Writing the perfect title for your YouTube video can be the silver lining between getting 5000 views and 50,000 views! No matter how amazing your content is, viewers are not going to click on your video if your headline is not bedazzling. So we’ve jotted down some of the best tips and tricks YouTubers use to write viral titles.
1. Use numbers
Quantify your title. Specify how many points you will talk about and frame your content in a listicle format. “5 Tips To Get More Views” sounds catchier than “Tips To Get More Views”.
2. Provide value
Viewers are interested in video titles that help them achieve a goal or directly provide value. Titles that include “how-to”, “DIY”, “tutorial”, “hack”, “tip”, “best practice” are some of the most- searched videos on YouTube.
3. Stack up the power words
Power words are instant eye-poppers. Exclamations like “incredible”, “wow”, “amazing” and “awesome” excites and sparks curiosity in viewers.
4. Make it relatable
Viewers are more likely to click on video titles they can relate with. Find out your viewer’s primary professions/interests/gender/location and target these inclusive keywords to trigger a particular audience segment.
If your main viewers are aspiring YouTubers, your title can read “Coming Up: A News Update Every YouTuber Must Watch” instead of simply saying “A News Update Coming Up”.
5. Get emotional
Viewers are hardwired to click on videos that stir emotions. Highlight the way you reacted to a particular event, for example, “My Boyfriend Made Me Cry” or don’t hold back from starting a challenge “I Dare You To Not Laugh Out Loud After Watching This”.
6. Be timely
If you’re making a video on a topic that has been covered way too many times before, just tweak the content to make it relevant to present times. Simply include the present year/season/day to the video title.
“How To Start A Gaming Channel In 2020” will receive better traction than “How To Start A Gaming Channel”.
7. Write benefit statements
Specify what exactly viewers will get after watching your video. The title “Follow The Golden Ratio In Your Photos To Attract More Viewers” will work better than “Follow The Golden Ratio In Your Photos”.
8. Show statistics
Viewers love hard facts. Highlight statistics in your content that stand out and back up your statements with solid research. You could say “This YouTuber Makes $300,000 A Year Through Vlogging” instead of “This YouTuber Makes A Lot Of Money”.
9. Shock people
Controversy sells. Pull out the most abnormal and shocking bits in your content and highlight these bold statements in your title.
10. Use negative superlatives
Reword your title from a contradictory angle. According to Outbrain, negative superlatives catch people’s attention – words like “worst”, “wrong”, “avoid”, “don’t” or “never” perform up to 30% better on clickthrough rate.
So outline what viewers are doing wrong or what they must not be doing. Instead of saying “Store Potatoes The Right Way”, you can say “You’ve Been Storing Potatoes Wrong Your Entire Life”.
11. Make titles hassle-free
Viewers like hassle-free tasks that don’t require too much work, time, effort, cost, or time. Use words like “easy”, “quick”, “under a minute”, “less than a dollar”, “free” to stress how uncomplicated your content is.
The best way to know which title is great for your channel is to experiment. Analyse which videos your audience react well to and iterate the winning title recipe on your other videos too!
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