What You Should Know About YouTube Video Description
Writing a good YouTube video description is usually underestimated and undervalued. You should best utilize the box under the video to show the value your video offers so that viewers can see why your video is the one they should choose to watch. Writing a good description will determine if your video is going to be ranked on search results or not along with the title and tags.
You have 5000 character limit and you should use them wisely. I will show you how to write the best YouTube titles to get views and will share with you a professional YouTube description template.
So, how to write effective YouTube descriptions?
1. Don’t Use A Link In The Very Beginning Of Your Description
If you don’t want to damage your search rankings then don’t use the link to your website or your offer in the beginning of the video description. This will hurt the click through rates as you are having around 125 characters to provide relevant description that will answer your viewer’s question. Descriptions help the audience to decide if they will watch the video or not. Always put in mind that the description will help to improve your video discoverability and connect with your audience and make them take action.
2. Write A Brief Summary About Your Video
Try to use your main keywords along with your complimentary keywords in the first 100-300 words. This will help you to have an optimized YouTube video description that will help to tell YouTube more about your video. I see some people include the video transcription in the description, but this is not important if you already have added a closed caption for your video. You can also add a subscribe link to your channel.
3. The Rule Of The First 5 Lines
When you search for videos on YouTube and on the search results page you will find that the first three lines of the description are displayed under the video. When you click on any video you will find the first five lines of the description just right above the SHOW MORE tab. As a result, the first five lines will help your viewers to know more about your video and will help YouTube to rank it with the relevant keywords.
4. Create A Template In The Upload Default Settings
You can create a template and use it whenever you upload a new video. This will save you a lot of time and will keep a consistent branding across your videos on the channel. Don’t forget to use clickable links in your description. You can add your website, your blog, your social media links, your affiliate offers or your lead magnet links. Be sure to use a full URL format to be clickable (http://website.com)
5. Professional Addons
If you are talking about certain topics or latest studies or articles, then it will be a good idea to include links to all your relevant resources to increase your credibility. You can add timestamps to make it easier for your viewers to watch the most interesting parts if you have a long video (more than 10 minutes). If you are using pictures or piece of music under the fair use act, you can add credits or attributions to the owner
6. Don’t add misleading information
I see a lot of videos having blocks of keywords in the description, and this is considered a violation of YouTube’s terms of service and can risk your account being terminated. Keywords are used in the tags section.
7. Use Hashtags In Your Description
Adding relevant hashtags to your videos will help your viewers to find your content if they are searching for related videos.
8. Video Description Template
Part 1:
Video Content Description that include your main keywords for SEO purposes.
Include Call To Actions (CTA):
Subscribe to the channel – Download a free ebook – Book a consultation call – Watch more of your videos.
Part 2:
Relevant and helpful text like who you are and how can you help your audiences. You can include another Call To Action. Sometimes after publishing your video, you can find some mistakes, so this is the best place to provide corrections for your viewers.
Part 3:
Contact information (website, blog and email address) and social media links
Part 4:
Credits and Disclaimer.
YouTube hashtags
Don’t waste this opportunity by having an empty or poorly written video description. A good YouTube video description can help your channel to stand out.
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