YouTube Titles Have Changed, Here's What Works in 2026 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00If your videos aren't getting many
2. 0:01views, it's probably not your content.
3. 0:04It's how you've written your title.
4. 0:06Because on YouTube, just five to 10
5. 0:08words will decide whether people click
6. 0:10on your video or whether they completely
7. 0:13ignore it. And one tiny change in how
8. 0:15you write your titles can be the
9. 0:17difference between 10 views and 10,000
10. 0:19views. So, in this video, I'm going to
11. 0:21show you exactly how to write titles the
12. 0:24right way. It's going to be a deep dive,
13. 0:26so let's get into it. Now, before we get
14. 0:28into the tactics, we first need to
15. 0:30understand what makes people click on
16. 0:32videos in the first place. Because
17. 0:34clicking on a video is never a logical
18. 0:37decision. It's actually an emotional
19. 0:39one. Because when a viewer lands on
20. 0:41YouTube's home feed looking for someone
21. 0:43to watch, they're not sat there
22. 0:45carefully comparing each video or
23. 0:47reading every title word for word.
24. 0:50Instead, their eyes are scanning
25. 0:52incredibly fast, almost on like
26. 0:53autopilot. And during that, their brain
27. 0:56filters out 99% of what it sees until it
28. 1:00latches on to the one thing that
29. 1:02triggers a small emotional response. So,
30. 1:05if your title and thumbnail fails to
31. 1:08create that small emotional response,
32. 1:10the viewer's subconscious won't even
33. 1:12register you. They'll just keep
34. 1:14scrolling past. And think about it for a
35. 1:16second. When you open YouTube looking
36. 1:18for something to watch, can you remember
37. 1:20all of the titles you didn't click on?
38. 1:22Of course not, because your brain
39. 1:24instantly forgot them. And that's the
40. 1:26key. Now, your job as a creator is never
41. 1:29to just describe your video. It's to
42. 1:32interrupt the scroll of the viewer and
43. 1:34to create like a tiny emotional jolt
44. 1:36that stops someone's eyes midscan. And
45. 1:39until you earn that click, your content
46. 1:41basically doesn't exist. You could have
47. 1:44the most valuable video on YouTube, the
48. 1:46best advice, the best editing, the best
49. 1:48storytelling, but if your title doesn't
50. 1:51trigger a small emotional reaction, it
51. 1:53gets ignored. So, no, look, your title
52. 1:56is not just a bunch of random words.
53. 1:59It's a carefully crafted headline that
54. 2:02competes with everything else on that
55. 2:04screen. So, I think that's enough for
56. 2:06the psychology side of things. Let's now
57. 2:08dive a bit deeper into all of the
58. 2:10tactics and principles. So, now you're
59. 2:12probably thinking, "How do I create that
60. 2:14emotional reaction Dan keeps rabbiting
61. 2:16on about?" Well, let me explain. Now,
62. 2:19almost every great YouTube title
63. 2:21triggers one of three core emotions.
64. 2:24That is curiosity, fear, or desire.
65. 2:28Okay, so first up, we have curiosity.
66. 2:30The feeling of I need to know what this
67. 2:33is. Now, curiosity is the most powerful
68. 2:36emotion on YouTube because it creates a
69. 2:39mental itch and it happens when your
70. 2:41title hints at something interesting,
71. 2:44but it deliberately leaves out the full
72. 2:46answer. So, the viewer's brain has like
73. 2:49an information gap and the viewer's
74. 2:52brain wants to close that gap, but it
75. 2:54can only do so by clicking on the video.
76. 2:56So, to show you what I mean, here are
77. 2:58two examples. On the left, we've got a
78. 3:00copyright strike killed my channel. And
79. 3:02then on the right, we've got I copied
80. 3:04Mr. Beast strategy and got more views.
81. 3:07Now, these titles might seem okay, like
82. 3:10there's not too much wrong with them at
83. 3:12first, is there? But now, let's change
84. 3:14them a little bit to include a bit of
85. 3:16curiosity. So, now instead, the titles
86. 3:18are this one mistake killed my channel.
