Google SEO Optimization
This is a beta offering. By using this documentation, you are agreeing to abide by the terms of the JW Player Beta Program Agreement. If you would like to try this Beta product, please contact our team.
When Google is able to crawl video SEO information, your videos can:
- Achieve better rankings in Google searches
- Gain more web traffic
- Appear in Google's Key Moments
To provide you the opportunity to benefit from these Google features, JW Player has incorporated Google SEO optimizations to ensure Google’s Search Crawlers can effectively read JW Player’s SEO object.
Requirements
JW Player 8.24.0+ | Either the javascript single line embed or the advanced, on-page embeds can be used. iFrame-based embeds from the JW Player dashboard cannot currently be used with this feature. |
Non-protected video content | Even if Google SEO Optimization is enabled, protected media types cannot be indexed by Google's search crawlers, such as the following:
|
Enable Google SEO optimization
When the generateSEOMetadata parameter is enabled, JW Player populates the VideoObject. Google's search crawlers use the VideoObject to index content.
Use the following step to enable Google SEO Optimization:
- When initializing the player, set
"generateSEOMetadata": truewithinsetup().
Key Moments
When Google SEO optimization is enabled, Key Moments is automatically enabled as well. Key Moments allows users to navigate video segments like chapters in a book within Google Search. To determine a Key Moment, Google Search Crawlers use one of the methods in the following table:
Approach | Description |
|---|---|
WebVTT analysis | If a web video text track (.vtt) file with defined chapters is associated with the video, the chapters will be proposed to the Google Search Crawlers as Key Moments to show up in Google Search. You can define specific timestamps of interest by creating a chapter .vtt file and associating it with a media item in your JW Player library. JW Player populates the Clip object. |
Video analysis | If no .vtt file is detected, Google Search Crawlers may automatically determine Key Moments based on AI. JW Player populates the SeekToAction object. |
Best Practices
In addition to enabling JW Player's Google SEO Optimization feature, the following best practices contribute to improving video SEO and Key Moment inclusion:
- Embed the web player in a video-prominent page format
- Include video sitemaps
- Ensure videos have quality thumbnails and metadata
- Enable robots to crawl your pages in the robots.txt file
For more best practices information, refer to Google Video Best Practices.
Verify Google indexing status
There are two primary ways that Google offers to verify a page’s indexing status: Google Search Console and Google Rich Results Test.
With regards to JW Player results, there should be a Video section detected. The presence of a video section can be verified using Google’s Rich Results Status reports or URL Inspection Tool.
Updated 28 days ago