XML Sitemap Extensions: Video, Image, and News Sitemaps Explained

XML Sitemap Extensions: Video, Image, and News Sitemaps Explained

Did you know that websites with video sitemaps see 41% more video impressions in search results? (Source: Brightcove)

While standard XML sitemaps help index web pages, specialized sitemaps take your SEO further by:
✔️ Getting videos, images, and news articles indexed faster
✔️ Appearing in specialized search results (Google Images, News, Video)
✔️ Providing rich metadata that boosts click-through rates

This guide breaks down the three most powerful sitemap extensions and how to implement them.

Video Sitemaps: Boost Your Video SEO

Why Use a Video Sitemap?

• Helps Google understand video content
• Enables video-rich snippets in SERPs
• Required for video indexing (especially for embedded videos)

Video Sitemap Example

xml

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<urlset xmlns=”http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9″

xmlns:video=”http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1″>

<url>

<loc>https://example.com/video-page</loc>

<video:video>

<video:title>How to Optimize Videos for SEO</video:title>

<video:description>Complete guide to video SEO best practices</video:description>

<video:thumbnail_loc>https://example.com/thumb.jpg</video:thumbnail_loc>

<video:content_loc>https://example.com/video.mp4</video:content_loc>

<video:duration>300</video:duration>

</video:video>

</url>

</urlset>

Key Tags Explained

*Required unless using <video:player_loc> for embedded videos

Implementation Tips

✅ Submit via Google Search Console
✅ Include all embedded videos (YouTube, Vimeo)
✅ Update when adding new videos

Image Sitemaps: Dominate Image Search

When to Use Image Sitemaps

• Your site relies on image traffic
• Images aren’t easily discoverable through page crawling
• You want to provide image metadata

Image Sitemap Example

xml

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<urlset xmlns=”http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9″

xmlns:image=”http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1″>

<url>

<loc>https://example.com/gallery</loc>

<image:image>

<image:loc>https://example.com/image1.jpg</image:loc>

<image:title>Modern Office Design</image:title>

<image:caption>Contemporary workspace with ergonomic furniture</image:caption>

</image:image>

</url>

</urlset>

Best Practices

✔️ Include high-quality original images
✔️ Add descriptive titles/captions (helps alt text)
✔️ Submit product images for e-commerce
❌ Don’t include stock photos or decorative images

News Sitemaps: Faster Indexing for Publishers

Requirements

• Must be Google News-approved publisher
• Content must be timely (news, blogs, articles)

News Sitemap Example

xml

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<urlset xmlns=”http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9″

xmlns:news=”http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9″>

<url>

<loc>https://example.com/news-article</loc>

<news:news>

<news:publication>

<news:name>The Daily Times</news:name>

<news:language>en</news:language>

</news:publication>

<news:publication_date>2023-11-20</news:publication_date>

<news:title>Breaking: New SEO Algorithm Update</news:title>

</news:news>

</url>

</urlset>

Key Features

• Articles appear in Google Newswithin hours
• Content stays in news index for ~30 days
• Requires daily submissionfor fresh content

Implementation Guide

Step 1: Generate Your Sitemaps

• CMS Plugins:Yoast SEO, Rank Math (auto-generate)
• Tools:Screaming Frog, XML-Sitemaps.com
• Custom Scripts:Python/Node.js for large sites

Step 2: Validate

• Check for errors using:

• Google Search Console
• Sitemap Validator

Step 3: Submit to Search Engines

1. Google Search Console> Sitemaps
2. Bing Webmaster Tools
3. News-specific submissionfor publishers
4. Advanced Tips

Combining Multiple Sitemap Types

xml

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<!– Master sitemap.xml –>

<sitemapindex>

<sitemap>

<loc>https://example.com/sitemap-images.xml</loc>

</sitemap>

<sitemap>

<loc>https://example.com/sitemap-videos.xml</loc>

</sitemap>

</sitemapindex>

Dynamic Generation for Large Sites

python

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# Python example for news sitemap

import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

from datetime import datetime

def generate_news_sitemap(articles):

urlset = ET.Element(“urlset”, xmlns=”…”)

for article in articles:

if article.is_news and article.published_last_24h():

url = ET.SubElement(urlset, “url”)

ET.SubElement(url, “loc”).text = article.url

# Add news tags…

return ET.tostring(urlset)

Case Study: 3X More Image Traffic

Problem:
A photography site had 10,000+ images but minimal image search traffic.

Solution:

1. Created dedicated image sitemap
2. Added detailed metadata (titles, captions)
3. Submitted via Search Console

Result:
✅ 300% increase in image search impressions
✅ 45% more traffic from Google Images

7. Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Duplicate submissions (same media in multiple sitemaps)
❌ Incorrect dates (especially for news)
❌ Broken media URLs (404 errors hurt indexing)
❌ Missing required fields (like video thumbnails)

Next Steps

Specialized sitemaps help you:
✔️ Appear in more search verticals (Images, Video, News)
✔️ Provide richer metadata for better CTR
✔️ Get content indexed faster

Action Plan:

1. Audit your media content
2. Generate appropriate sitemaps
3. Submit and monitor performance