87. 3:21Don't do this. And I tried Mr. Beast,
88. 3:24new strategy. Here's what happened. And
89. 3:26you can immediately see the difference
90. 3:27because the titles on the left just
91. 3:29explain the video. Like there's no
92. 3:31reason to click on them and watch them
93. 3:33because the titles have already
94. 3:35explained what's going to happen.
95. 3:36Whereas the titles on the right tease
96. 3:38the video with curiosity. They start a
97. 3:41story but don't finish it. And the only
98. 3:43way for the viewer to find out what
99. 3:45happens is by clicking on that video and
100. 3:47watching it. So if your title gives
101. 3:49everything away up front, nobody will
102. 3:51feel the need to click. But if you
103. 3:53strategically leave something
104. 3:54unanswered, curiosity earns a click for
105. 3:57you. Next up, we have fear. The feeling
106. 3:59of I don't want to miss out or I don't
107. 4:01want to do something wrong. Now, fear
108. 4:03works because humans are hardwired to
109. 4:06avoid loss more strongly than they're
110. 4:07motivated by gain. Now, on YouTube,
111. 4:10fear-based titles usually revolve around
112. 4:13mistakes, warnings, or missed
113. 4:15opportunities. Think of titles like stop
114. 4:18making this silly thumbnail mistake or
115. 4:20this is why your videos keep getting
116. 4:22zero views. Now, these kind of titles
117. 4:25basically trigger a subtle anxiety like
118. 4:28what if I'm doing this wrong or what if
119. 4:30this applies to me? And the moment
120. 4:32someone feels that sense of fear, you've
121. 4:34successfully triggered that emotional
122. 4:36reaction. So, they'll stop scrolling and
123. 4:39actually start clicking on your video.
124. 4:40Now, an important note here is that fear
125. 4:43doesn't mean being really clickbaity or
126. 4:45overly negative because that will turn
127. 4:47someone off instantly. So, you do have
128. 4:49to be careful. And then finally, we have
129. 4:51desire. The feeling of I want that
130. 4:54outcome. Now, desire is all about
131. 4:56results, transformations, and status.
132. 4:59These titles usually promise a reward.
133. 5:02Things like more views, faster growth, a
134. 5:05better system, or some sort of like
135. 5:07insider knowledge. Now, examples could
136. 5:09look like how I got my first 10,000
137. 5:11views on a small channel or the new
138. 5:14title formula gets 10 times more clicks.
139. 5:16Now, desire works because it speaks
140. 5:18directly to what your audience wants,
141. 5:21not just what they're curious about. And
142. 5:23these titles answer the question, well,
143. 5:26what's in it for me? So, people can be
144. 5:28confident that the video they're about
145. 5:30to watch is actually going to help them.
146. 5:32So, they are the three most common
147. 5:34emotions you can tap into. Now, if your
148. 5:36title fails to spark any one of those
149. 5:39emotions, then chances are it probably
150. 5:41won't get clicked, no matter how good
151. 5:43your actual video is. Now, I just wanted
152. 5:45to let you know that if you are finding
153. 5:47this video helpful so far, I actually
154. 5:49have a titles and thumbnails mastery
155. 5:51course that goes much, much deeper. It
156. 5:54has 29 different lectures and is
157. 5:56designed to take you from beginner to
158. 5:58pro. Now, hundreds of people have taken
159. 6:00it already and the feedback has been
160. 6:02incredible. The link to that is down
161. 6:04below. Anyway, let's get back to the
162. 6:05video. So, now that you understand the
163. 6:07emotions that drive clicks, the next
164. 6:09question is, how do you actually trigger
165. 6:12those emotions using just words? Well,
166. 6:15this is where power words come in. And
167. 6:17if you don't know, power words are
168. 6:20specific words or phrases that instantly
169. 6:22amplify an emotion. They don't change
170. 6:25what the video is about. They just
171. 6:26change how it feels to read. For
172. 6:28example, compare these two titles.
173. 6:31Number one, how to write better YouTube
174. 6:33titles. versus the YouTube title mistake
175. 6:36killing your views. Like they're exactly
176. 6:38the same topic, but they have a
177. 6:40completely different emotional response.
