The reason your videos aren't getting
many views isn't because your content is
bad. It's because your titles probably
suck. I see it all the time. Small
YouTubers like you putting hours and
hours into editing great videos only to
sabotage yourself at the final hurdle.
Why? Because you're writing your titles
the wrong way. Just one small simple
tweak in how you write your title could
be the difference between 10 views and
10,000 views. So, in this video, I'm
going to show you exactly how to create
your titles the right way. So, before we
get into the tactics, let's zoom out a
bit first and understand why people
actually click on videos in the first
place. Because a viewer clicking on a
video isn't usually a logical decision.
It's an emotional one. When a viewer
lands on the YouTube home feed, they're
not sat there carefully evaluating each
individual video they see. Instead, what
they are doing, they're usually
scrolling really fast and making
split-second decisions based on how a
title thumbnail makes them feel. And
that's the key. People don't click
because your title is informative. They
click because it triggers something
inside of them. So, your job as a
YouTuber isn't just to use your title as
a way to like describe the video.
Instead, it should be to create an
emotional reaction. When someone decides
to click on a video, it's because of a
tiny spark in their brain that says
like, "Wait, what is this?" That right
there is an open loop, which we will
discuss in the next section. But you
just need to understand that until
someone clicks, your content doesn't
even exist to them. You could have the
most valuable video in the world, but if
your title doesn't make people stop and
feel something, they're just going to
scroll straight past it. So everything
we talk about from here on out, open
loops, emotional triggers, length,
structure, all of that stuff, all of it
feeds back to one core principle.
Emotion drives action. So step two, open
loops. So one of the most effective ways
to trigger an emotion and drive clicks
is by using something called an open
loop. This is a powerful psychological
tool that plays on human curiosity,
which is the need to resolve unanswered
questions. An open loop is when your
title introduces a hint but doesn't give
the full payoff. Now, open loops spark
intrigue and leaves the viewer wondering
like what happens next. Think about it.
When you see a title like this one
mistake killed my channel or I tried Mr.
Beast strategy, here's what happened.
Your brain should immediately start
asking questions like what was that
mistake? Did it really ruin his channel?
Or what happened with the strategy? like
that sense of unresolved tension creates
discomfort and the only way to relieve
that discomfort is to click on the video
and find out. And open loops work
because our brains are wired to seek
closure. We hate unfinished thoughts. So
when you hint at something like a
mistake, a discovery, or a
transformation, but don't reveal the
full outcome, people are always
compelled to click. You'll make them
curious enough to stop scrolling and
want to start watching your video. And
this is why like vague or overly
descriptive titles often fail. If you
give everything away up front, then
there's no reason for the viewer to
click. But when you strategically leave
something out or when you tease just
enough to make people need the answer,
that's when your titles start doing
their job. And just to prove it to you,
here are two examples. Number one, this
one mistake killed my channel. Or number
two, getting a copyright strike killed
my channel. Well, the first one creates
an open loop as it doesn't give you any
information as to what that one mistake
is. So, people are going to want to
watch that video to find out. But the
second one clearly already shows you
that the reason their channel died is
because of a copyright strike. So, now
in this case, people are going to look
at that and feel no urge whatsoever to
watch it because the title has already
answered the question. I hope that makes
sense. So, next thing we need to look at
is emotional triggers. And now that you
understand how open loops work, let's
look at the emotional triggers that
power them. Your title basically has
just a split second to make someone feel
an emotion. And the stronger that
emotional response, the higher the
chance they'll click. That's why most
effective titles aren't descriptive.
They provoke people. They create
tension. They make the viewer feel like
they have to click in order to resolve
something. Think about titles like stop
making this one mistake or YouTube just
changed. Are you ready? Or something
like how I made $10,000 without
monetization. These type of titles tap
into real emotions. And there are five
core emotional triggers that work time
and time again on YouTube. So let me
explain them now. So number one is
curiosity. Number two is fear or
urgency. Number three is desire for
reward, surprise or novelty. and FOMO,
which is fear of missing out. So, when
you're writing your next title, I need
you to ask yourself, which emotion am I
tapping into? Is it curiosity? Is it
fear? Is it desire? The more emotional
charge it carries, the more powerful
your title becomes. Also, don't forget
about power words. These specific words
are used to instantly enhance emotion.
Words like warning, hidden, secret,
explosive, proven. All of these types of
words can elevate your title without
changing the meaning. Like the most
successful creators build these
emotional hooks into every title they
write, not by accident, but by design.
So before you publish your next video,
just ask yourself, will this title make
someone feel something? If not, rewrite
it because without emotion, there's no
action, and without action, there's no
views. Next thing we have to consider is
the 55 character rule. So now, let's
talk about a simple but powerful rule
that can massively improve your
click-through rate. The 55 character
rule. Most inexperienced creators often
overlook this, but it's crucial. As I
said, when people scroll through
YouTube, they're not carefully reading
and evaluating every single title.
