# YouTube best practices

> Plan YouTube videos and Shorts that get found, with posting times, a steady schedule, titles, descriptions, hashtags and thumbnails.

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.conviapro.com/llms.txt).

YouTube is a search engine as much as a feed: a video is found through its title, description and thumbnail, and its first two days set how far it travels. This page covers when and how often to post long-form videos and Shorts, how to write titles and descriptions, hashtags and thumbnails, and what Convia Pro does for you on YouTube.

## When to post on YouTube

Convia schedules YouTube posts at **2pm, 5pm and 8pm** in your workspace time zone when you have not set your own times. To change them, go to **Channels**, click **Edit** beside **When posts go out**, open **Advanced** and click **Choose my own times**. See [Calendar & scheduling](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/calendar-and-scheduling.md#set-your-own-posting-times).

## How often to post on YouTube

A consistent schedule builds an audience. For a weekly show, a reasonable starting point is the full episode each week, plus Shorts from its clips spread across the following weeks. Convia starts every channel at 3 posts a week, which you can change under **Posts per week**.

## Getting a YouTube video off to a strong start

- **The first 48 hours matter most.** Share a new video widely as soon as it is public.
- **Hook viewers in the first 30 seconds.**
- **Ask a question** in the video or description to encourage comments.
- **Use end screens and cards** to send viewers to your next video.

## YouTube titles and descriptions

- **Titles:** 50 to 70 characters is ideal, up to YouTube's limit of 100. Front-load the hook, include one keyword people search for, and promise clear value or a reason to click. Leave out quotes, emojis and hashtags.
- **Descriptions:** up to 5,000 characters. Put the most important information first: only the first lines show above "...more". Use the words people search for naturally, and add timestamps to longer videos.
- **Tags:** up to 500 characters in total.

## Hashtags on YouTube

Use **3 to 5** hashtags at the end of the description. Pick topic terms people search for, not your show name or branding. On a Short, the same hashtags also go at the end of the title.

## YouTube Shorts

Shorts are vertical video. Links in a Short's description cannot be clicked, so a Short asks viewers in one spoken sentence instead of with a link.

## YouTube thumbnails

Make thumbnails high contrast and readable at small sizes, with no more than a few words of text. Thumbnails are 1,280 × 720 pixels (16:9), up to 2 MB. Convia does not upload thumbnails for you: set a custom thumbnail, end screens and cards in YouTube Studio once the video is on YouTube. **Finish on YouTube** uploads the video early as private so you can do this before anyone sees it. See [YouTube publishing](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/youtube-publishing.md).

## How Convia writes your YouTube posts

Convia writes YouTube titles and descriptions from your **Platform instructions** for YouTube (**Brand Brain → Platform instructions**) and your Brand Brain: your brand characteristics, ideal customer and content rules. When a video sends people somewhere, the ask and the link go in the first two lines of the description, above "...more"; on a Short, the ask is spoken, with no link.

Where your brand and this guidance disagree, Convia follows your Brand Brain. A rule for every platform, such as never using emojis, goes in **Content Rules** under **Brand Brain → Voice & Tone**. A change for YouTube alone goes in YouTube's Platform instructions, which come with Grow and up. See [How AI uses your brand](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/how-ai-uses-your-brand.md).

## Related

- [Social media best practices](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/social-media-best-practices.md): default times and cadence for every platform.
- [YouTube publishing](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/youtube-publishing.md): Finish on YouTube, Shorts and changing a video's public time.
- [Posting rules for each platform](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/platform-posting-rules.md#posting-to-youtube): YouTube limits and per-post settings.
- [Thumbnails](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/thumbnails.md): make thumbnails in Convia.

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Source: https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/youtube-best-practices · Section: Platform best practices · Last updated: 2026-10-28