A good YouTube description can engage your audience and lead to longer watch times, better views and even new subscribers. Also, it can help with YouTube SEO by allowing the YouTube algorithm to understand your content and suggest it to new users, further improving your YouTube stats.
Writing these descriptions is a important part of your overall YouTube strategy. But how do you create descriptions that work? Here are some of our favorite tips for filling out that YouTube description field.
Reading: How to create a good youtube channel description
What is a description on YouTube?
There are two types of descriptions every marketer should know about :
- YouTube channel descriptions. The text on your channel’s About page. It helps viewers understand what to expect from your brand and can be used to explain why they should subscribe to your channel.
- YouTube video descriptions. The text below each video. It helps viewers find your video content and convinces them to watch it. It may also contain links and additional information relevant to your video.
17 Tips for Writing YouTube Descriptions
1. Be specific
Choosing your keywords is important for both YouTube channel and video descriptions.
The keywords in your descriptions help YouTube’s algorithm to understand your content, to categorize and display. The more specific the keywords are, the better.
For example, Internet teletext for a video about writing descriptions for YouTube videos is a less useful keyword than YouTube video descriptions.
2. Do some keyword research
Not sure which keywords to use? Tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner and Google Trends can help you get started.
For example, Google Trends can help you understand if a keyword you’re considering is trending. You can also use the tool to decide which keywords have higher search volume.
Source: Google Trends
3 . Use searchable keywords
More and more people are finding YouTube videos through Google search rather than YouTube itself.
Combine keywords based on YouTube and Google search trends to find the Maximize discoverability of your video.
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To see how much potential a particular keyword has to show up in Google search results, just… Google it. If you notice YouTube videos at the top of the search results page, you’re on the right track!
4. Knowing How to Use Keywords
Once you’ve identified your keywords, it pays to know how to include them in the text of your descriptions.
Try, two or three related keywords to use in each channel and video description. For videos, the main keyword should also appear in the title.
Repeat each keyword 2-3 times in the description to make it stand out for the YouTube algorithm.
But avoid repeating the keywords too often or you risk being penalized for keyword stuffing.
5. Knowing Where to Use Your Keywords
Your primary keywords should appear at least once in the first three sentences of your description (or “above the fold”, aka the ” SHOW MORE”). .
YouTube’s algorithm – and viewers – pay the most attention to this part of the description. So don’t wait until the end to say what your video or channel is about.
6. Track which keywords work for you
Once you start writing If you started from keyword-driven YouTube descriptions, you can use YouTube Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from.
Source: YouTube Creator Academy
This tool helps you focus on the keywords that bring you the most traffic.
7. Find out what else your audience is watching
By 2021, more YouTube traffic will come from the suggested video ad than from the search bar.
Your video’s description is part of the Description of YouTube Algorithm finds out what it’s all about. This means that the description plays a crucial role in where your video is suggested.
Take advantage of this by using YouTube Analytics to find out what other videos your audience is watching.
You can then use similar language in your descriptions to reinforce these connections and appear more frequently as a suggested video.
8. Offer value
Always include an obvious value proposition in your descriptions. Why would someone subscribe to your channel? How will they benefit from your video?
Try to answer at least one of these questions in simple terms (bonus if you can do both).
Source: Hootsuite Labs
9. Include important information “above the fold” for better CTR
The first 100-150 characters of your video description is the part that will appear in search results and just below your video (above the “SHOW MORE” button “).
That means it’s the most important part to reach potential viewers and improve your click-through rates (CTR).
Use this space to give viewers a compelling reason to watch your video.
In the example below, the first description specifies exactly which question the video is answering. The second wastes important space for generalities.
10. Avoid clickbait
If you misrepresent your videos, viewers will stop watching in the middle. This will hurt your search results and reputation.
Avoid clickbait video titles and irrelevant keywords. They may help you to rank first, but YouTube’s search algorithm will win out sooner or later.
11. Add a call to action
Now you have the viewer’s attention, grab it!
