What is Video Schema?
Video Schema (Schema.org VideoObject) describes your video for search engines: title, description,
upload date, duration, thumbnails, file/stream URL, and player embed URL. Correct markup improves understanding,
indexing, and eligibility for enhanced video features.
How to Implement
- Enter your video title, page URL, and description.
- Use the YouTube autofill (optional) to pull core metadata and thumbnails.
- Add
contentUrl (file/stream) and/or embedUrl (player iframe) when available.
- Include
uploadDate (YYYY-MM-DD) and duration (ISO 8601, e.g., PT2M30S).
- Provide multiple thumbnailUrl variants for better coverage.
- Copy the generated JSON-LD and paste it in your page’s
<head> or just before </body>.
- Validate with Google’s Rich Results Test and keep metadata in sync with the visible page content.
Common Properties Explained
- contentUrl: Direct link to the video file/stream (if public/crawlable).
- embedUrl: Player URL (e.g., YouTube/Vimeo iframe).
- thumbnailUrl: One or more high-quality thumbnail URLs.
- isPartOf: Attach a series/playlist node to connect related videos.
- interactionStatistic: Optional watch count via
InteractionCounter.
- publisher / creator: Organization or person behind the video.
Best Practices
- Keep titles and descriptions concise and accurate. Avoid keyword stuffing.
- Host accessible thumbnails (200x200+; larger is better). Use multiple sizes.
- If using YouTube only, still include the canonical page URL where the video lives on your site.
- Ensure the video is actually visible and playable on the page you’re marking up.
- Keep schema synchronized with page content (dates, titles, durations, availability).
Troubleshooting
- No thumbnails detected? Confirm URLs are reachable and not blocked by robots.
- Duration errors? Use ISO 8601 format like PT45S, PT2M30S, PT1H05M.
- Validation issues? Test in the Rich Results Test and fix flagged fields first.
- YouTube metadata missing? Try again or fill fields manually. Some videos restrict oEmbed.