They're basically like skim reading
really, really fast, and their brains
are wired for speed and simplicity. So,
if your title is too long or too
complex, it will get ignored. And here's
the technical bit. YouTube will also cut
off your title after about 55
characters, especially on mobile. That
means if your emotional hook or keyword
is buried at the end of your title, it
might not even be visible. You're
basically hiding the most important part
of your title behind the three dots at
the end. So to avoid that, make sure you
always frontload your titles with the
most powerful keywords at the beginning
and try to stay under 55 characters
where possible. Now, long titles can
work, but shorter ones are easy to read,
easier to remember, and easier to spark
emotion fast. And this is especially
important because over 70% of YouTube
views now come from mobile. So, if your
title looks great on desktop, but then
gets cut off on a mobile phone screen,
you're shooting yourself in the foot.
So, the takeaway point here is the best
titles are the ones that can deliver
impact when skimmed in half a second.
Then browse versus search. So the next
step is knowing what kind of title
you're actually writing. And this is
where a lot of small creators go wrong
because you guys don't know the
difference between browsebased titles
and searchbased titles. So let me
explain. But basically on YouTube
viewers typically discover content in
two ways. Either by searching for
something specific or simply by
scrolling through the homepage or
suggested videos. But these two
different types of viewer behavior are
very different and they require two
completely different types of
strategies. So for instance, when
someone's just scrolling through their
home feed, they're not looking for
anything specific. So your job here is
to interrupt that scroll and grab their
attention. That's where browse optimized
titles do best. They lean heavily on
like curiosity and emotional triggers.
Titles like YouTube shorts just changed
forever or this mistake is killing your
channel. They'll work because they make
people stop and ask questions. Even if
those people weren't originally
searching for that particular topic. On
the other side, however, search
optimized titles are written for people
who already know what they want to see.
They're actively going in and typing
things into the search bar, and they
will click on the results that come up
first after they search for a specific
term. So, the titles of these videos
need to be clear, direct, and keyword
focused. Think of formats like how to
start a drop shipping business in 2025
or best video cameras for beginners.
Like those titles are educational,
they're SEO driven, and they tend to
perform well over time because they're
evergreen and they rely on search
traffic. Now, one isn't technically
better than the other, but you do need
to know what traffic source you're
targeting before you upload the video.
For example, one of my videos is titled
How to Start a YouTube channel in 2025.
And this one is optimized for search.
And the analytics show that because most
of the views come from YouTube search,
but a different video of mine titled,
"If your shorts get under 1,000 views,
do this," is clearly optimized for
brows. And it got over a million views
even though no one is searching for that
exact title phrase. So again, just try
to understand how your title will be
discovered and write it accordingly.
Then we have write the title first. And
here is one of the biggest mindset
shifts that can completely change how
you approach YouTube. And it's something
that almost every struggling creator I
see gets it wrong. Because most new
people come up with a video idea,
they'll film it, they'll edit it,
they'll upload it, and then they'll
quickly throw together a title and
thumbnail right at the end. But that is
completely backwards. Because the most
successful creators in this game do the
exact opposite. They start with the
title first. Why? Because your title and
thumbnail are the product. They're the
first thing anyone sees. Your title and
thumbnail are what people buy into with
their attention. Like the content only
matters after you've earned that click.
So if you build the video first, you're
trapped. Like you're stuck trying to
retrofit a title and thumbnail onto
something that's already been done. But
when you begin with a title first that's
designed to grab attention and then you
build the video around that, you're
making sure your content is aligned and
primed to perform. So now on before you
even press record, ask yourself what's
the title? Like what's the promise of
this video? Why should anyone care? If
you can't answer those questions, don't
start filming. Now, if all of this is
finally starting to click and make sense
to you, and if you're realizing just how
much your title influences your success
on YouTube, then I've got something that
can take you even further. I've built a
short, high impact, actionable course
that walks you through exactly how to
create high-erforming YouTube titles and
design scroll stopping YouTube
thumbnails. This mastery course is
packed with real world examples, proven
frameworks, title formulas, emotional
trigger breakdowns like thumbnail design
principles, and so much more. And as a
thank you for making it to the end of
this video, you'll receive the entire
course for 50% off. Like, I've done it
as cheap as I possibly can. So whether
you're brand new or you're already
making content, you've got a few
subscribers, I promise you this mastery
course will save you so much time. It
will help you grow faster and it will
finally show you how to get your videos
the attention they deserve. Like
hundreds of creators have already taken
it and the feedback I've got has been
incredible. So if you're ready to stop
guessing and start growing, get 50% off
now. Click on the link in the
description or the pinned comment and
I'll see you inside. Thanks very much
for watching. See you later.