Google recommends placing videos on dedicated pages for maximum exposure

Google has updated its video best practices help document to add a section around how to help your video gain maximum exposure in Google Search. The updated section says “to give your videos maximum exposure, create a dedicated page for each video, where the video is the most prominent subject on the page.

Dedicated page for video. In short, if you want the video to perform its best in Google Search, Google said place that video on its own dedicated page, and make sure the video is placed in the “most prominent” area of the page.

Video placement. Google said not only should you place the video on its own dedicated page but also it should be placed in as “prominent subject the on the page.” Google even illustrated the video placement on the page in this graphic below, showing the video location at the top of the page:

Rich results may require it. Google also added that some Google Search features, like key moments, live badges, and some rich results, require the video to have its own dedicated page. Google wrote “Some features require that type of video page, including Key Moments, the Live Badge, and other rich result formats.”

Video placed in multiple locations. Google said this is not to say that you cannot place the video on other pages of your web site – you can. Google said “it’s fine to include the same video on both a dedicated page and its original page alongside other information, like a news article or a product detail page.” But you should also look for a way to place this video on its own dedicated page.

Why we care. Here Google is providing direct and clear advice that if you want your videos to perform better in Google Search, then give that video its own dedicated landing page, with prominent placement on that page.

It probably also makes sense to add the video title, description and even the transcript of the video on that page.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.