Video SEO Basics: Getting Your Videos Found

Videos can appear in Google’s main results, the Videos tab and YouTube search. Search engines cannot watch a video the way people do, so they rely on titles, descriptions, transcripts, thumbnails and structured data to understand it.

Choose where the video lives

• YouTube: large audience and its own search, but the click may stay on YouTube.
• Your own site: visitors stay with you; you need a page where the video is the main content.
• Both: common for small businesses; upload to YouTube and embed on a relevant page with useful text around it.

Titles and descriptions

• Describe what the viewer will learn or see: “How to bleed a radiator in 3 minutes”.
• Write a description that summarizes the video and adds key steps or links.
• Add chapters/timestamps for longer videos.

Transcripts and captions

Captions help viewers watching without sound and people who are deaf or hard of hearing. A transcript on the page also gives search engines text to understand the video. Check auto-generated captions for errors before publishing.

Thumbnails

Use a clear, high-quality thumbnail that represents the content honestly. Misleading thumbnails may get clicks but hurt watch time and trust.

Help Google find videos on your site

• Make the video prominent on a dedicated page, not hidden in a tab.
• Use standard embed or <video> elements that Google can detect.
• Add VideoObject structured data with name, description, thumbnail and upload date.
• Optionally list videos in a video sitemap.

Google’s video best practices cover the technical requirements.

Video ideas for small businesses

• Short how-to answers to common customer questions.
• Product demonstrations.
• A tour of your location or process.
• Before/after project walk-throughs (with permission).

Pair each video with written content so the page is useful even for people who prefer reading; see FAQ content.