Basic Info Settings

Titles

• YouTube video titles are limited to 100 characters.
• Titles should be descriptive and optimized for search.
• The viewer should get a clear idea from the title what the video is about. If the video itself has a softer title, the title on YouTube should not include the soft title. For example, the hip preservation video has the title “Reshape, Repair, Restore: Hip Preservation Surgery for Young Adults.” The YouTube title is “Hip Preservation Options for Young Adults.”
• Titles should not contain Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The viewer will see our channel name when they’re looking at thumbnail/description. (No need to repeat those words in the title.)
• Titles should not include program names (in most cases).

Descriptions

• The description is limited to 5,000 characters. Descriptions are very important to search results. Get a list of keywords from the web strategist and use that as a guide for what to include in the description.
• Only 170 characters are initially visible (1-2 short sentences). The viewer must click “Show More” to view the entire description. Assume the viewer will only see the first sentences.
• At the end of the first or second sentence, put a vanity URL for the division/program or other page. Put http:// in front of the URL. e.g. http://www.chop.edu/heart
• Tracking codes cannot be added to hyperlinks in a description.
• After the URL, include a timestamps list in the description. This will help search results. Below are two examples. Follow the format in the examples and hyperlinks will automatically appear:
  Direct from the Doctor: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
  Celiac Disease and Gluten Disorders in Children
  For YouTube administrators: After you place the timestamps list, click on each hyperlink and make sure it goes to the right point. Adjust until the list is accurate.
• Use the rest of the description as a vehicle for keywords. Include the diagnoses the video is targeting, full names of surgical procedures the video is explaining, and other terms parents/others might be typing in if they’re searching.
• Try to include the names of doctors who appear in the video to help with their digital footprints. This is easy if there are 1-2 docs. If there are more, use your judgment on whether to include names.
• Descriptions should contain Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
• You can include the program name in the description.

Tags

• Tags are like keywords and should be added to all videos.
• Use the list of keywords from the web strategist as a guide for tags.
• You can add up to 120 characters per tag.
• Include all diagnoses and surgical procedures covered in the video. If a surgical procedure is referred to by multiple, different terms, try to include all the terms.
• Include “Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.”
• Include the names of the doctors who appear in the video.
• Tags don’t boost search results rankings as well as the keywords included in the description.
• If available, video transcripts can be scanned for tags/keywords.

Privacy Settings

• Ideally all YouTube videos should be set to Public in order to be crawled by search engines.
• If a YouTube video is to be excluded from search and still viewable, use the Unlisted setting.
• Use the Private setting to set a YouTube video offline from the public.

Thumbnails

Use the standard CHOP thumbnail template to create custom thumbnails. Thumbnails can be created by taking a screenshot of the video. Thumbnails must contain the CH watermark. The templates for thumbnails are available here: PRMarketing/Digital Assets/templates/Design-Template-Files/Video.

The custom thumbnail image should be as large as possible, as the image will also be used as the preview image in the embedded player. It is recommended that custom thumbnails:

• Have a resolution of 1280×720 (with minimum width of 640 pixels).
• Be uploaded in image formats such as .JPG or .PNG.
• Remain under the 2MB limit.
• Use a 16:9 aspect ratio as it’s the most used in YouTube players and previews.
• If the video has medical illustrations, use one of the illustrations as the thumbnail, as this seems to attract viewers.

Advanced Settings

Comments and Responses

On all videos, set comments to be approved. Disable Users can view rating for this video.

PR team member, Natalie Virgilio, will monitor comments and approve or delete them.

License and rights ownership

Set to Standard YouTube License, Syndication: Everywhere

Caption Certification

Most CHOP videos on YouTube do not air on TV. Set the Caption certification to This content has never aired on television in the U.S. If the video has aired on TV, make the appropriate selection from the drop-down menu.

Distribution Options

Allow embedding for all videos unless instructed otherwise.

Uncheck Publish to Subscriptions feed and notify subscribers for videos that don’t appeal to a wide reaching audience. A video like Conjoined Twins Abby and Erin Delaney: A Year in the Life would appeal to a large audience. Videos illustrating step-by-step medical procedures and surgical procedures would not appeal to a wide audience. Please check with the web strategist and public relations team members to determine if subscribers should be notified about a new video before it is uploaded and set to public on YouTube.

Category

The typical category setting for CHOP videos is Science & Technology. However, if a video doesn’t fit that category, scan the list for a more appropriate choice.

Video language

Set to English or appropriate language.

Community Contributions

Leave Community Contributions unchecked. The marketing team provides translated titles, descriptions and subtitles/CC when required.

Recording date

Leave this field blank.

Video statistics

Check “make video stats on the watch page publicly visible”.

Call to Action Overlay

No need to make changes. All default settings are fine.

Playlists

If two or more related videos are uploaded to YouTube, add the videos to a playlist. Related videos may be video chapters in a series or videos related by topic. Playlists should contain a title and description. Playlists do not need keywords.

Playlist  Basic Settings

If the playlist is supposed to be viewed by the public, check Set as official series for this playlist and set to public. The official series option is unchecked by default.

If a playlist is used to only organize the videos, leave Set as official series for these videos unchecked. The public will not see the unofficial video series in search. To find videos easily, group related videos in an unofficial series. e.g. all oncology videos on the CHOP Youtube channel can be included in one playlist.

Allow embedding of the playlist.

Playlist Auto add

Do not define rules.

Playlist  Collaborate

Leave Collaborate turned off.