Each YouTube video has a unique page and URL, so understanding how to construct the title can have a significant effect on the click-through rate. The title is as important as the video itself because it directly affects search engine rankings. With more than 500 hours of YouTube content uploaded every minute, anything that directly affects the rankings becomes crucial. Besides, a great video title can mean the difference between going viral and getting a few hits. So, follow these four all-important guidelines to create the best title for your YouTube video.

Character Count

The title of a YouTube video is incredibly important because it is what compels a user to click on the video. The title shows up along with the video in SERPs and on thumbnails, so it is crucial to get it right. The virtual gravy-bowl is right at 100 characters or less. Sixty characters or less used to be the rule to keep titles from being truncated. However, it has since been expanded to 100 characters, which should be enough to create a descriptive title with keywords that inspire action.

Keywords in Titles

Keywords are wildly crucial in a YouTube video title because they allow a video to appear in a search. There are varying opinions on the keywords best practices in a YouTube title, but a specific keyword string is always the best bet. People often use a clustering technique to narrow down variations of keywords, and there are many tools out there to help you do this.

Once you identify the keywords or keyword strings, it is essential that they flow naturally within the title. Don’t stuff the keywords in there because the title will sound funny and the search-bots will penalize the rankings for it. People want to see natural sounding, specific titles so they can find the content they are seeking.

Conduct Research

Now that it is clear how important keywords are in a YouTube video title, it should be easy to understand that a certain amount of research is necessary to identify keywords and variations. Keyword research is vital to a YouTube video title. For best results try to find the comfort zone between a high search volume and low competition. Look at different variations of the keyword and keyword string to see those most likely to compel action. For instance, you may find that “makeup tips” gets fewer hits than “tips for putting on make-up.” There are many free and paid tools available to help with keyword research.

Be Descriptive

It seems like people would know this, but you’d be surprised how many videos have one-word titles like “Crazy!” While the person in the video may very well be doing something downright crazy, there is no way to tell, exactly, the subject of the video. A better title might be “Crazy Guy Tries to Jump Car with Bicycle!” At least then viewers would understand what the video is about, and they may even watch it. There are only a few seconds and a few characters to capture someone’s attention, and descriptive keywords compel action.

Besides, that’s what everyone wants, right? You want action from the end user because you want them to watch your Youtube video. Visitors only see the title, a short description and maybe a thumbnail image. The title is what catches their attention and compels them to read the descriptions. If you have done a good job, they may click on the video and watch it. Remember, the title is almost as important as the video itself.