YOUTUBE HOW TO GUIDES: How to write the perfect YouTube title
Navigate Video - YOUTUBE HOW TO GUIDES: How to write the perfect YouTube title.
Looking to write a great title for your latest YouTube video? Watch to find out 4 things you should be considering in order to write the best title of your film. Don’t think the title of your video is important? Think again.
With 500 hours of video being uploaded to the platform per minute, it can be difficult to make content stand out from the crowd on YouTube. However, with the right know-how, it’s not an impossible task.
In part one of our series on YouTube channel management, we will be focusing on titles, looking at why they matter for search, the optimal length and our tips on how to write the perfect title.
Before we begin, we need to address the basic functionalities of YouTube…
How does YouTube SEO work?
YouTube content is indexed based on how well its metadata (the video’s title, description and tags) matches the viewer’s watching habits and queries.
It is also important to acknowledge that a video’s metadata has many other benefits, such as helping to maximise search, promotion, viewership and so on.
Why does a YouTube title matter?
Titles, along with thumbnails, are the first things a user sees. If the title is compelling, clear and consistent, then there is more chance that a viewer will click through to watch the content. The longer people keep watching a brand’s content on YouTube, the more likely that particular content will be ranked higher.
It also sets up an expectation for the viewer. For instance, if your title doesn’t deliver on what it promises, viewers tend to leave almost immediately, which can limit the content’s discoverability on YouTube and impede a fluid user journey, as well as tarnish a brand’s authority and relationship with its audience.
How long is a YouTube title?
The limit for a YouTube title is 100 characters including spaces; however, the optimal video title length is less than 50-70 characters including spaces.
To explain this further, after 70 characters, titles will be truncated in most search results, and after 50 characters, a title will be truncated on the video section of the channel.
It can be a difficult to find a compromise between explaining the content in detail and keeping it short enough so that viewers can see it across search results and the channel. It’s essential, therefore, to prioritise the important information at the beginning of a title in order to catch a user’s attention as well as clearly highlight what the content will be exploring.
4 tips on how to write a good YouTube title
Create structure: As mentioned above, it’s important to be consistent on YouTube. By adopting a title structure, branded content will be more recognisable across platforms and for returning viewers.
Use keywords: Keywords are essential for YouTube SEO; however, it’s important to remember that the sense of the title should be prioritised instead of the overuse of keywords. By adding in keywords for the sake of it and disregarding the title as a whole will not improve the SEO of the film and will not encourage users to click.
Identify your brand: By incorporating the brand name into the title, it not only identifies the content, but also digitally ties the content together across the brand’s social media channels and website.
Avoid misleading and/or clickbait titles: Even though it’s important for a title to drive viewers to click through to the content, it’s important to never misrepresent or sensationalise the subject of the video. If a viewer clicks on the content and realises that they have been misled, then there’s more chance of them turning away, not recommending the channel to other viewers and tarnishing the brand’s presence.
Need help?
We are YouTube experts who will help manage, integrate, optimise, amplify and evaluate your YouTube content and channel, ensuring you reach the right audience and drive high quality engagement and action rates.
Get in touch to find out how we can help with your YouTube marketing strategy: stuart@navigatevideo.com
