How to Make Videos Appear in Google Learning Video Rich Results
Video marketing is here to stay. Cisco predicts 82 percent of all internet traffic will be video by 2022. Also, according to HubSpot, 53 percent of users want to see more video content.
If video is part of your digital marketing strategy, you’ll want to pay attention to the new learning video rich results from Google. This structured markup is fast becoming a cornerstone of video SEO for learning content.
So what is it, why does it matter, and (more importantly) how do you optimize for learning video rich results?
Here is what you need to know to implement this feature.
What Are Learning Video Rich Results, and Why Are They Important?
Learning video markup is structured data that displays key moments in educational videos, along with a short description and a time stamp, right in the search results. This allows users to see what topics a video covers and quickly skip to the most relevant part of a video.
According to Google, it is designed to provide more search visibility for educational video content.
A few notes about this new type of markup: learning video rich results only display in English, though they’re available anywhere Google Search is available.
They can show up on both mobile and desktop search results, but remember, this feature is only available for learning-related content.
Why is this new markup significant? There are a few reasons why digital marketers should be paying attention.
First, schema markup helps SEO by making it easier for Google to understand what a video is about. From a user perspective, it helps users quickly find the information they need without watching an entire video.
Even better, the video rich results have a CTR of 62 percent, making it one of the top-performing rich result types.
Learning video rich results also take up more space in the search results, helping to increase visibility and click-through rates.
Here’s a look at the space a normal video takes up in the search results and another with rich results:
The rich result is bigger and far more useful than the standard video search result.
According to Google, publishers can add this markup to educational videos at any stage, from preschool to professional training.
Technical Implementation Guidelines for Learning Video Rich Results
To use this new feature, Google requires a few technical adjustments. First, your video must be educational content. Then, take these steps:
- In addition to the Learning Video markup, Google requires adding the VideoObject schema markup, which includes a description, name, thumbnail URL, and upload date.
- Your video must be public and cannot require a subscription to watch.
- Video must be at least 30 seconds in length. (Though I suspect longer videos are more likely to be selected for rich results since they can be more comprehensive.)
- Learning Video markup must be added to the page where users can watch the video.
Then, like other rich results, it’s up to Google to decide which video will show up in the search results with these features.
You can optimize for the feature, but you can’t make Google choose your website.
Types of Learning Video Rich Results Properties
Learning video rich results display more information about concepts and skills taught in the video. In addition to the video object markup, there are several other properties Google suggests adding.
These include:
- educationalLevel, educationalAlignment, or learningResourceType : Tell Google the educational level, test, or exam the video is related to, such as “common core” or “SAT test.”
- hasPart: A list of clips in the video that defines what each clip is about, including options like problem walk through, overview of a concept, or the text of the problem being solved.
These parts of the coding are crucial to helping Google understand what concepts the video covers.
