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Your YouTube description is a fantastic opportunity to ask viewers to continue to engage with your channel or find additional resources that will help them learn more about a topic of interest.

For instance, let's say you create a brief "How to Add Filters to Instagram" YouTube video, but you also have an in-depth "How to Use Instagram for Marketing" blog post. Why not link it in the description? Most likely, anyone watching your Instagram video on YouTube would be equally grateful for the opportunity to learn more through a blog post.

Perhaps you simply want to ask viewers to subscribe, turn on notifications, or share your content with their networks. These are all acceptable CTA's for your description.

You must format your description to ensure you put the most important information first. Peters advises, "The first 200 characters are above the 'more' fold on the description box, so if you want your CTA/link to be seen by most people, keep it within the first 200 characters."

Collapsed YouTube Video Description With Show More Box Highlighted

After the first 200 characters, your text will be cut off, and viewers will need to click "Show more" to see the rest. Therefore, you must make your first 200 characters count.

4. Add your personality.
A YouTube description should be fun and demonstrate your brand's personality with a unique voice. Unlike traditional forms of advertising, this is an opportunity for you to instill creativity and humor into your content.

Brian Dean's YouTube channel is a great example of this. His YouTube descriptions often mirror the way he speaks. The descriptions are candid and casual, and he makes it feel like he's writing to a friend.

Brian Dean YouTube Video Description

To learn more about using YouTube for marketing purposes, consider checking out HubSpot Academy's comprehensive YouTube Marketing course.

5. Use timestamps to make videos scannable.
Including timestamps in your video description can make your video more user-friendly and help your content rank well on search engines.

YouTube video timestamps appear within search results, improving user retention by directing users to the most relevant portions of videos from SERPs.

Users can search for keywords that appear in your video's description and click on a thumbnail on the SERP to view the portion of your video that answers their search query.

youtube description examples: timestamps

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YouTube Channel Description Examples
Every YouTube channel description should allude to a specific niche or central theme. You want to tell your audience what they will learn from your channel. This will give them a reason to tune in to your channel, subscribe to it, and continue learning from you and your videos. Additionally, when you add your niche to your YouTube description, your audience can more easily find you in a sea of potentially similar creators.