Place the primary keyword within the first 100 characters of the description and list precise timestamps in HH:MM:SS format to signal chapters to Google.
1. Research a 5‑word keyword phrase and place it in the first 100 characters of the description (include brand or topic term).
2. Write a 150‑200‑word summary paragraph that covers the video’s value, includes the keyword once more, and ends with a call‑to‑action.
3. Add timestamps every 2‑3 minutes; each line must be “HH:MM:SS Title”. Example: “00:00 Intro”, “02:45 Setup”, “05:30 Script Tips”.
4. Prefix the first three timestamps with “#” to create YouTube chapters; Google reads them as structured data.
5. Insert secondary (LSI) keywords in bullet points after the timestamps; keep each bullet ≤ 120 characters.
6. Use the YouTube Data API v3 videos.update call to push the description; set part=snippet and notifySubscribers=true.
7. Submit the video URL to Google Search Console → URL Inspection → “Request Indexing” to accelerate ranking.
curl -X PUT "https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/videos?part=snippet" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"id": "VIDEO_ID",
"snippet": {
"description": "Your optimized description with timestamps..."
}
}'Practical gotcha: editing the description after 48 hours triggers a re‑crawl that can temporarily drop the video’s position.