ReelSEO ► Video SEO ► Successful Google SERP Video Thumbnail Experiment

Successful Google SERP Video Thumbnail Experiment

  |  5 years ago   |  
Successful Google SERP Video Thumbnail Experiment

So, I have been trying a little experiment. I was wondering if I could figure out how to get a video thumbnail in the Google universal SERPS. What I could could then use a video of my logo to show a logo next to my site's home page listing in Google SERPs? Mission Successful! 

I should mention as well..  100% White-hat.

Although I will be removing this in a few hours, if you search "reelseo" or "reel seo" in Google for my site name, you will see the following result. I only wish I had taken more time to write the Title and Description, as they are awful ;-). Either way, the thumbnail is there.

Successful Google SERP Video Thumbnail Experiment

Posted in Video SEO
2013 Video Marketing Summit
Related Stories ▼
About the Author -
Mark Robertson is the Founder and Publisher of ReelSEO, an online information resource dedicated to the fusion of video, technology, social media, search, and internet marketing. He is a professional online video marketing consultant and video marketing expert, popular speaker, and considered to be a passionate leader within the online video and search marketing industries. View All Posts By -

What do you think? ▼
  • http://mikeabundo.com Mike Abundo

    You wrote a Google Video Sitemap entry for your homepage. Very clever.

  • Jeff Martin

    Hi Marc - could you provide some insight on how you achieved this?

    Thanks!

    JM

  • http://www.reelseo.com/about/mark/ Mark Robertson

    Well, unfortunately, I cant duplicate the results again so I dont want to provide advice that wont work... ;-( I will say that it is crucial to have a google video sitemap for this.

  • Tanya Morris

    I have been trying to figure this out for hours, well many days. I use a CSS editor. If you know how to do this would you please share. I am in Alaska. We need to reach out with all we got!!!

    Squirrel

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/reelseo Mark Robertson

      Do you host your own videos?

  • http://superstoker.com/ dave

    im curious to know moer about this also. Thumbnails are showing in SERP for my site, but I have NO idea where the thumbnail that is being used is coming from!

    • http://www.reelseo.com/ Mark Robertson

      Looks like it is coming from the img_src in your header meta tags. What
      platform is your site on BTW, wordpress?

      • http://superstoker.com/ dave

        Hey Mark thanks for the reply, ya its on WP

        I was guessing it was the image_src meta tag also, however, the meta tag is pointing to a small thumbnail image (35x28) and the thumbnail in the SERPs is 80x60 but it's not a scaled version of the 35x28 or else the quality would be much worse. It may be the case that several months ago I had a larger version of the image in the image_src tag, I can't remember at all, and perhaps google still has a cache of this image, that is the best explanation I can think of at the moment. Anyway, thanks for providing your opinion that the image does in fact come from the image_src tag because thumbnails for each post will be introduced in the upcoming redesign, and they will be included in this tag, so ultimately I just want to make sure that they will show up in the SERPs appropriately. I'm also interested to find out what is the best image size for thumbnails, based on the 80x60 images I'm guessing I want to maintain this ratio.

        Thanks the help, any additional info is greatly appreciated. Cheers!

        • http://www.reelseo.com/ Mark Robertson

          What plugin are you using to generate that thumbnail source meta tag,
          or is it just a custom field you are using? I couldn't find one, but
          you aren't using a video sitemap are you? I saw the regular one

        • http://superstoker.com/ dave

          not using anything to generate the thumbnail tag at the moment, it's just hardcoded. no i'm not using video sitemap, just started hearing about that (probably on this site) and it's on my todo list to learn more about :)

        • http://davidlawton.com/ dave

          Hey Mark,
          Any tips for generating a video sitemap? I can't find anything useful. There are plugins like FLV embed that will do it, but most of my videos are just embedded from youtube or elsewhere so this doesn't help. I'm looking for software to do the trick but not having any luck.

          Cheers!
          David

        • http://www.reelseo.com/ Mark Robertson

          Unfortunately, videos from YouTube don't do well in video sitemaps, or at
          least, Ive had no success in getting those indexed for my own URL. If you
          are hosting your own videos or have an MRSS feed, it tends to work quite
          well.

        • http://www.bridesguidetoweddingphotography.com/thebook.html chilejam

          Hi Mark,

          I'm just starting my search to learn how to get Thumbnails to appear next to my video lists on Google. Have you learned any more or can you point me to a place where I can learn how to do this. I see the thumbnails often and I'd love to get mine to appear.

          Thanks for the help,

          Michael

↑ Top