A video sitemap is a special document that helps search engines like Google find, and therefore index, your videos. This is a key part of video SEO. Essentially it is a specially-formatted list of all of the pages that have a video on them, along with data about each video (such as its title and duration).
It differs from a regular sitemap - which will comprise of a series of links pointing to pages containing any kind of content - since it is specifically for URLs that have a video embedded on them. However throughout the Vidbeo platform and our documentation we will use sitemap and video sitemap interchangeably, since video sitemaps are the only kind we make use of.
Search engines may actually be able to locate your videos without a video sitemap. However they recommend that you submit one to assist with the process.
Updated: September 25, 2023