YouTube is the second largest search engine, with over 1.8 billion users per month — so it’s an undeniably powerful channel for your marketing and advertising efforts.
Nevertheless, in case you don’t use YouTube for your present marketing technique, you’re not alone. Actually, only nine percent of U.S. small businesses use YouTube to reach their viewers.
In 2018, the HubSpot Academy team didn’t take advantage of YouTube. However, in the latter half of the year, the team feared the key losses in traffic they might face if they didn’t hop on board — so that they carried out a method that enabled them to grow YouTube subscribers by 25% in just two months.
Finally, in case you’re prepared to start using YouTube to attract and convert viewers, it’s important you optimize your Youtube video descriptions for web optimization. For those who’re not sure the way to begin crafting compelling YouTube descriptions, keep reading — right here, we’ll discover numerous techniques you possibly can employ, and provide templates to make sure you have everything you should excel on YouTube.
How to Create Compelling YouTube Descriptions
1. Explain what your video is about.
To discover the perfect techniques for writing YouTube descriptions, I spoke with Eric Peters, a Senior Growth Marketing Manager at HubSpot’s Academy team. He informed me, “[YouTube descriptions] is one of the main methods YouTube knows what your video is about. Include links, additional resources, links to other videos and playlists, and so on. Make sure that the description box is easy to learn.”
Peter notes that showing your YouTube video and incorporating keywords into your description would not just assist with web optimization rankings — it additionally helps with accessibility for people who are deaf and hard of hearing. For that cause, adding closed captions to your videos is an absolute must, too.
For example, check out one of HubSpot Academy’s YouTube video descriptions:
As you can see, a YouTube video description is extremely completely different from a web page meta description. In a YouTube description, you have the area to go in-depth and explain what your whole video is about, and even link to external resources.
Peters told me, “You have 5,000 characters total, so make use of it. Lots of creators use asterisks or all-caps to differentiate titles from physique copy because it is all plain text. Think about writing up a text model of the key factors from the video, or even copying the transcription of the video into the description.”
2. Include a CTA.
Your YouTube video description is a fantastic alternative to ask viewers to proceed to interact with your channel or discover additional resources that can assist them to learn extra about a topic of interest.
For example, to illustrate you create a brief “The right way to add filters to Instagram” YouTube video, however, you also have an in-depth, “The right way to Use Instagram for Marketing” blog post — why not hyperlink to it in the description? More than seemingly, anybody who’s watching your Instagram video on YouTube could be equally grateful for the chance to learn more through a blog post.
Alternatively, maybe you merely want to ask viewers to subscribe, activate notifications, or share your content material with their networks. These are all acceptable CTA‘s in your description.
Moreover, it’s important you format your description to make sure you put the most important data first — as Peters advises, “The first 200 characters are above the ‘more’ fold on the description box, so if you would like your CTA/link to be seen by the most people, keep it within the first 200 characters.”
After the first 200 characters, your textual content shall be cut-off, and viewers might want to click on “Show more” to see the rest — so it is vital you make your first 200 characters count.
3. Add your personality.
A YouTube description ought to be fun, and show your brand’s character or distinctive voice to viewers. In contrast to more traditional forms of advertising, this is a chance for you to instill creativity and humor into your content material.
Brian Dean’s YouTube channel is a good instance of this — his YouTube descriptions typically mirror the best way he speaks. The descriptions are candid and informal, and he makes it feel like he is writing to a pal.
YouTube Description Templates
Now that we have covered the fundamentals, check out a number of templates you need to use to craft compelling YouTube descriptions today.
Templates for Your Channel Description
You would possibly create a playful, easy-going channel ‘About Me’ description, like this one:
Hello, I’m [Name]. This is my channel about X, Y, and Z that you can use to develop your business.
For those who’re a marketer who desires to learn X to get [result, i.e. more traffic to your site], subscribe to my channel.
My channel publishes videos that target X, Y, and Z. If that sounds like it might be useful for you, please join me!
Alternatively, you may craft a YouTube description that describes what your organization does from a third-person point of view, like this one:
Company A is the worldwide leader in X, Y, and Z. Since 2010, Company A has been on a mission to [insert company vision or purpose here].
To learn more about A, B, C, subscribe to our channel to stay informed.
Templates for Your Video Descriptions
For those who’ve conducted an inside interview, you would possibly keep your description short-and-sweet to explain your conversation and why it issues to your viewers, in addition to a CTA:
Hear how our CEO explains the difference between X and Y, and learn best practices for implementing your own technique.
Learn more about X and Y in our course: www.XY.com
Alternatively, if you would like your description to help new viewers discover your numerous channels, attempt crafting a description like this one:
Hi there! New to [name of the channel]? If so, here’s what you should know — I like [interests related to channel] a LOT, so I use this channel to discover X, Y, and Z, to help you [desired result for viewer].
Where else yow will discover me:
INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/[accountname]
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/[accountname]
LIFESTYLE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/[accountname]
Join our rising group for new videos every Tuesday and Friday!
BUSINESS INQUIRIES
Please contact [PR representative] at [email or phone number].
Lastly, if you wish to concentrate on crafting a description that explains what your video is about and incorporates a keyword description, try this:
Hey there! This lesson is part of a free online course. Take the full course here: www.company.com/course1
Some people are not sure what X is — at its most basic, X is [brief definition of keyword]. In this video, you will learn how to X, Y, and Z, to make sure you’re able to develop your brand online.
Moreover, we’ll clarify how you can avoid doing A. Typically, A is all it takes to lose a buyer.