Best SEO Checklist
ONE FOCUSED ACTION

Verify video URLs are not blocked by robots.txt.

Video SEO

1 checklist items

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    Why this matters

    Blocking video URLs in robots.txt prevents search engines from crawling and indexing video content, reducing visibility and discoverability.

    A STARTING-POINT EXAMPLE

    Hypothetical standard operating procedure

    Adapt this example to your site, access, tools, and change process. It is our suggested procedure, informed by the sources below.

    1. Review your robots.txt file for rules that disallow video-related URL patterns.
    2. Cross-check URLs listed in your video sitemap against the robots.txt disallow rules.
    3. Use Google Search Console 'URL Inspection' tool on video pages to check crawl status.
    4. Remove any disallow rules blocking video content URLs.
    5. Resubmit sitemap and monitor crawl coverage in Search Console.

    Watch for

    Robots.txt disallowing video playpage, content/player, or thumbnail URLs causes indexing failure and lost traffic.

    Definition of done

    All video-related URLs in sitemaps and pages are crawlable with no robots.txt disallow rules.

    Sources & attribution

    1. Google Videos Best Practices ↗
    2. Five common SEO mistakes (and six good ideas!) ↗

    Original checklist wording and example SOP by Best SEO Checklist, using source-grounded AI assistance. Editorial contact: Ted Kubaitis, @tedkubaitis on Teams. Check current source guidance before implementation.