When it comes to adding descriptions to YouTube videos, we’ve observed that many people are unsure of how to start. It’s actually quite common for YouTube users to just put a title on their video and move on, not realizing the numerous advantages of including a straightforward description. Want to boost your video views? Then check out the simple tips below. We’ve also included a screenshot with useful figures to illustrate our best practices.
1. Link to your website or a landing page
Links in descriptions are very helpful because you don’t have the ability to link people to another website or landing page otherwise, however, you’ll want to link something you’re trying to drive traffic to. If there’s a place where people can go to get more information, then that should be the first thing in your description. For example: if you have written a blog post to go along with your video (or vice versa) then link that post at the top of your description box.
2. Borrow info from your blog post
The description field of your YouTube video should be a place where viewers can learn more, but you may not need to spend hours writing something brand new. First, try to consider whether there might be relevant text you could repurpose. For example, did you embed your video into a blog post? Share some of the information from your post in the description of the video.
3. Don’t forget to use keywords
Yes, the description field does play a role when it comes to finding videos on YouTube. If your description doesn’t have any keywords in it that people might be using to search YouTube, then that’s not going to be very helpful to you. You’re not doing yourself a favor by leaving your videos description blank. The key here is to find words that tie along with what your video is about in a natural way, but also are words that will get your video found. For example: we titled this video “How to Shoot Video with Your iPhone” and used similar keywords in the description because those terms are likely to be used by someone searching for this type of content.
4. Add time codes to get to the point
You can actually link to the time codes in your video just by typing those time codes in your description. This is especially helpful if you have a longer video. Or let’s say you’re answering questions in the video and you can just tell your audience to watch at 1:04 to find out about a certain thing. That way they can get exactly what they were looking for out of your video without having to wait around. Think about the description as being a tool that can allow your viewers to navigate better.
Remember, it’s important to take the time to fill out your description box. Make sure you take the time to not only plan it out, but also to link it with the purpose of your video.