How to Title YouTube Videos to Get More Views

Did you know that people only truly care about themselves?

We’re all like this in relationships, business and just… life in general.

Look at it this way: even though you absolutely love your family, you only love them because you’ve received something nice from them before.

They probably love you too and you’ve had amazing times together.

Just think about it.

If your parents were good to you, then you probably grew up feeling lots of gratitude and love for them.

They are probably the most important people in the world to you because of how much love and teaching they gave you since you were a baby without expecting nothing in return.

But would that be the same if they had made your life MISERABLE from the beginning?

Of course not… and you’d probably hate them too—just like in the new Joker movie.

Can you see it? You only love them because they added something of value to your life without asking for anything back.

And this is also true on YouTube.

If you want to ask a favor (a like, a follow, a subscription) from someone, first you have to provide something of value without asking anything back.

The thing that makes people really want to watch your videos is that THEY THINK they will get something good and valuable out of it.

They’re not doing it for charity or because they want to support a random stranger on the internet.

People will only do something if it’s beneficial to them.

So how do you convince people that they will get something valuable from your video BEFORE they watch it?

You have to craft specific outcome-focused titles.

I know that you see all these famous vloggers publish lazy titles like “Vlog #145 day at the beach”—BTW this is what fame does to some people… it makes them LAZY.

And that’s COOL, I’d love it if being lazy were an option for me, honestly.

I like to think about building my audience as if I’m getting closer to earning my laziness pass.

But I still can’t do that, so I have to really think deeply about my titles.

And that’s not only for YouTube, but also for these emails, blog posts, and social media accounts—once I finally create them. 

You and I, can’t go around being lazy. We have to put in extra work!

So next time you’re writing a title for one of your videos, what you need to do is to make sure people think that your videos are MADE FOR THEM.

They need to believe that the video they’re clicking on is tailored to their own interests and it’s not going to waste their limited time.

And the trick here is being SPECIFIC.

Tell them what they’ll get, BUT KEEP IT SHORT.

How short? Under 70 characters (including spaces).

So this is where art comes into play. 

Write your title in a way that tells people the exact benefit they’re getting from your video, in just a few words

If you’re teaching, tell them EXACTLY what they’re going to learn.

Don’t be too general. That’s one of the most common mistakes I see.

EXAMPLE #1: How to Turn a Boring Travel Vlog Into Helpful Content

So, for example, instead of saying “Vlog #145 day at the beach“, think about something that people actually WOULD CARE ABOUT and use it in your title.

Is the beach better than you expected? Use the title: 

• “Is this the Best Beach Near Lisbon?”

See what I did there? 

Now people that are going to Lisbon and searching for things to do will get your video recommended. 

Some people will search “beast beach near Lisbon” on Google and YouTube, and your video might get recommended.

They will want to know if that is actually the best beach and if it’s worth visiting, which is something you should talk about in your video.

EXAMPLE #2: The Formula to Getting People Excited for Every New Gaming Video You Publish

Here’s another example for gamers:

I know that when you play a videogame and you create a lot of videos about the same videogame, it can get hard to think about a new good title. (I’ve been there).

The solution is incredibly simple. Use the following formula:

• [something INTERESTING that happened in that particular video] + [separator (/, |, – )] + [Name of the videogame]”

It results in something like this:

• This is the most difficult boss I’ve seen! | Dark Souls II (#32)”

This way you’re not naming your videos in a boring way like: Dark Souls II Playthrough #32″

Think about it: the only way someone would watch “video #32” of a series is if they watched the previous 31 videos, which is VERY unlikely.

By giving the video its own “standalone” title, you’re attracting new viewers that haven’t seen a single video of your series.

And of course, you can apply this to any kind of series you make, not only for videogames.

Being specific is the important thing here.

EXAMPLE #3: How to Turn a Generic Video Into an Irresistible Topic

If you want to teach people how to become more confident in front of the camera for their youtube videos, don’t just say something like “How to Be More Confident”

You are leaving too many things to their imagination!

BE SPECIFIC

• How to Be More Confident When Recording YouTube Videos

Think about it, how many videos are out there that are teaching people “how to be more confident” in general? TOO MANY.

How many videos are out there teaching people how to be more confident while recording YouTube videos? WAY LESS.

And people looking to be more confident because they want to become YouTubers will be more willing to click on your specific video rather than the more general video.

And they’re also more likely to watch the video until the end.

…and that’s simply because the video is tailored to them.

You made something specifically for them, and you’re not asking anything in return (only two clicks to like and subscribe).

Your viewers will be more than happy to do so!

The more tailored your video is to someone, the more chances they’ll click on it and watch it.

They truly need to believe that your video was MADE for them.

When they do, they’ll click and watch it until the end because they will know that they found exactly what they were looking for.

People that look at a “general” title will never be sure if that’s what they’re looking for or not, so it becomes a bit risky to click on it (no one wants to waste their time).

So add as much context as you can in less than 70 characters, and people searching on YouTube will find exactly what they were looking for in your channel.