How To Optimize YouTube Video Descriptions

Have you recently started a YouTube channel and are here to learn more about how to increase your video views? Well then you are in luck! While everyone talks about optimizing your video and doing proper keyword research, there is a lack of information about how to optimize your video’s description. In this blog, and corresponding vlog learn how to optimize your YouTube video descriptions to get more views!

Optimize YouTube Video Descriptions To Get More Subscribers

Are you looking to optimize you YouTube video descriptions to gain more views and subscribers?! I will teach you everything I know. Basically, how the description box is created relates to your audience retention rate. So, did you know how YouTube algorithm actually finds out what your video is about? Learn more about how to optimize your YouTube video descriptions to increase views.

How to Optimize YouTube Video Descriptions To Get More Views

I’m going to share my screen and I’ll show you exactly everything you need to know about how to optimize your descriptions for YouTube to gain more views and be more searchable on YouTube in 2021. Feel free to read this blog, or watch my interactive VLOG for more information on how to optimize your YouTube video descriptions!

Three Ways to Optimize YouTube Video Descriptions

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Description box optimization

What you write in your video description box is extremely vital. This is where your audience and the YouTube algorithms will learn what your video is actually about. If the YouTube algorithm does not know what your video is about then it will not be able to show it to the right audience. Hence, it is extremely important that you use the right words or rather keywords to optimize your description box, your titles, your tags, and your thumbnails, so that YouTube algorithm can figure out who to show your video to and which audience is most likely to enjoy your videos and stick around.

YouTube Studio – Optimize Video Descriptions Here

From your dashboard, click on settings, and that’s where you can find this tab called upload defaults. So earlier what I used to do is just write in my notes and keep copy pasting whatever I wanted repeated in my description box for each and every video until I found this. This is where you can put in all the information that you always repeat in all your description boxes. For example, your social media links or your free guide or anything like that, you can just copy paste. I mean you can write everything here, and whenever you post a new video, it will automatically show up.

YouTube Channel Dashboard – Keyword Descriptions

Now on to the next step, which is the most important part of the description box, which is to add the right keywords. So, there are two types of keywords. One is the primary keyword that goes in your title, and the second, secondary keywords basically are variations of the title itself. You want to ideally use your title in the first hundred words of your description box when you start writing the description of your video, and then you use some secondary keywords. See what I did for my previous video, how to have more confidence on camera. In the description, you’ll notice how I used “struggle of low self-confidence” then, there are “tips for developing confidence on camera for you”.

This is the secondary keyword. So, these are a few examples of how you can use variations of your primary keyword and add them all to your description box, but make sure you’re not stuffing keywords because YouTube algorithm will catch it if you are not sounding human and just trying to stuff keywords. Instead, write naturally with the right keywords your video pertains to.

How To Optimize YouTube Video Descriptions

How Should My Video Description Book Look Like?

Ideally, everything should be clean, clear, and sectioned off. You can create a section to add playlists for your audience to go see similar videos. Also, you can add your social media links. If you use services like I do, such as Tubebuddy then you can add the link there too. You can add that if you’ve used any services like I use sound, I use a Tubebuddy as a keyword research tool. I have affiliate links for those programs, so any affiliate links you have, add them into your YouTube description box.

How I Find the Right Keywords to Plug into the Description Box?

I use this tool called Tubebuddy. This is literally the best investment I have made ever since I started my YouTube channel. Soon I will create another VLOG where I go in-depth about how to use the Tubebuddy tool because there are so many features. For now, I don’t want to overwhelm you. So, for now, let’s use keyword explorer. You want to type in the ideal keyword for a video that you’re creating. The first video I used it for was a video I created about alcohol in Dubai or the cost of alcohol in Dubai. Even though I created this video back in August, the score of that keyword is still pretty good, which means that this video is still being brought up in YouTube search results and ranking pretty well.

How to Rank on YouTube with Tubebuddy?

Thanks to doing keyword research with Tubebuddy, my videos show up on the first page of YouTube for certain keywords. For example, let’s go to YouTube and check if we type in alcohol in Dubai, does my video show up? Yes, it does! I show up not only on the first page but I rank number one. I created another video for alcohol in Dubai and that ranks number two! The first time I used Tube Buddy for a video about alcohol in Dubai, my channel views went 246% high and my views went from 280 to 970 in one day.