Include a call to action in your video and in your channel description. Encourage viewers to read likes, comments, subscribes, or more.
The best calls-to-action are easy to read, urgent, and show an obvious benefit to the viewer. You can increase engagement, subscriptions and more.
Source: Hootsuite Labs
12. Write like a human
Remember, you’re not just writing for YouTube’s algorithm. You write for people too.
In fact, YouTube penalizes descriptions that are just lists of SEO-optimized keywords.
Use language your viewers can understand and relate to . An authentic brand voice drives user interaction that gets your videos seen.
13. Don’t worry about video tags
Tags help direct viewers to videos with content that is difficult to spell. But they’re also a place not to worry about when planning your keywords.
According to YouTube, tags play a “minimal” role in discovery. In fact, over-tagging can defeat YouTube’s spam detection.
Don’t ignore tags entirely, though. They help the YouTube algorithm to place your video in the suggested videos section.
14. Organize your video with timestamps
Humans and algorithms both love videos with timestamps.
Timestamps act as a table of contents, allowing users to navigate through your content and jump to different parts of the video easily .
Source: Hip Hop Heads
Timestamps make videos more user-friendly for human viewers. This can increase watch times and improve your video’s ranking.
You will also be indexed by Google for mobile search. Use keywords to describe your timestamps and take advantage of this new way to get your video showing up in Google.
15. Knowing how to include links in YouTube descriptions
Relevant links in your descriptions are a great way to leverage a YouTube view for continued engagement.
You can use both channel and Also, add video descriptions to links to your social media presence or online store.
In your video descriptions, linking to your channel and related videos will help viewers find your content.
Don’t forget to include the http :// or https:// at the beginning of the address. Otherwise the link will not work.
It is best to place your links at the end of your description. There are more important things to put first.
16. Save time with default descriptions
Using YouTube’s default description settings saves time when you want to add information to all your video descriptions, such as the name of the video. B. Links to social media.
See also: How to design a logo: 15 pro tips
This feature automatically adds important channel information to every video you upload.
Just don’t forget to fill out the rest of the description. A clear description is important to making your videos discoverable.
Learn how to set up default descriptions.
17. Test Descriptions on Multiple Devices
YouTube may not be the video streaming service we most often associate with televisions. However, recent YouTube viewership stats show that 34.4% of video views came from a TV, up from 27% in 2019.
Source: eMarketer
Make sure your YouTube descriptions get their message across regardless of screen size.
Preview of your videos on the watch page and on in search results with as many devices and browsers as possible Are any of your keywords getting cut off?
Do the same with your channel description and you’re done.
YouTube Description Ideas
Sometimes you need a little inspiration for your YouTube video and channel descriptions. These examples show what our tips look like in practice.
Pros DIY
The channel description for Pros DIY sums up all the important points: In the first paragraph, it tells you what added value the channel brings you.
And why you should trust it as a guide is important when your subject matter expertise is part of your value proposition.
Source: Pros DIY
EDHRECast
This video description by EDHRECast contains many calls to action and links, inspiring viewers to get in touch with the creators.
Source: EDHRECast
Global Cycling Network
The Global Cycling Network channel description uses its banner as another place for a call-to-action in case someone misses it in the description.
Source: Global Cycling Network
Anatolian Rock Project
The Anatolian Rock Project preloads its video description with the musicians and bands associated with the artist in the title.
It also o includes musical metadata for better discoverability.
Source: Anatolian Rock Project
Deep Marine Scenes
Deep Marine Scenes includes many links to additional information in their video description , but they make sure their keyword driven copy is in the opening paragraph.
Source: Deep Marine Scenes
YouTube Description Templates
We have a pack of fully customizable YouTube description templates that follow all the best practices outlined in this article.
Once you’ve downloaded the templates, make a copy and follow the instructions to create your own and seamlessly with yours Work on video content.
Grow your YouTube audience faster with Hootsuite. From one dashboard, you can manage and schedule YouTube videos along with content from all your other social channels. Try it for free today.
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