YouTube title generator

A title that gets clicked tells people exactly what they'll get and gives them a reason to want it now. It works with the thumbnail, not against it: the thumbnail shows, the title says.

Specific beats clever. “7 ways to grow a YouTube channel” says more than “my growth secrets”. Numbers, names and results make a promise people can judge in a second.

Open a question the video answers. Curiosity, a story or a mistake to avoid gives people a reason to click, as long as the video closes the loop.

Write for searches and for the feed. Someone searching wants their words in the title; someone scrolling wants a reason to stop. The best titles do both: the keyword first, the hook after it.

Each angle in the generator is a set of formulas. Here's the first of each, filled in for a video on how to grow a YouTube channel:

Use a formula as a start, then make it yours: swap in your real number, your result, your audience's words. For more on each angle, read how to write YouTube titles.

A YouTube title can be up to 100 characters, but most places show less. YouTube says viewers may only see part of a title and doesn't publish a number, because titles are cut by width: it depends on the screen, the letters and where the video is shown. So the generator flags titles over a suggested length rather than a fixed cut-off:

The suggested lengths are this tool's rule of thumb, not YouTube's. To check a title against every app's limit at once, use the social media character counter.

Put the keyword first, or close to it. YouTube's advice is to put the most important words near the beginning and to save episode numbers and branding for the end. Type your search keyword in the generator and it shows where it lands in every title, and can lead with it where it's missing (“Phone editing: 7 tips...”).

Use the words people search. “Edit videos on your phone” and “mobile video post-production” mean the same, but only one is what people type. YouTube suggests using the searches in YouTube Analytics to see what your viewers look for. Then say it once, naturally: a title stuffed with keywords reads badly and gets fewer clicks.

Hashtags are optional. YouTube shows up to 3 of a video's hashtags by its title and ignores all of them on a video with more than 60. A hashtag in the title itself takes characters from the words.

A Short's title is read over the video while it plays, so it works more like a caption than a search result. Keep it to a few words that say the payoff: “The fastest way to edit on your phone”, “Can you guess the price?”. The Shorts angle in the generator writes that way, and the Short setting checks against 50 characters.

You don't need #Shorts in the title: YouTube's help page on uploading Shorts lists only a length of up to 3 minutes and a square or vertical video. The first second of the Short matters more than its title, so open on your strongest line; the hook generator has some. For the rest, read YouTube Shorts SEO.

Clickbait is a title the video doesn't pay off. YouTube says to make sure a title accurately represents the video, because a misleading one can make viewers stop watching, and that hurts how widely it's shown. A curious title is fine; a false one costs you.

Check every title against the video. If it says 7 mistakes, show 7. If it says “what happened”, show it happening early. YouTube also suggests going easy on ALL CAPS and emoji, keeping them to stress a feeling or something special.