Google recently expanded the video indexing report in Search Console, providing more specific reasons why a video may not appear prominently in search results.
The search giant hopes to help better optimize video content for viewability and discovery on its platforms.
More specific comments for webmasters
Previously, Search Console displayed a vague “Google could not determine the featured video on the page” error message when it encountered problems with video content.
Google breaks down the overall message into three specific reasons:
Video outside viewport Video too small Video too tall
The change offers clear and useful advice.
For example, change the position of the video so that it is inside the rendering area of the page and visible when it loads.
Or you may need to adjust the video size to meet specific Google criteria.
Potential impact of the changes
Changes to the video indexing report in Search Console may affect sites that receive traffic to pages with video content.
Google explains:
“By providing more accurate feedback on why a video may not be indexed, Google allows website owners to make the necessary changes that could improve the visibility of their video content on Google Search. This could lead to increased traffic on their websites, as long as the recommended changes are implemented and result in better video indexing and visibility.”
As video content plays a bigger role in the SERPs, appearing in video carousels and rich video snippets, it’s critical to ensure that Google is indexing it correctly.
Best practices for video indexing
While updates to Google’s video indexing report provide more specific reasons for indexing issues, they do not provide a comprehensive list of best practices.
However, based on the details provided and Google’s general guidelines, we can deduce the following best practices:
Place the videos inside the viewport. Make sure the video is the right size. Use video sitemaps and structured data. Make your video content files accessible to Googlebot. Provide clear and accurate metadata. Prioritize video quality and user engagement.
These practices can help improve video visibility on Google Search, improving user engagement and website traffic.
Gradual implementation of changes
You won’t immediately notice these changes in your video index report.
Google says it could take up to three months for historical data to clear before all new error reasons are displayed.
“Since the Search Console video indexing report shows 3 months of historical data, you may still see “Google could not determine the featured video on the page” in the report’s list of reasons ‘video indexing, but it has no effect on your pages.’
To sum up
While the new Search Console report provides more specific guidance on why a video might not be indexed, it’s up to you to take advantage of this information.
Understanding the issues affecting video indexing and implementing the necessary changes can improve the visibility of your video content and drive more traffic.
Featured image generated by the author via Midjourney.
source: Google
[ad_2]
Source link
