Undoing Video SEO

[CPollock]

Ok, so here's a good one for you.  I was ranking well (2-3rd) position when I got it into my head that I should implement some video SEO to get the video to appear next to my ranking.  Well I did that with the help of Wistia.  Only problem is my 2-3 ranking become 4-5, and I also became convinced that the page seemed less desirable as video content when I saw it in the rankings.  So... I want to undo what I did.

I removed the video sitemap and the SEO video markup from wistia, but it's been weeks and Google has still got me listed as video content.  Any thoughts on how to accelerate the undoing of this damage?

[jesse-landry]

I can't imagine adding a video to your SERP affected your positioning. That wouldn't make any sense. If it affected your CTR.. that's another story. Don't know why it would hurt but it absolutely could based on target audience/user confusion.

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately... I feel like when people see a video link next to a SERP they assume it's some youtube thing they want nothing to do with. (again depends on the target audience).. This is too new of an option for people and it worries me.

I'm not sure how to accelerate this. I'm assuming you've updated your sitemap.. wait you said you did huh. shoot. Uhh.. I don't know. Seems like Wistia could help you.

Still your CTR might also have been affected by the fact that your ranking fell. Which again I contend was merely coincidental with the video placement in your SERP. In other words, the best thing you can do is continue creating content and promoting your site in order to build organic relevant links and boost your rankings. Dropping 1-2 spots is nothing more than a fluctuation that will occur when competition is beating your SEO tactics... (usually.)

Sorry if this was no help. Good luck!

[PhilNottingham]

So - the first thing I'd suggest doing is really making sure that the video has been negative for you. Rankings are not the be all and end all and if you've got more organic traffic to the page than prior to having the video snippet, it's actually been a positive rather than a negative move. Also don't take keyword data too seriously on this, because any significant level of (not provided) will render it worthless.

However... If you do want to remove the video, it can be difficult. For some reason, Google seem loathe to deindex a video from a page once they've started ranking a page with that rich snippet.

Your best bet is just to resubmit your refreshed video sitemap, resubmit the page to GWMT and hope for the best. However, as mentioned, I have seen all sorts of weird things happening with the way Google are currently treated video content and so I'm afraid I can't guarantee that'll work. To get your rankings back, you're just gonna have to keep building good links.

Cheers,

Phil.

[CPollock]

Ugh... not the answer I was looking for.  I've removed all the things that would tell google that there is video on the page.  I just wasn't sure if there was anything else I could do.

Thanks!