks highly and is popular with the masses.
I myself enjoy watching videos as a learning medium, so I’m planning on adding videos on my sites to assist visitors who’d rather watch than read.
If adding a video site map will speed up the ranking process, then it’s a good thing for me and my readers.
I’m assuming if YouTube hosts your video, it’s not necessary to add a site map
Thanks again James and Dave
07. Jun, 2010
Hi James
Nice sitemap feature
Wil, nice software ap
Not sure where that rumour got started, but…
… if you cancel at eZs3.. your videos continue to play
(this has always been the case)
.. if our dedicated servers go down.. your videos continue to play
(We enabled playback from s3 in March)
The monthly cost.. I’ve always said that our return is the time saved making and deploying your media.. we will save you $20 in time…
We have a free version coming out – with a reduced feature set – so that should help those who have more time but less funds!
And we’ve developed an ‘expiring link’ option for those who are wanting extra protection for their files
One thing that is worth mentioning is that you can give your affiliates and partners your eZs3 embed script and they can play your video-ads…no plugins needed
TomC
Founder eZs3
07. Jun, 2010
I use the embed scripts with affiliates and it is awesome!!! They are streaming my podcasts all over the place and I can update it at my end.
(This can also be used for blog networks like an ad server)
07. Jun, 2010
@Tom,
Thanks for the updated info! I was told the videos would stop playing if the subscription was cancelled. I’m glad to hear that is not the case and will correct anyone who says so from now on!
Wil
07. Jun, 2010
@Mark,
re: Youtube. If you are embedding Youtube videos on your site, then creating a video sitemap makes sense. Otherwise, no need for one as Google does a good job of taking care of its own
Dave
07. Jun, 2010
Great post as always James you give us the most up to date breaking information as it becomes available.
tnx Graeme
08. Jun, 2010
Thanks for this James, really useful.
08. Jun, 2010
Video Sitemaps are totally awesome, that is why I build a Video Sitemap Generator WP Plugin that does all this described by James on autopilot every time you add a flash video to your blog.
10. Jun, 2010
Great post. I have been using Ezs3 for the past year and I am glad that they are finally implementing the expiring links function to protect content, which is the reason I purchased s3 Flowshield too.
Ezs3 just make it a lot easier to get your video up on your site fast. And if you want to make changes or upload a different start screen, the effect is global across all your videos no matter where you have embedded them.
11. Jun, 2010
Love video. It’s the actor in me! Ive been reading quite a bit about html5 and flash. I need my videos to play on the iPhone and iPad – the JW Player has a beta version I’m testing – so at the moment I’m opting for the S3, Player Plugin and Video Sitemap plugin. Anyway – exciting times – can’t be bored!
15. Jun, 2010
Fantastic to find this article today. I was actually using my EZS3 account to create a videos page on my site, and was debating on buying the $97 plugin formy WP site for video sitemap. Wonder why Tom does not promote this tool more often… Anyway – a big Florida thank you!
Scott
16. Jun, 2010
Thank you so much for this detailled information. I did not have to do any research myself, just had to read the series of comments and got all of my questions answered. I just made a number of videos and was wondering how to put them on my blog without having to upload them to Youtube. Great stuff!
Christine
17. Jun, 2010
How does this work for the MRSS version of a video sitemap? Because I know google supports this along with all the other video submission sites?
Because I created a .xml file just in notepad and then made a landing page on my site to where I can embed my youtube videos, but then read that I should’ve probably done the MRSS option.
Thanks!
17. Jun, 2010
@Dustin M.
The video sitemap generator here does not create a MRSS version.
Thanks.
Dave
21. Jun, 2010
An excellent piece of work yet again. I take away more from a lot of your free information than I get from paid for information that seems to be re-hashed by many of these so called “gurus”. Hats off to you! And cheers!
20. Aug, 2010
HMmm. very interesting. it’s also very useful. i hope to try this one..
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