How Much Does Tubebuddy Cost?

When I purchased the pro version of Tubebuddy I had less than thousand subscribers, so I paid 50% of that amount. Plus, if you use my affiliate link, you will also help support me. Also, there are a bunch of membership perks. For example, you can get the royalty free music, the epidemic sound membership discount, you can get tools like high quality graphics, video effects, animations, video editing tools, and so much more. So, I would say if you want to grow your YouTube channel and use the right tool for keyword research and show up on YouTube search, then Tubebuddy is your best friend.

YouTube Analytics

Another way of assessing whether the Tubebuddy is actually working for you, go to the YouTube analytics. From there, and you can see the traffic source. You see how much traffic is actually coming, how much percentage of traffic is coming from YouTube search and you will know whether Tubebuddy is working or not. Now let’s look at the alcohol in Dubai video and check the traffic source in the analytics for that particular video. And I won’t be surprised, let’s see what it says. Let’s go to reach. Whoa, see. It says 90% of the traffic driven to this particular video comes from YouTube search. So now you know how important it is to do the right keyword research and how important it is to plug in these keywords in your description box so that you can rank as high as possible and show up on YouTube search results.

Get a Higher Audience Retention for YouTube Videos

The description box also gets you a higher audience retention! This was released sometime mid 2020 but I didn’t know this up until recently, and these are called timestamps or chapters, and this is how you add these to your description box. You have to start with zero zero seconds, which is intro. And then every single place where you switch locations or topics or tips, create a timestamp and a topic right beside it. So, if you’re covering a range of things in your video, you can place the timestamp and the topic right next to it. You have to make sure that this is what your audience is going to see. If they want to jump topic, then the topic that you write next to the timestamp is what your audience will see and it has to be captivating for them to stay interested or jump to it.

Example:

00:00 – Intro
02:00 – Default settings
02:42 – The most important part of your description
03:33 – Organize your description
04:30 – Keyword research tool
07:53 – Increase Audience Retention
09:30 – Links to resources
10:25 – Build a community
11:30 – Comment & share

Add Meaningful Links in Your YouTube Description Boxes

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The next tip is to add specific content that is information-based. Any video which is packed with information and whatever resources you are referring to, be sure to add the links to all of that. For example, when I visited the best unique experiences in Dubai, I made sure to add all the links to the places I visited. Plus, I added Google Maps links to the unique experiences I had. In case they were remote and difficult to find, I made sure to add the Google Maps link to it as well. Likewise, when I did the video on the how-to vlog with your iPhone tutorial, I listed all the products I used and mentioned them in my vlog so that it’s easier for my audience to purchase them.

Turn Subscribers into Warm Leads

This last tip is essential for the growth of your YouTube success. If you want to turn your views and subscribers into warm leads, then you must start an e-mail list. The objective is to take them off YouTube. The best way to do that is by creating a free guide or anything that actually is helpful for your audience and add the link to that in your description box. For example, I’ve created this detailed YouTube guide which is absolutely free to download. If you want to start your YouTube journey or you feel stuck in your YouTube journey and you want to grow and monetize your channel, then you can go ahead and download it now. This way you get more value out of me than just a 10-minute video on a weekly basis on YouTube. If you want to build a relationship and community with your viewers and subscribers, make sure to add the link to your freebie in your description box. Do not forget that. And add it right in the beginning, because if they end up not reading the entire paragraph, they at least have the link to your freebie in the first couple of sentences themselves.

Full Guide How To Optimize YouTube Video Descriptions

So there you have it. I have given you everything that I do to optimize my description box so that I can get more views, more audience retention rate, more subscribers, and grow my channel every single time I post a video. I know, I know it’s a lot of work. I get it. I feel you. Trust me, when I started YouTube, I didn’t know how much work it would be. I thought that just posting a video would be simple, however, that wasn’t the case. Be sure to download my free YouTube guide so you can learn everything I have on my way to YouTube monetization! Next week we go back to travel content and we’ll be exploring a new emirate of UAE. Stay tuned for that one!