Google Creator Playbook Version 4 - Manual (Page 33)

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Metadata
Description
Only the first few sentences of your description will
appear in search results or above the fold on a watch
page – so make them count! Follow a template for all
of your video descriptions to create consistency.
A video description should:
• Accurately describe your video in one or two
concise sentences.
• Describe your channel and link to your
channel page.
• Drive viewers to subscribe (and include a
subscribe link).
• Link to other episodes or related videos
and playlists.
• Include links to your site and social media presence.
A video description may:
• Link to sites, videos, channels or users referenced in
your video.
• Include your channel’s release schedule.
• Include links to time-codes in the video for
long-form content.
• Include a recurring keyword tagline. The keyword
tagline is a group of sentences that describe your
channel. They should include several search-driven
keywords. Repeating this tagline in episode
descriptions will inform first-time viewers about
your channel.
Remember that it is a violation of YouTube Terms of Service to use misleading metadata on your videos.
YouTube’s new ‘metadata defaults’
feature when you upload allows you to create templates
for your metadata and ensure important text or links are
always included.