SEOmediumtechnical

Add VideoObject schema to video pages

rule · video

VideoObject schema markup tells Google exactly what a video is about, enabling it to surface your video in dedicated video carousels, the Video tab, and Google Discover.

Code Example

HTML

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "VideoObject",
  "name": "How to Build a Next.js App from Scratch",
  "description": "A step-by-step tutorial covering Next.js 14 App Router, data fetching, and deployment.",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://example.com/images/nextjs-tutorial-thumb.jpg",
  "uploadDate": "2025-02-15T10:00:00+00:00"
}
</script>

Why It Matters

Pages with valid VideoObject schema are eligible for video-specific rich results and carousels in Google Search — a visibility advantage that pages without schema cannot access.

Full Recommended Schema

HTML

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "VideoObject",
  "name": "How to Build a Next.js App from Scratch",
  "description": "A step-by-step tutorial covering Next.js 14 App Router, data fetching, and deployment to Vercel.",
  "thumbnailUrl": [
    "https://example.com/images/nextjs-tutorial-thumb.jpg"
  ],
  "uploadDate": "2025-02-15T10:00:00+00:00",
  "duration": "PT12M30S",
  "contentUrl": "https://example.com/videos/nextjs-tutorial.mp4",
  "embedUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "interactionStatistic": {
    "@type": "InteractionCounter",
    "interactionType": { "@type": "WatchAction" },
    "userInteractionCount": 5482
  },
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Smith"
  }
}
</script>

Required Properties

Property	Required	Format
`name`	Yes	String — video title
`description`	Yes	String — video description
`thumbnailUrl`	Yes	Absolute URL(s), min 60×30 px
`uploadDate`	Yes	ISO 8601 (e.g., `2025-02-15T10:00:00+00:00`)

Recommended Properties

Property	Format	Notes
`contentUrl`	Absolute URL	Direct link to the video file
`embedUrl`	Absolute URL	YouTube/Vimeo embed iframe URL
`duration`	ISO 8601 duration (`PT1H2M30S`)	Used in search result display
`expires`	ISO 8601 datetime	If video will become unavailable

YouTube Embed Example

HTML

<!-- Page with embedded YouTube video -->
<iframe
  src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID"
  title="How to Build a Next.js App"
  allowfullscreen>
</iframe>
 
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "VideoObject",
  "name": "How to Build a Next.js App",
  "description": "Complete tutorial...",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "uploadDate": "2025-02-15",
  "embedUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID"
}
</script>

Note: YouTube thumbnails follow the img.youtube.com/vi/{VIDEO_ID}/maxresdefault.jpg pattern.

Validation

Google Rich Results Test (opens in a new tab) — check for VideoObject eligibility
Google Search Console → Rich Results → Video — monitor impressions after deployment

Exceptions

Only add or enforce schema types that the page can truthfully support; irrelevant structured data is worse than no structured data.
A technically valid schema block can still be misleading if the page content does not visibly back it up; audit rendered content and schema together.
If indexability, canonical-url, or main content quality is wrong, fix that foundation before optimizing schema details.

Verification

Automated Checks

Inspect rendered HTML and HTTP headers to confirm the expected metadata or crawlability signal is present.
Test the affected URL with Google Search Console or equivalent tooling where relevant.
Re-crawl a representative page set after deployment.

Manual Checks

Confirm the change does not create conflicting canonical-url, robots, or structured-data signals.