Longer watch periods, higher view counts, and even additional subscribers can all be attained by optimising your YouTube video description. Additionally, it can aid YouTube SEO, enabling the platform’s system to comprehend your video and recommend it to new users, further raising your YouTube stats.

You should include writing these descriptions in your entire YouTube strategy. But how do you create effective descriptions? Here are a few of our favourite pointers for optimising your YouTube description.

What does a YouTube video description mean?

Every marketer needs to be aware of the following two categories of descriptions:

channel descriptions on YouTube. The text that appears on your channel’s About page. It assists customers in knowing what to anticipate from your brand and can be utilised to justify why they ought to subscribe to your channel.

video descriptions on YouTube. the text that follows each video. It makes viewers more likely to find and watch your video content. Links and any other information pertinent to your video may also be included.

17 suggestions for writing YouTube video description

Table of Contents

1. Be particular

Both the channel and video descriptions on YouTube depend on the keywords you choose.

Your descriptions’ keywords will aid YouTube’s system in classifying, understanding, and surfacing your material. The better the keywords, the more exact they should be.

For instance, internet video text will be a less helpful keyword than YouTube video descriptions for a film on writing descriptions for YouTube videos.

2. Conduct keyword analysis

Unsure of the best keywords to use? You may get started by using resources like Google Trends and the Keyword Planner for Google Ads.

You can determine whether a keyword you’re considering using Google Trends, for instance. The tool can be used to determine which terms receive more searches.

3. Use keyword searches

Instead of using YouTube itself, more and more individuals are finding YouTube videos through Google searches.

To increase the visibility of your video, combine keywords that are based on Google and YouTube search trends.

Simply Google a particular keyword to see how likely it is to appear in Google search results. You’re on the right road if you see YouTube videos at the top of the search results page!

4. Be familiar with keyword usage

Knowing how to incorporate your keywords into your descriptions makes sense once you’ve determined which ones to use.

In each channel and video description, try to use two or three related keywords. The primary keyword should also be in the title of videos.

To make each keyword stand out to YouTube’s algorithm, repeat it two to three times in the description.

However, try to avoid using the keywords too frequently to avoid being penalised for keyword stuffing.

5. Recognise appropriate keyword placement

In the first three phrases of your description (or above the fold, also known as the “SHOW MORE” button), your primary keywords should appear at least once.

Don’t wait until the very end to describe the subject of your video or channel because both the YouTube algorithm and users pay close attention to this section of the description.

Track which keywords are effective for you.

As soon as you begin creating keyword-rich YouTube descriptions, you can use YouTube Analytics to determine the sources of your traffic.

You can concentrate on the terms that provide you the most traffic with the aid of this tool.

7. Discover more content your audience is interested in.

By 2021, suggested videos will drive more traffic to YouTube than search engine results.

The description of your video plays a role in how YouTube’s algorithm interprets its subject matter. This means that the location of your video’s suggestion depends heavily on the description.

Use YouTube analytics to see which other videos your audience is watching to your advantage.

Then, in order to strengthen these connections and appear as a suggested video more frequently, you can use similar language in your descriptions.

8. Provide worth

Always make sure your descriptions have a clear value proposition. What makes your channel worth a subscriber’s attention? How will they profit from your video?

Answering both of these questions simply is preferable, but at least one should be done.

9. To increase CTR, include crucial content above the fold.

The portion of your video description that appears in search results and directly beneath your video (above the “SHOW MORE” button) is the first 100 to 150 characters.

This means that in terms of attracting new visitors and raising your click-through rates (CTR), it is the most crucial component.

Give people a compelling incentive to watch your video in this section.

The first description in the example below clearly describes the query that the video is answering. The second one wastes valuable space on broad strokes.

10. Keep clickbait at bay

Viewers will quit viewing your films midway through if you mislead them. This harms both your reputation and your search rankings.

Avoid using irrelevant keywords and click-bait video titles. They might initially help you rank, but eventually YouTube’s search algorithm will figure them out.

11. Include a call to action

Use the viewer’s attention now that you have it!

Both your channel description and your video should contain a call to action. Encourage viewers to subscribe, like, comment, and read more.

The most effective calls to action are simple to read, urgent, and clearly benefit the audience. They can boost participation, subscriptions, and other things.

12. Write naturally

You’re not only writing for YouTube’s algorithm, keep that in mind. You write for readers who are also people.

In actuality, YouTube devalues descriptions that are nothing more than keyword lists.

Use language that your audience can relate to and understand. A genuine brand voice will promote the user interaction that increases the visibility of your films.

13. Let go of the concern with video tags

Tags guide users to videos covering challenging material. However, they are one area where you can plan your keywords without worrying.

YouTube claims that tags have “minimal” impact on finding. In fact, overly aggressive tagging may interfere with YouTube’s spam filtering.

However, don’t completely disregard tags. They do aid YouTube’s algorithm in recommending your video to users.

14. Time-stamp your movie to organise it.

Videos containing timestamps are beloved by both humans and algorithms.

Users may easily navigate your content and jump to different parts of the movie thanks to timestamps, which serve as a table of contents.

Videos are more streamlined for human viewers because to timestamps. This may raise the number of views on your video and improve its rating.

Additionally, Google has indexed them for mobile searches. Take advantage of this new method to surface your movie in Google by using keywords to define your timestamps.

A fantastic technique to convert a YouTube view into ongoing interaction is to include pertinent links in your descriptions.

You are able to include links to your social media accounts or online shops in the channel and video descriptions.

Linking to your channel and related videos in the descriptions of your videos makes it easier for people to find your material.

Don’t forget to start the address with either http:// or https://. The link won’t function otherwise.

Your links should typically be placed at the end of your description. There are additional crucial items to include at the start.

16. Use default descriptions to save time

When you have content, like social media links, that you want to add to all of your video descriptions, using YouTube’s default description settings saves time.

Every video you publish with this feature automatically includes important channel information.

Just remember to complete the remainder of the description. It’s crucial to have a distinctive description for people to find your videos.

17. Examine the descriptions on various devices.

Perhaps not the video streaming service that we most frequently associate with TVs is YouTube. On a TV, however, 34.4% of YouTube video views were recently seen, up from 27% in 2019.

Make sure your YouTube descriptions communicate well on screens of all sizes.

Utilise as many different devices and browsers as you can to preview your videos on the watch page and in the search results. Are any of your keywords omitted?

You’re good to go if you do the same for your channel description.

Ideas for YouTube Video Description

For promote your YouTube video and channel descriptions, you occasionally need a little creativity. These illustrations demonstrate how to apply our suggestions.

Advantages of DIY

Pros DIY’s channel description covers all the essential bases. In the first paragraph, it explains what value you receive from the channel.

It also explains why you ought to believe it as a source of guidance. This is crucial if your value proposition includes your knowledge on a specific subject.

EDHRECast

This EDHRECast video description has a lot of links and calls to action that encourage viewers to interact with the makers.

Cycling Network World

In case someone missed it in the description, the Global Cycling Network channel description uses its banner as an additional area to convey a call to action.

Turkish Rock Project

The musicians and bands associated with the artist in the title are front-loaded in the video description of the Anatolian Rock project.

In order to boost discoverability, it also contains musical metadata.

Images of the Deep Sea

Deep Marine Scenes’ video description contains numerous connections to other resources, but they made sure to include their keyword-focused language in the first few sentences.

Templates for YouTube Video Description

We have developed a collection of completely editable YouTube video description templates that adhere to the guidelines outlined in this article.

Create a copy of the templates after downloading them, then follow the directions to customise them so they fit perfectly with your video content.