178. 6:42Now, the first one is just a bit
179. 6:43informative. Like, it's a bit flat. The
180. 6:45second one, however, instantly triggers
181. 6:48fear and curiosity. And that's the job
182. 6:50of power words. Like, they act like
183. 6:52emotional shortcuts for the brain. So,
184. 6:54instead of the viewer having to think,
185. 6:56is this video worth clicking on? The use
186. 6:58of those words makes them feel instantly
187. 7:01like it is. Now, an important thing to
188. 7:03understand is this. Every niche has its
189. 7:06own different power words. Now, for me,
190. 7:08in my YouTube growth space, words like
191. 7:10click-through rate, algorithm, zero
192. 7:12views, subscribers, hooks, and viral
193. 7:15show up over and over again because they
194. 7:18speak directly to what creators care
195. 7:20about, but yours will be completely
196. 7:22different. But just to give you an idea,
197. 7:23here are some generalized power words
198. 7:26that can pretty much help in any niche.
199. 7:28Feel free to pause the video and note
200. 7:30them down or just screenshot it if you
201. 7:32wish to. But look, you can't polish a
202. 7:34turd. Power words aren't magic. So
203. 7:37throwing a couple of words like crazy or
204. 7:39shocking into every title won't suddenly
205. 7:42make your videos perform better. Now,
206. 7:43the best power words are the words that
207. 7:45actually support the emotion you're
208. 7:48trying to like convey, not replace it.
209. 7:50So when you're writing a title, don't
210. 7:53ask, "How can I make this sound more
211. 7:54dramatic?" Instead, you should ask
212. 7:56something like, "Which emotion am I
213. 7:58triggering? And what words strengthen
214. 8:01that emotion?" Because when you're able
215. 8:03to get the emotion right and the power
216. 8:05words to reinforce it, trust me, you'll
217. 8:07be on to a winner. So, now that you know
218. 8:10how to emotionally position your titles
219. 8:12and what to include in them, the next
220. 8:14step is making sure you get the length
221. 8:17right. And by length, I literally just
222. 8:19mean how many words you've included in
223. 8:21your title. And there's two common rules
224. 8:23here. First is the 7 to11 words rule and
225. 8:26second is the 55 character rule. Now a
226. 8:29lot of creators completely overlook
227. 8:31this, but it's actually really really
228. 8:33important because as I said during the
229. 8:35psychology section of the video, when
230. 8:37people scroll through the home feed,
231. 8:39they're not reading titles word for
232. 8:41word. They're skimm reading and their
233. 8:43brain wants information fast and with as
234. 8:46little effort as possible. So, if your
235. 8:48title is too long or too confusing or
236. 8:50too hard to read, people will just
237. 8:53ignore it. That's why titles tend to
238. 8:55perform best when they sit in the 7 to
239. 8:5811 word range. These are long enough to
240. 9:01set context and spark curiosity, but
241. 9:04they're short enough to like feel
242. 9:05punchy, readable, and effortless to
243. 9:07process. Any shorter than seven words,
244. 9:10and your title might become a bit vague,
245. 9:12but any longer and it starts to become a
246. 9:14little bit too long. Now there is
247. 9:16actually a technical reason that this is
248. 9:17important too because YouTube actually
249. 9:19cuts off titles at around 55 characters.
250. 9:22So if your title exceeds 55 characters
251. 9:26then the end might be replaced by three
252. 9:28dots depending on where the viewer is
253. 9:30actually seeing your video. Now this is
254. 9:31especially the case on mobiles because
255. 9:33titles get shortened all the time and
256. 9:36over 70% of YouTube views come from
257. 9:39mobile. So, you need to make sure things
258. 9:41like your hook or your emotional trigger
259. 9:43or your main keyword of your title is
260. 9:46never buried at the end. Otherwise, it
261. 9:49might not even be visible. Now, yes, of
262. 9:51course, long titles can still work, but
263. 9:53only as long as they're structured
264. 9:55properly. That's why word order matters.
