Video sitemap generator
Give Google the details it needs to show your videos in video results: thumbnail, title, description and the video file or player.
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How it works
Each video is described inside the <url> of the page that hosts it. Google needs a thumbnail, a title, a description, and either the raw video file (<video:content_loc>) or a player URL (<video:player_loc>). The generator picks player_loc automatically for embed and player URLs.
Video sitemaps help Google discover videos, but the page itself still has to show the video prominently for it to appear in video results.
The rules
- Declare xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1".
- Required: thumbnail_loc, title, description, and content_loc or player_loc.
- Description: at most 2,048 characters. Duration: 1 to 28,800 seconds (8 hours).
- The video URL must not be the same as the page URL.
Source: Google: Video sitemaps. Check the finished file with the sitemap validator; it recognises all four extensions.
Questions people ask
Can I use a video sitemap for YouTube videos?
You can list your own pages that embed YouTube videos, using the embed URL as
player_loc. You cannot list youtube.com watch pages, since the sitemap only covers your own site.Is VideoObject structured data better than a video sitemap?
They do the same job in different places, and Google supports both. Many sites use structured data on the page and a video sitemap for discovery. Keep the details consistent between them.
Which optional tags still matter?
Duration, publication_date, expiration_date, family_friendly, restriction and live are still read. Google deprecated several others (category, gallery_loc, price, tvshow, tag) in 2022.