Your upload checklist

The first lines of your description do the work

Viewers see only the first few lines of your description before they tap "Show more" on a computer or "more" on a phone. YouTube suggests using those first lines to describe your video ^[1].

YouTube also suggests writing a unique description for every video. It suggests picking 1 to 2 main words that describe the video and using them in both the title and the description ^[1].

Further down, the description can carry other information about your channel, and Studio can add a default description with your channel details to every upload ^[1]. A description can be up to 5,000 characters long ^[2].

To find the right words, YouTube suggests a simple test: pretend you are searching for your own video, and notice what you would type into the search bar ^[1].

Use the words your viewers actually type, in the script they type them. Some viewers search in English letters, like "misal pav", and some in Devanagari, like "मिसळ पाव". A first line such as "Kolhapuri misal at home, with a spice mix you can store for a month, for beginners cooking for four" tells a stranger what the video is and who it is for.

Hashtags: a few, and only relevant ones

A hashtag is a word or phrase after a # symbol. You can add hashtags in the title or the description. A hashtag has no spaces, so join words together, like #PuranPoli ^[3].

Out of the hashtags in your description, up to three that YouTube considers most engaging appear by your video title. Each hashtag links to a page of other videos that use the same hashtag ^[3].

If a video has more than 60 hashtags, YouTube ignores all of them. Too many hashtags can get a video removed from your uploads or from search, and misleading or unrelated hashtags can also get it removed ^[3].

Since only up to three show by your title, choose about three that say exactly what the video is, for example #KolhapuriMisal #MarathiRecipe #StreetFood. Skip popular hashtags that have nothing to do with your video.

Tags: a small helper, not a key

Tags are descriptive keywords you can add to a video to help viewers find it ^[4].

As lesson 2 showed, YouTube search checks how well your title, tags, description and the video itself match what someone searched for ^[5].

YouTube says your title, thumbnail and description matter more than tags. Tags are useful when your topic is often misspelled, and otherwise they play a minimal role in discovery ^[4].

Pasting long tag lists into your description is not allowed. YouTube says excessive tags in a description break its spam policies ^[4]. Its hashtag page also says that plain keyword tags (words without a # sign) or repeated sentences in the description are prohibited ^[3].

So give tags two minutes, not twenty. A spelling split, like "puranpoli" and "puran poli", is where a tag can help. Adding the Devanagari spelling, like "पुरणपोळी", as a tag is our own tip, not YouTube's. It is not a misspelling, just another way your viewers write the word.

Chapters, if your channel has advanced features

Chapters split a video into parts, each with its own preview, so viewers can jump to the part they want. To add your own, list timestamps and chapter titles in the description ^[6].

YouTube's rules: the first timestamp must be 00:00, you need at least three timestamps in time order, and each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long ^[6].

For a misal video, chapters could read: 00:00 Why this misal is different, 01:15 The spice mix, 04:30 Making the kat, 08:10 Taste test. Name each part the way a viewer would describe it.

Adding chapters is an advanced feature, and so are clickable links in long video descriptions. Active creators with enough channel history usually get advanced features automatically. You can also unlock them by verifying with a valid ID or a video, though that option is not available to every creator ^[7].

To see which features you have, open YouTube Studio on a computer and go to Settings, then Channel, then Feature eligibility ^[7]. Chapters also do not show if the channel has an active strike, or if the content may be unsuitable for some viewers ^[6].

Audience: made for kids, or not

Every creator, wherever they live, must tell YouTube whether each video is made for kids. This comes from YouTube's settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission and a US child privacy law called COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), and other laws may apply too ^[8].

In the upload details, find "Audience" and choose "Yes, it's 'Made for Kids'" or "No, it's not 'Made for Kids'". You can also set it once for the whole channel in Studio on a computer ^[8].

A video is not made for kids just because it is family friendly, covers an activity linked with children, or children might see it by chance. Content that could appeal to everyone, but is not made specifically for children, should be set as not made for kids ^[9].

Signs that a video may be made for kids include children being the main audience, songs, stories or games for children, and language meant for children to understand. Having some of these signs does not automatically make a video made for kids, and YouTube Analytics is not designed to decide this for you ^[9].

In the US, a "kid" means anyone under 13. YouTube says this age may be different in other countries ^[9].

Made for kids videos lose features such as comments and the notification bell, and they do not get personalised ads ^[8]. A wrong setting may lead to action on your YouTube account and to legal consequences. YouTube cannot give legal advice, and suggests asking a lawyer if you are unsure [s8,s9].

Ask yourself one question: who did I make this for? A Ganpati decoration video for families is usually a general audience video. A nursery rhymes video for toddlers most likely is made for kids. Decide honestly for each upload.

AI use: when to tick it

YouTube asks you to disclose AI-made or AI-changed content that looks real. You do this with the "AI use" setting when you upload, in YouTube Studio on a computer or a phone. Choose Yes if your video meets the rules and No if it does not ^[10].

You must disclose AI content that makes a real person appear to say or do something they did not, changes footage of a real event or place, creates a realistic scene that never happened, or creates music that is the main focus of the video ^[10].

You do not need to disclose content that is clearly not realistic, or minor edits like beauty filters, colour fixes or captions. AI help with an outline, script, title, thumbnail or ideas also needs no disclosure, and neither does cloning your own voice for voice overs or dubs ^[10].

Disclosing alone will not limit your video's audience or its chance to earn money. Creators who keep failing to disclose can face a label added by YouTube, removal of content, or suspension from the YouTube Partner Program (YPP, the programme that lets creators earn from YouTube) ^[10].

Two examples. You used AI to write the script of your Ashadhi wari vlog, and everything on screen is what you filmed: choose No. You used AI to make a realistic clip of the wari passing a street it never passed: choose Yes.

More detail: what made for kids videos lose

Videos set as made for kids are more likely to be recommended alongside other kids' videos. If you set the whole channel as made for kids, the channel also loses features such as Posts ^[8].

On each video or live stream set as made for kids, YouTube lists these features as not available ^[8]: