ONPAGE · SEO GLOSSARY
Video SEO
Optimising video content so it appears in Google Video search results, the video carousel in web SERPs, and YouTube search — through structured data, transcripts, thumbnails, and hosting decisions.
Definition
Video SEO covers two distinct channels: ranking in Google's universal video search results (which appears in the main web SERP as a carousel or under the Videos tab), and ranking in YouTube search specifically. For Google web search, the key signal is VideoObject JSON-LD schema on the page hosting the video — providing name, description, thumbnailUrl, uploadDate, duration, and a contentUrl or embedUrl so Google can understand and index the video. For YouTube, the ranking signals are different: title, description, tags, click-through rate on the thumbnail, watch time, engagement (likes, comments, shares), and channel authority. Google often surfaces YouTube videos in web search results for how-to and tutorial queries even when the site doesn't implement VideoObject schema.
Why it matters for SEO
Video-format SERPs have high SERP real estate and strong CTR — video results stand out visually with thumbnails. For how-to, tutorial, review, and entertainment queries, video carousels appear above standard organic results. Implementing VideoObject schema can earn a video thumbnail display alongside your standard web result — effectively doubling the visual footprint of that result in the SERP. Key implementation: embed your video on a page with VideoObject JSON-LD, add a transcript (improves accessibility and provides text content for crawling), ensure the page has a clear H1 that matches the video topic, and submit the video sitemap via GSC.
How DeepSEOAnalysis checks this
The audit checks pages with embedded video (detected via `<iframe>` with YouTube/Vimeo src or `<video>` tags) for VideoObject JSON-LD presence, validates required properties (name, description, thumbnailUrl, uploadDate), and checks whether a video sitemap entry exists for pages with embedded video. Pages with embedded video but no VideoObject schema are flagged as structured data opportunities.
Useful tools and resources
GLOSSARY
Related terms
structured data
Schema Markup
A shared vocabulary of types and properties from Schema.org used to annotate web content in machine-readable format — enabling search engines to understand what content means, not just what it says, and to generate rich results.
Read definition →structured data
FAQPage Schema
JSON-LD structured data that marks Q&A pairs on a page so search engines and AI systems can display and cite them directly.
Read definition →structured data
HowTo Schema
JSON-LD structured data that marks step-by-step instructional content so search engines and AI systems can identify and cite procedural answers.
Read definition →onpage
Content Strategy
The plan for what content to create, for whom, targeting which keywords, and in what format and sequence — translating business goals and keyword research into a prioritised content production roadmap.
Read definition →See how your site scores on Video SEO.
The free DeepSEOAnalysis audit checks video seo and 100+ other signals. Full report, no signup.
Run a free audit →