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Write a Compelling Channel Description

Jun 11, 2022
Write a Compelling Channel Description

Writing effective descriptions can get you more views, watch time and overall engagement.

An effective video description can have a multitude of positive effects like more subscribers, more clicks on other videos, more clicks on your website, longer view durations and so on. 

The Algorithm – This will give YouTube an idea of what the video is about and present the video to the right demographic of people. Later on, YouTube will use click rate and watch time, as well as some other factors, but in the beginning, the title, thumbnail and video description to understand what people want to watch and present them with your videos. Keep in mind, the video content and title is enough but every bit of information you add helps humans and YouTube better understand information about your video.

The Viewer – This allows you to give the viewer additional information and to perform actions. If you are not a YouTube partner you cannot link your website through info cards, but you could always do it through the description.

 

When writing your video description, think about these points:

  • If viewing on a computer, you can only see the first two lines of the description before clicking “Show More”, and on a mobile or tablet, you cannot see it at all. Therefore, we need to make the first two lines impactful for those who can see it.
     
  • Keep the description accurate.
     
  • Don’t put a list of tags in your descriptions. Doing so is against the YouTube community guidelines under "misleading metadata".
     
  • Use focused keywords in the first sentence and again later on if possible.
     
  • YouTube recommends you write at least one short paragraph describing your video.
     
  • Ensure you include any links you use or discuss in the video.
     
  • Think about chapters for different topics within the video. You can use the notepad feature in TubeSpanner to help with this.
     
  • Include a call to action, asking people to like and subscribe.
     
  • Enter relevant links like your website or social media.