Great YouTube marketing starts with a catchy YouTube title and description. You are spending days or even weeks to create awesome videos, but no matter the content, if the title is not catchy, then it will probably not get many views.

In this article we'll give you useful tips for how to write catchy YouTube titles and descriptions, engaging and optimized for search engines.

Someone is holding a smartphone displaying the YouTube App Icon against a red wall.

What are YouTube titles?

YouTube titles are the names of your YouTube videos and they are mandatory in order to post anything on YouTube. This means that you can’t post a YouTube video without a title.

They serve two main purposes:

  1. Tell search engines (YouTube, Google) what your video is about.
  2. Convince people to click on your video.

Looking at it from a SEO (Search Engine Optimization, that is) point of view, the title of your YouTube video is a very important puzzle piece to get your videos into YouTube's recommendations.

How many times have you stared blankly at your screen trying to come up with a good email subject or an interesting title for your paperwork? Many YouTubers can relate to this when it comes to naming their videos.

But creativity is not the only factor that counts when creating a YouTube title. You will also have to do some research. First, go for the trends. Even if you are doing the most niche kind of video, you will find out some relevant information out there that will help you out with the title.

Platforms like Google Trends or Answer the Public will help you out with what people are looking for online based on certain keywords. 

5 Tips for catchy YouTube titles

1. Length

Try to keep the title within 50-60 characters, as that’s the amount of characters YouTube shows to users on the search page. Titles longer than 60 characters often get cut off.

2. Use relevant keywords

as the word implies, these are specific words that define your content and will help you to position it better on search engines. Mostly, YouTube algorithm finds the exact keyword matches. For example, if you are doing a makeup video, be sure to include the word “makeup” somewhere.

3. Place your keyword early:

Place the keyword you want your video to be associated with as early as possible.

For instance:

✅ How to Make Cinematic Smartphone Videos (10 Easy Tips)


❌ 10 Easy Tips to Completely Transform Your Smartphone Videos into Cinematic Masterpieces

4. Numbers & How To's

When possible try to include numbers (for example “5 habits" or "10 tips" for a healthier life”) as this suggests quick answers. Or use the words “how to” in combination with a specific question (for example “How to color grade in adobe premiere”)
Both of those practices signals the brain to get straight and quick answers.

5. Do not exaggerate

Do never add misleading words or phrases to just get clicks. Be honest. Stay realistic and do not try to get clicks by force. If the content doesn't live up to the promise, viewers leave quickly. That hurts audience retention, which is one of YouTube's strongest ranking signals.

Avoid risky YouTube Titles like these:
 ❌ This Changes Everything!!!
❌ How to Get Rich in One Day
❌ Hollywood Doesn't Want You to Know This...
❌ Your iPhone Can Replace a $100,000 Camera

How to A/B Test YouTube Titles

Don't know if your YouTube Title is the best choice for your video? Luckily, YouTube let's you test different YouTube Titles on the same video, in order to see which title generates more watch time. And you should make use of it if you maximize the outcome of your video titles.

Here is a quick guide on how to set up an A/B test:

  • Go to the YouTube Studio
  • Click on "Content" in the left menu sidebar
  • Hover over the video you want to set up an A/B test for and click on the Pencil tool "Details"
  • Click A/B testing button in the title section.
  • Choose if you want to A/B test the title, the thumbnail or both at the same time
  • Enter the title variations in the boxes (max. 100 characters each) and save.

Lastly, save the edits. This will start the test. In the same menu, you can view the test results.
The best performing title will be the one resulting in the longest watch time for this video.

Choose the title so that it works perfectly with the thumbnail. You can A/B test the thumbnail in the same menu.

What are YouTube descriptions?

Title sounds like an obvious thing, but why are YouTube descriptions so important? 

YouTube descriptions:

  • ...give humans and search engines an overview on what your video is about
  • ...provide contextual resources
  • ...help viewers decide whether they want to watch it or not.

But most importantly, done right, YouTube descriptions can help your videos rank in YouTube’s “suggested search” function, boost SEO, subscriptions, view counts, and watch time. 

There are two types of YouTube descriptions:

  1. A YouTube channel description is the text on your channel’s “About” page. It is a short text explaining a bit about what your channel is about, who you are and what users can expect to see there. Pretty much like instagram captions!
  2. A YouTube video description is the text displayed below each of your videos and serves the functions mentioned above.

A YouTuber sitting in front of the camera talking into the microphone.

10 Tips for writing great YouTube descriptions

If you need some ideas for effective YouTube descriptions, be sure to follow these tips:

1. Use keywords

Same as for the titles, keywords must appear in the description to help your video reach more viewers. But do not overdo it. Place them naturally a few times in the description, where they make sense. YouTubes algorithm is smart - they can detect and punish keyword spamming.

2. Avoid long texts

 Keep your descriptions digestible for users. Avoid long paragraphs and walls of texts. Instead keep it concise and straight to the point and use bullet lists, short sentences, headings and emojis (where appropriate).

3. Include relevant links

Not only this will help you to promote your social media channels for example, but adding links will improve your SEO. You can also link to products you talk about on your video and, of course, if you have a sponsor you can include a call to action to visit their site.

4. Add hashtags

But not too many. Stick to less than 10 hashtags and make sure that they are relevant to your video.

5. Choose the first words wisely

Pay close attention to the first three lines of your YouTube description as these are what viewers see before the “See more” button. The first line of your video description is also what appears under your video in search results, so you want to get straight to the point if you want people to click on it.

6. Give credit when you need to

If you are using stock media (images, footage, stock music) make sure to follow the rules. For example, if you use some of our free music tracks then you will always have to attribute the music properly.

7. Include Timestamps

If your video is long, include timestamps (also called "chapters") when talking about relevant subjects. This enables users to directly jump to the part of your video they are most interested in. This is especially useful on tutorials or really long videos such as vlogs. To add timestamps to YouTube descriptions, simply type in the minute and second, like so: "5:13" - to add a timestamp at 5 minutes and 13 seconds or "1:20:55" - to add a timestamp at 1 hour, 20 minutes and 55 seconds.

8. Call to Actions

Don’t forget about call to actions such as “follow me on Instagram” or “Subscribe for more”. Even if you say it on the video, you can always include it on the description as well.

9. Clearly describe the content of the video

 go to the point quickly and let your viewers know what they can actually expect from the video. 

10. Keep important information updated

Descriptions should not be the same all the time. Update them when:

    • Links change
    • New resources become available
    • You create related videos relevant to it
    • You want to promote current content

Keeping your YouTube Video descriptions fresh also signals search engines, that your videos are probably not out-of-date, increasing the chance for them to not drown in the search results and recommendations.

A Laptop screen showing the YouTube Website and recommended videos.

How to edit YouTube video title and description

Thankfully YouTube allows you to edit the title and description (as well as other things such as the thumbnail) even if your video has already been published. To do so follow these steps:

  1. Go to your YouTube Studio.
  2. Click on Content in the left menu sidebar.
  3. Select the video you want to edit and click on the icon that looks like a pencil -> "details".
  4. You'll see the edit page of this video, where you will be able to change anything you want to, including the title and description.

Practice makes perfect

Great YouTube marketing requires a lot of practice. Don’t force a catchy YouTube title and description on the first videos you are posting. After all it has to sound natural. Overusing keywords and relying on clickbait can do more harm than good.

Most importantly, learn from the great: there are so many incredible and creative YouTubers out there, so start paying attention to how they write their titles and descriptions. You will be soon nailing it too!

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