Video SEO

Video SEO, defined

Video SEO is about helping videos on your site, or on platforms such as YouTube, be found in search. For your own site, Google's video best practices recommend a dedicated watch page for each video, crawlable video files or embeds, a thumbnail, a clear title and description, and optionally VideoObject structured data.

An example from a UK business

A driving instructor records short videos explaining roundabouts and manoeuvres, uploads them to YouTube and embeds each one on a page with a written summary. Learners find them on YouTube, and some click through to his site to book lessons.

What to avoid

• Burying videos in sliders or tabs that Google can't access.
• Publishing videos with no title, description or context.
• Putting many unrelated videos on one page.
• Making videos too long for the question they answer.

A quick check you can do now

Search Console's Video indexing report shows whether Google found and indexed videos on your pages. Search your topic on Google and switch to the Videos tab to see what ranks. Make sure each important video has its own page with supporting text, not just a gallery of embeds.

What it changes for you

Video results appear for many how-to and service searches. A short, genuine video, such as a walkthrough of a finished kitchen or an explanation of what happens at a first appointment, can build trust faster than text. Hosting on YouTube and embedding on your site can reach people in both places.

Short videos also work well on Business Profiles and social platforms, so one recording can be used several times. Keep the video on your own site supported by text, because search engines rely on text to understand it.

Other on-page terms

• Image SEO: Filenames, alt text, compression and placement for images.
• SERP feature: Non-classic result units such as maps, videos or AI Overviews.
• Schema (structured data): Standardised markup that clarifies entities for search engines.