When creating YouTube videos, many brands focus on producing excellent content. This is understandable as the watch time and engagement rate are major ranking factors in leveraging YouTube SEO. However, many other factors affect the success of YouTube videos and channels. One of these is the video description.

A well-crafted video description can pique your audience's interest, leading to increased views, more subscribers, and longer watch time. The description also signals to the YouTube algorithm what your channel is about, enabling it to suggest the video to the right audience.  You need to put effort into crafting the perfect YouTube description. In this article, we will guide you on creating an outstanding description. 

Understanding Video Descriptions and Why They Matter

A YouTube video description is metadata that informs viewers and the YouTube algorithm what your video is about. When you properly optimize your video, this will result in better ranking on YouTube, as it can increase CTR without using clickbait.

This piece of information is essential, as it's what YouTube uses to understand the video's context, along with the video's tags and title. That means when you optimize your YouTube description, you can increase the ranking of your video on YouTube Search and the suggested video. 

Best Practices When Writing YouTube Description

When creating a YouTube video description, take into consideration the following best practices:

Make it Thorough and Informative

A common mistake creators make is treating their YouTube description as an afterthought. A good YouTube description should help the algorithm understand what your video is about, thereby increasing your chances of ranking. This is why you need to write some long and thorough descriptions of at least 200 words.

Focus on the First Two to Three Sentences

YouTube puts a lot of weight on the first two or three sentences of a video description. In fact, they even advise creators to add the most critical keywords in the first two or three sentences. Therefore, make sure you include the most vital keywords in this section.  

It's also essential to ensure that your YouTube description begins with a strong hook or lead. For instance, when creating a new story, ensure that the most critical information is included at the beginning. Make sure you front-load the main idea of your video in the first or second sentence, before you add anything else.

Remember that the first two or three sentences are what will appear in the search results and can help drive your video’s click-through rate. Consequently, you need to ensure that this snippet is both compelling and SEO-friendly to encourage clicks. Failure to do so will cause potential viewers to scroll past the video in search results.

Use Simple and Concise Language

When writing a YouTube video description, the more concise you are, the better. When you create concise, snappy descriptions, they can be easy to read, attention-grabbing, and scannable. On the other hand, a complex or rambling copy will likely cause viewers to scroll past it. 

Add the Relevant Keywords

As noted earlier, the description helps the algorithm understand what your video is about, thereby categorizing the content and showing it to the relevant audience. Therefore, be very specific when selecting keywords. 

Ensure you start by researching the most relevant keywords for your videos. You can use tools such as Google Trends and the Keyword Planner to identify appropriate and trending keywords.

Remember that ranking your YouTube videos on Google can also drive your views. Therefore, combine Google and YouTube search trends to identify relevant keywords that enhance your video's discoverability. After finding the appropriate keyword, make sure the primary keyword appears at least once in the first two or three sentences. This is the section that the algorithm and YouTube viewers pay most attention to.

Remember that overusing keywords in your description can negatively impact your results, so keep everything natural. Ensure that the descriptions flow well, even when optimized for SEO, and add semantic keywords and other terms related to the primary keywords. You can get more in our guide on researching keywords for social media content.

Inform Viewers of the Value They Get

As people's attention spans decrease online, they want to know what they are getting from a video as soon as possible. When your descriptions clearly convey what viewers can expect, you raise their expectations, increasing the likelihood that they will watch your videos. You can set people’s expectations so that viewers understand what they are getting into and whether there is something they would be interested in. 

Use a Conversational and Friendly Tone

Using a tone that is too rigid or unfriendly will not resonate with your target audience. That is why it's a good idea to use a conversational tone, which will make users feel like they are communicating with you, but it will also depend on your brand voice. The key is to showcase your personality in the descriptions while maintaining a light tone.

The goal should be to write not only for the YouTube algorithm, but also for humans. In fact, if your YouTube descriptions consist of a list of SEO keywords, you may be penalized by Google. Therefore, use a language that your viewers can easily understand and relate to, and use an authentic brand voice to encourage users to engage and increase video visibility.

Add a Call to Action

The video description is a good place to encourage viewers to subscribe to your channels after watching. You can use this section to ask them to take any other specific action, such as trying out your product. However, you want to ensure the CTA is added at the end of the description so it doesn't sound salesy. You can also use the end to add your social media pages.

Use the call to action to encourage them to comment, like, and subscribe to your video. A good call to action should be urgent, easy to read, and clearly communicate the obvious benefits viewers will receive. It is a good way to increase subscriptions and drive engagement.

Over a Value Proposition

Before watching a video, users want to know exactly what value they will get from it. This is why the description can be a good place to explain to viewers what benefits they will get from the video. This can increase click-through rates, improve the user experience, and encourage viewers to engage.

Make sure you add the value proposition the audience will get, such as why they should subscribe to the channel and the benefit they will get from the video.

Add Sections in the Video

Ensure that you have distinct sections to help users navigate through the description. By doing so, you can show users the different actions they should take and encourage them to take more.The description should begin with information about the video, and add a section labelled with the action they should take.

In Conclusion

A common mistake YouTube creators make is assuming the description isn't necessary. This is even though it is the selection that the algorithm and viewers use to understand your videos. It is also a great section to encourage your YouTube viewers to take the appropriate action. However, for it to be effective, you need to make it attention-grabbing, so use the tips above to create an attention-grabbing YouTube description that drives the desired action.