How long should a youtube video description be?

12 years ago

Great Jeannie, also begin with your URL using the http:// so that it's clickable.

I like using a long description much in the same way that you write an article. It gives the viewer as much information as possible and doesn't redirect them to lots of other links. This gives them what they want right away. But there is no right or wrong only preference, I happen to think longer works well.

I hope this helps

Thanks

Signature

This May Just Be The Last Tool You EVER Use For Leadsâ€¦
www.LoriPetrosino.com

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752984].message }}

Kurt

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeannie Crabtree

I have seen some long descriptions, for example a whole review in the description box, so got to wondering.

How long should a youtube video description be? What works best may be a better question.

I have started with the url, a paragraph or two and the call to action being for them to click through on the url above.

Thanks

Jeannie

Hey Jeannie,

I suggest mixing it up...Anywhere from a short sentence or two on some videos to full length articles on others, and somewhere in between for others. For SEO, I always want to cover as many reasonable options as possible.

If I had to choose only one strategy though, it would be to use longer descriptions, repeating the main keyword 3-5 times throughout and mixing in secondary keywords.

Remember, your Youtube video view page is a web page and the text on it (including the description) gets indexed. Think basic SEO and you'll be fine.

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Discover the fastest and easiest ways to create your own valuable products.
Tons of FREE Public Domain content you can use to make your own content, PLR, digital and POD products.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753003].message }}

Jeannie Crabtree

12 years ago

Thanks Kurt, that has always stuck with me your suggestion of mixing up things. Good idea on youtube too.

Originally Posted by Kurt

Hey Jennie,

I suggest mixing it up...Anywhere from a short sentence or two on some videos to full length articles on others, and somewhere in between for others. For SEO, I always want to cover as many reasonable options as possible.

If I had to choose only one strategy though, it would be to use longer descriptions, repeating the main keyword 3-5 times throughout and mixing in secondary keywords.

Remember, your Youtube video view page is a web page and the text on it (including the description) gets indexed. Think basic SEO and you'll be fine.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753198].message }}

Bill Hugall

12 years ago

I have been told that that the first 60 Characters should be in line with your main keyword

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753005].message }}

entrepreneurjay

12 years ago

Use basic seo principles and make sure you fill out your tags correctly too. The more tags the better, so you have a higher chance of being found under various keyword tags.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Mastering Blogging with Chat GPT: How to Make AI Generated Text Undetectable

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753018].message }}

Jeannie Crabtree

12 years ago

Must tags be something that is used as a keyword in the description or can it be a broader selection of what the video is about?

Originally Posted by entrepreneurjay

Use basic seo principles and make sure you fill out your tags correctly too. The more tags the better, so you have a higher chance of being found under various keyword tags.

Thanks
3 replies

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753202].message }}

RogueOne 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeannie Crabtree

Must tags be something that is used as a keyword in the description or can it be a broader selection of what the video is about?

Put in as many relevant tags as you have. Be sure to put multi-word tags "in quotes."
- Thanks
Signature
Get Off The Warrior Forum Now & Don't Come Back If You Want To Succeed!
All The Real Marketers Are Gone. There's Nothing Left But Weak, Sniveling Wanna-Bees!
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753232].message }}
wackiin 12 years ago

The way I do tags the first is the keyword Im targeting then I ad more for related keywords etc. Same as you would your website.

Originally Posted by Jeannie Crabtree

Must tags be something that is used as a keyword in the description or can it be a broader selection of what the video is about?
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753235].message }}
Kurt 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeannie Crabtree

Must tags be something that is used as a keyword in the description or can it be a broader selection of what the video is about?

IMO, tags are probably the most over-rated aspect of SEOing a video on Youtube.

I think they are more important for trying to have your videos appear as "related" videos on the sidebar of popular videos than actually getting your videos to rank in Youtube or Google.

Because of this, "steal" the tags of the most popular relevant tags.

I also think it's best to include the keywords used in your tags in your description.

Also, use your most important keywords in video captions/transcripts as well as annotations.
- Thanks
Signature

Discover the fastest and easiest ways to create your own valuable products.
Tons of FREE Public Domain content you can use to make your own content, PLR, digital and POD products.
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753328].message }}

wackiin

12 years ago

If your doing it in terms of ranking it doesnt really matter ive got both but make your first line
Keyword Url
Content etc

last line
Keyword youtube Url

Ive got them ranking with 1-2 lines of text as well as 500+ words just depends on what im promoting and how i fill that day lol

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753225].message }}

Jeannie Crabtree

12 years ago

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I will keep them in mind.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753427].message }}

Amelle

12 years ago

I tend to use a couple of paragraphs, just a summary, and direct them to my site for more information. I include the keyword in the title, description and tags.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753515].message }}

Joe Stewart

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeannie Crabtree

I have seen some long descriptions, for example a whole review in the description box, so got to wondering.

How long should a youtube video description be? What works best may be a better question.

I have started with the url, a paragraph or two and the call to action being for them to click through on the url above.

Thanks

Jeannie

Hey Jeannie!

It's been awhile. I hope everything's going well for you.

