[FAQ]

I’m working on improving my YouTube channel’s SEO, and while I spend a lot of time on my titles and thumbnails, I feel like I’m not using the video description box to its full potential. I usually just write a sentence or two and leave it at that.

What are the best practices for writing a video description in 2025 that helps with both search ranking and also provides a good experience for viewers? I’m wondering about things like how long it should be, where I should place my keywords, what kind of links I should include, and how important hashtags are in this section.

[Jeff Bullas]

The YouTube video description is a powerful but often underutilised tool for both Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and for improving your viewer experience. A well-crafted description helps YouTube’s algorithm to understand your video’s content and provides valuable context and resources for your audience.

There are several key components to an effective description. First, you must focus on the opening sentences. The first one to three lines are the most critical, as this is the text that is visible to a user before they need to click “show more.” This initial text should be engaging, clearly summarise what the video is about, and it should include your most important target keyword or phrase.

Second, following these opening lines, you should write a more detailed summary of the video. This should be a conversational paragraph or two that expands on the video’s topic. Explain what viewers will learn or what happens in the video. You should aim to naturally weave your primary and secondary keywords into this summary. Remember to write for humans first, but be mindful of the terms people would use to search for your content.

Third, a very powerful practice is to use timestamps to create video chapters. By listing timestamps for the key sections of your video (starting with 0:00), you make it much easier for viewers to navigate to the parts that are most relevant to them. This can improve engagement and watch time. These chapters are also used by Google and YouTube to better understand the different topics covered in your video, and they can even appear in search results.

Fourth, your description is the best place to include relevant links. You should organise these with clear headings. This is where you can link to your website, your social media profiles, specific affiliate products mentioned in the video, or a related blog post that provides more detail.

And fifth, towards the bottom of your description, you can add a few relevant hashtags. While not as impactful as they are on some other platforms, hashtags can help with the categorisation and discovery of your video. The general best practice is to use a small number, perhaps between three and five, that are highly relevant to your video’s topic.

It is important to avoid “keyword stuffing,” which is the practice of just listing a block of keywords without any context. This is a poor practice that can be penalised. Your keywords should always be integrated naturally into readable sentences.

In summary, a strong YouTube description starts with a compelling, keyword-rich opening, provides a helpful summary of the content, uses timestamps for easy navigation, includes valuable links, and finishes with a few strategic hashtags. It should be written to serve both your viewer and the search algorithm.

Cheers,

Jeff

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