If you put thought, effort, and time into creating videos on YouTube, you want to make sure your videos will be found by your ideal audience. In order to improve the discoverability of your YouTube videos, be sure to follow best practices in creating the written descriptions that accompany them.
You’ve probably heard that YouTube is regarded as the 2nd most popular search engine online (right after Google Search). Just as you’d ideally want your website to appear on the first page of Google Search results, you want your videos to show up when people are searching for the type of content you’ve created – through many creators struggle to get YouTube Search to work for them.
The descriptions you write to accompany your videos are often the key to ensuring your content will be found by the right audience. Here are 5 expert tips to help you optimize your YouTube descriptions and ultimately increase your video views:
1. Start with a Compelling Video Title That’s Reflected in Your Video Description
You get 75 characters to entice viewers with your video title. However, if you want to keep YouTube algorithms happy in addition to viewers, you want to make sure any important keywords in your title are also included (ideally a few more times) throughout the video description.
For example, if your channel is focused on cosmetics and you’re creating a video on mascara tips for summer days at the beach, you want to be sure this idea is communicated in multiple ways in your video description so that a search engine can’t miss it.
2. Make a Good First Impression (in 200 Characters) 
While writing a full, long video description matters, it’s the first 200 characters that count the most because they are what appear in the search results that accompany your video. You want to entice a viewer right away to click and watch.
While you get 5000 characters for your full video description, be sure to optimize those first lines not only with keywords but with striking language that will capture a potential viewer’s attention. For example, you might want to start with a question to provoke curiosity.
If in doubt, consider what you might include in a Tweet or in the headline and subtitle of an article to get your audience to stop scrolling and pay attention.
3. Utilize Keywords & Hashtags
When your video descriptions incorporate popular search terms and complementary keywords, your video will be more likely to appear in search results as well as on the “Related Videos” sidebar. However, you don’t want to be guilty of keyword stuffing!
You might want to invest in keyword research to make sure you’re using not only the most popular search terms but related terms as well. For example, a video about an environmentally friendly product might also want to include the terms “green,” “sustainable,” “carbon neutral” and/or other terms specific to the product features.
Hashtags can also be used in your video descriptions. You’ll want to include your most trending and relevant hashtags in the space above the video title as well as sprinkle a few additional ones throughout the description itself. Don’t forget to use the title case for hashtags that contain multiple words so that screen readers can recognize them.
4. Leverage Default Settings for Your Consistent Calls to Action 
YouTube video descriptions are a great way to let viewers know how they can connect with you elsewhere online as well as the next action step to take with your content.
If you have a lead magnet you want to share across multiple videos or additional content you’ll repeat in all your video descriptions, you can leverage default settings so that you won’t have to continuously re-post the same information. For example, you’ll want to be sure to include the social handles for the platforms where you’re most active as well as your website and your brand/creator one-liner.
5. Write Like a Human Not a Like a Robot
Although you want your video descriptions to work for search engine crawlers, it’s even more important that your copy captivates the human viewers who will hopefully watch, like, and maybe even subscribe to your YouTube channel.
Fundamental copywriting tips – such as keeping paragraphs short and sentences crisp and brimming with verbal variety – will make a difference to the overall effectiveness of your video descriptions. You might even want to use your descriptions to tell an engaging story that’s relevant to the content shared in the video itself.
If there’s a tone of voice you typically use in all your branded copy (conversational, quirky, formal, etc.) you want to be sure that style is reflected in your video descriptions too. Ideally, your brand personality will shine through in what you write.
