A well-crafted YouTube description can pique your audience’s curiosity, leading to increased watch times, improved view counts, and potential new subscribers. Additionally, it plays a crucial role in YouTube SEO, helping the algorithm recommend your content to a broader audience and enhancing your YouTube performance. Writing Youtube descriptions effectively is a key aspect of your overall YouTube strategy. But what’s the secret to creating compelling descriptions? Explore our top tips for optimizing your YouTube description box.
Writing YouTube Descriptions: All Types
There are two distinct types of descriptions that every marketer should be familiar with:
- YouTube Channel Descriptions: These are the textual descriptions found on your channel’s About page. They serve the purpose of informing viewers about your brand and can be persuasive in encouraging subscriptions.
- YouTube Video Descriptions: These are the text sections located beneath each video. They aid in the discoverability of your video content, entice viewers to watch, and can contain links and other pertinent information related to your video.
17 Tips to Craft Effective YouTube Descriptions
1. Try to be Specific
Carefully select keywords for both your YouTube channel and video descriptions.
Keywords play a pivotal role in assisting YouTube’s algorithm to comprehend, categorize, and promote your content. Opt for highly specific keywords for optimal results. (Pro tip: This principle applies to your channel’s name as well. If you need ideas for YouTube usernames, explore our AI-powered YouTube name generator for free.)
For instance, if you’re creating a video about crafting YouTube video descriptions, ‘YouTube video descriptions’ is a more effective keyword than ‘internet video text.’
2. Engage in Keyword Research
Unsure about which keywords to utilize? Tools such as Google Ads’ Keyword Planner and Google Trends can provide valuable insights.
Google Trends, for instance, can help you assess the trending status of your chosen keywords. Additionally, it aids in determining keywords with higher search volumes.
3. Harness Searchable Keywords
An increasing number of individuals discover YouTube videos through Google searches, surpassing internal YouTube searches.
Enhance your video’s discoverability by integrating keywords that align with both YouTube and Google search trends.
To gauge a specific keyword’s potential to rank in Google search results, conduct a quick Google search. If you observe YouTube videos prominently featured at the top of the search results page, you’re on the right track!
4. Know When to Use Keywords
After pinpointing your keywords, it’s crucial to understand how to incorporate them effectively into your descriptions.
Strive to include two or three relevant keywords in both channel and video descriptions. In video descriptions, the primary keyword should also appear in the title.
Repeat each keyword two to three times within the description to capture the attention of YouTube’s algorithm. However, exercise caution to prevent overusing keywords, which could lead to penalties for keyword stuffing.
5. Know When to Use Keyword
Ensure your primary keywords make an appearance within the initial three sentences of your description, also known as ‘above the fold’ or before the ‘SHOW MORE’ button.
This section garners the highest attention from YouTube’s algorithm and viewers alike, so it’s essential not to delay in conveying the essence of your video or channel.
6. Track Keyword
Once you’ve initiated the practice of crafting keyword-centric YouTube descriptions, leverage YouTube Analytics to discern the sources of your traffic.
7. Explore Audience Behavior
As of 2021, suggested videos drive more traffic on YouTube than search queries.
Your video’s description contributes to how YouTube’s algorithm comprehends its content, influencing where your video appears as a suggestion.
Harness this by employing YouTube analytics to identify the other videos your audience frequently watches.
By incorporating similar language into your descriptions, you can strengthen these connections and increase your video’s chances of being suggested.
8. Provide Clear Value
Incorporate an evident value proposition within your descriptions. Explain why someone should subscribe to your channel and how your video can benefit them.
Strive to address at least one of these inquiries in a straightforward manner, and ideally, both.
9. Place Vital Information Above the Fold for Improved CTR
The initial 100 to 150 characters of your video description display in search results and directly below your video (above the ‘SHOW MORE’ button).
This section holds paramount significance in reaching potential viewers and enhancing click-through rates (CTR).
Utilize this space to offer viewers a compelling reason to watch your video.
10. Stay away from Clickbait
Misrepresenting your videos leads to premature viewer disengagement, harming your search rankings and reputation.
Avoid sensationalist video titles and irrelevant keywords. While they may provide initial ranking benefits, YouTube’s search algorithm will eventually catch on. This is quite important when you want to effectively writing Youtube descriptions.