To answer your question, my philosophy is to always add the link first as follows:

http://www.YourDomain.com[/url] - then 2-3 sentences only!

Create curiosity and follow it with a call to action. The problem with making the descriptions any longer than this is that visitors would be forced to click on "see more" to see my call to action and many people won't do it.

URL first, 2-3 sentences of building curiosity and/or a benefit, followed by a mild call to action. Keep everything above the fold.

HTH

Joe

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

My New "Share All" Blog Is Coming Soon! Online & Offline Marketing, More!

http://www.UnCENTSored.com

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753823].message }}

Jeannie Crabtree

12 years ago

Hi Joe, things are fine here. Thanks for your comments.

That is what I was doing for most of the videos I have started with, however, I have had over 400 views to one video and only one sale on a physical product. It is seasonal and summer is going to be over soon.

That is what led to this question.

Originally Posted by Joe Stewart

Hey Jeannie!

It's been awhile. I hope everything's going well for you.

To answer your question, my philosophy is to always add the link first as follows:

http://www.YourDomain.com[/url] - then 2-3 sentences only!

Create curiosity and follow it with a call to action. The problem with making the descriptions any longer than this is that visitors would be forced to click on "see more" to see my call to action and many people won't do it.

URL first, 2-3 sentences of building curiosity and/or a benefit, followed by a mild call to action. Keep everything above the fold.

HTH

Joe

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6757328].message }}

Joe Stewart

12 years ago

Hmmm...are you sending them to a squeeze page so you can follow-up with them or are you just sending them directly to the offer or to your blog? I'm sending almost everything to squeeze pages first from now on, which is what I should have been doing all along.

It may seem slow going at first, but it will pay off in the long run and once it's built up you'll have free traffic on demand.

I understand your urgency with summer being almost over, though. Still, you could offer a sign up bonus, get them on your list and then promote your offer right away on your "Thank You" page. Some people are ready to buy now and that would give them the ability to do so. Others like to take their time before they buy and you can follow-up with them by giving them great information with an autoresponder.

It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me to put several paragraphs of MY own unique content on Google's property (YouTube) and not on my own blog, videos, newsletter, etc.

Know what I mean?

Anyway, I wish you much success. Feel free to drop me a line sometime and we can catch up.

Best,

Joe

Originally Posted by Jeannie Crabtree

Hi Joe, things are fine here. Thanks for your comments.

That is what I was doing for most of the videos I have started with, however, I have had over 400 views to one video and only one sale on a physical product. It is seasonal and summer is going to be over soon.

That is what led to this question.

Thanks

Signature

My New "Share All" Blog Is Coming Soon! Online & Offline Marketing, More!

http://www.UnCENTSored.com

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6757703].message }}

Randall Magwood

12 years ago

I keep my description real short..... a 3-word description then a link to my website.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

==>> Free book reveals make money with affiliate marketing

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6757722].message }}

Claude Whitacre 12 years ago

The description should be long enough to include all the key works you need.

Like Kurt said, vary the length. A solid mass of text won't get read by anyone.

No matter how long the description, Youtube will use the description to list the videos as well as the title.

If you use tags that are not in the description, Youtube won't post them. At least that has been my experience. So I would take your list of tags and just post them at the end of the description, if they aren't already in the description.
- Thanks
Signature
One Call Closing book https://www.amazon.com/One-Call-Clos...=1527788418&sr

What if they're not stars? What if they are holes poked in the top of a container so we can breath?
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6757933].message }}

Trevor

12 years ago

From my experience, 400-500 words works great. But you can get by with even less than that.

What I also do with my descriptions is, I include some related searches right beneath the main body. This can bring in additional traffic.

Also, if you have a link to your landing page/squeeze page included in the description, make sure to put it right up top.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6757968].message }}

Trevor

12 years ago

From my experience, 400-500 words works great. But you can get by with even less than that.

What I also do with my descriptions is, I include some related searches right beneath the main body. This can bring in additional traffic.

Also, if you have a link to your landing page/squeeze page included in the description, make sure to put it right up top.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6757978].message }}

Todd Pedersen

12 years ago

I like to add to my description over time. Particularly the first several weeks.

Somehow, I think google sees this as fresh content being added. Of course using your keywords is important, but so are the LSI keywords.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Membership Site That I use

Check Out Spin Rewriter- 4 Stars

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6758178].message }}

Claude Whitacre

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Todd Pedersen

I like to add to my description over time. Particularly the first several weeks.

Somehow, I think google sees this as fresh content being added. Of course using your keywords is important, but so are the LSI keywords.

Google does see it as additional content. But I would ping the video page or it may take Google a month or more to re-crawl it.

Thanks

Signature

One Call Closing book https://www.amazon.com/One-Call-Clos...=1527788418&sr

What if they're not stars? What if they are holes poked in the top of a container so we can breath?

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6764327].message }}

How long should a youtube video description be?

Trending Topics

Infographic: How B2B marketers on LinkedIn can maximise their efforts for better audience reach

Any thoughts on golf's latest phenom...Scottie Scheffler??

What's the Best IM-Related Skill to Learn Today That Can Help in the Future?

Some interesting stats about brand comms

best high quality crypto traffic.