Google has recently overhauled its Video SEO guidelines, offering valuable insights into enhancing your content's performance. This update highlights four essential strategies that digital marketers and publishers can use to improve their site's relevance both for visitors and for Google's search algorithms.
What Has Changed?
Google's latest update focuses on optimizing web pages with video content. The revised documentation outlines best practices to increase video visibility in search results.
The changelog identifies three primary updates to the Video SEO best practices:
- Clearer Video Indexing Criteria
- Revised Technical Requirements
- Introduction of Dedicated Watch Pages for Each Video
According to Google’s changelog, the changes were made to clarify eligibility for video results and to guide site owners in making their videos more discoverable by Google.
Four Reasons to Refresh Your Content
Many people mistakenly believe that content must be updated frequently just to keep it "fresh" in Google's eyes. However, updating content should be done with a clear purpose in mind, not just for the sake of change.
Here are four key reasons why Google updated its Video SEO content, which can serve as a guide for when and how to refresh your own content.
1. Remove Outdated Content
As video content has become more established, the old documentation became outdated. For instance, previous references to video as a "growing format" were no longer relevant and were removed.
Takeaway: Ensure your content remains current and relevant to your audience. Outdated content can diminish your authority and trustworthiness.
2. Improve Information Density
Information density refers to how effectively content conveys ideas with minimal words and maximum clarity. The old documentation had an opening sentence that was vague and didn’t fully capture the topic. The new version gets straight to the point:
"If you have videos on your site, following these video SEO best practices can help more people find your site through video results on Google."
This new opening sentence clearly communicates the topic in just 23 words.
Takeaway: Revise only what’s necessary. If something is already effective, there’s no need to change it.
3. Add Fresh Information
As industries evolve, so should your content. Google added new information about tools in Google Search Console that help publishers track the performance of their video pages.
Takeaway: Regularly update your content to reflect changes in your industry, products, or services. Fresh information keeps your content relevant and useful.
4. Update for Brevity and Clarity
One of the key changes in Google’s update was simplifying the language to make it easier to understand. For example, the term "landing page" was replaced with "watch page" to more accurately describe pages where videos are viewed.
Takeaway: Simplify your language and make your content more concise to enhance readability and comprehension.
Why You Should Regularly Update Your Content
Regular content reviews are crucial for maintaining relevance and discovering new opportunities. Whether it’s a yearly review for smaller sites or monthly updates for larger ones, keeping content up-to-date is essential for staying aligned with your audience's needs and search engine algorithms. Sometimes, it might even be beneficial to create dedicated pages for specific topics to enhance clarity and focus.
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