265. 9:58So, you basically just want to frontload
266. 10:00your titles with the strongest words
267. 10:02first. So, include the emotion or the
268. 10:05curiosity or the promise right at the
269. 10:07beginning of your title. So, even if
270. 10:08someone only catches the first half of
271. 10:10your title whilst they're scrolling,
272. 10:12they should instantly understand why
273. 10:14they want to click on your video. But
274. 10:16look, in most cases, shorter titles win
275. 10:19because they're easier to read. They're
276. 10:21usually easier to remember, and they're
277. 10:23more likely to trigger an emotion within
278. 10:26like a second of reading it. Now, look,
279. 10:28I know that some of you genuinely just
280. 10:30really do struggle when it comes to
281. 10:32writing titles. And if that's you, then
282. 10:34you could consider using an hour tool to
283. 10:36do it for you. And the best tool that I
284. 10:38found out there right now is actually
285. 10:40one of 10 in their title generator. All
286. 10:43you have to do is either type in a rough
287. 10:45title idea that you already have or just
288. 10:47type in a short explanation of the video
289. 10:49you're making and it will automatically
290. 10:51generate loads of different titles for
291. 10:53you. Now, the titles you see on the left
292. 10:55are all based on your own channels data.
293. 10:57And the titles on the right are actually
294. 10:59based off other viral videos on the
295. 11:02platform. And in my titles and
296. 11:03thumbnails course, I have an entire
297. 11:05lecture dedicated on how to use this
298. 11:08tool properly. So, it could be something
299. 11:09you might want to check out. Now, the
300. 11:11final thing you need to consider is
301. 11:13this. What kind of title are you
302. 11:15actually writing? And this is where most
303. 11:18inexperienced creators go wrong because
304. 11:20a lot of you guys don't know the
305. 11:22difference between browse-based titles
306. 11:24and searchbased titles. So, let me
307. 11:27explain. Basically on YouTube, viewers
308. 11:30typically discover content in two ways.
309. 11:33Either by searching for something
310. 11:35specific or just by scrolling the
311. 11:38homepage or suggested videos. Now, these
312. 11:40are two very different types of viewer
313. 11:42behavior and they require two completely
314. 11:45different title strategies. So, for
315. 11:47instance, when someone's just scrolling
316. 11:49through their home feed, they're not
317. 11:51looking for anything specific. So, your
318. 11:53job here, like I said, is to interrupt
319. 11:55the scroll and grab their attention.
320. 11:58That's what browse-based titles do best.
321. 12:01They lean heavily on curiosity and
322. 12:03emotional triggers. On the flip side,
323. 12:06however, searched optimized titles are
324. 12:08written for people who already know what
325. 12:10they want to watch. These viewers are
326. 12:12actively going in and typing specific
327. 12:15things into the search bar, and then
328. 12:17they'll click on the videos that come up
329. 12:19in those results. So, the titles of
330. 12:22these types of videos need to be clear,
331. 12:24direct, and very keyword focused. Think
332. 12:27of formats like how to start a drop
333. 12:30shipping business in 2026 or best video
334. 12:33cameras for beginners. Like, these kind
335. 12:36of titles tend to perform well over time
336. 12:38because they're evergreen and they rely
337. 12:40on search traffic. Now, one isn't
338. 12:42technically better than the other, but
339. 12:45you do need to know what kind of traffic
340. 12:47source you're targeting before you
341. 12:49create your title. For example, one of
342. 12:51my videos titled, "How to start a
343. 12:53YouTube channel in 2025 is optimized for
344. 12:56search." And the analytics show that
345. 12:58because most of the views come from
346. 13:00YouTube search, but a different video
347. 13:02titled, "If your shorts get under 1,000
348. 13:04views, do this," is clearly optimized
349. 13:06for browse. and it got over millions of
350. 13:08views even though nobody is searching
351. 13:10for that specific title phrase. So
352. 13:13again, you just need to make sure you
353. 13:15know what kind of traffic source you
354. 13:17want for your title before you actually
355. 13:20write it. Now, if all of this is
356. 13:22starting to make sense, but you still
357. 13:24feel a little bit unsure, my titles and
358. 13:26thumbnails mastery course will help you
359. 13:28take things to the next level. I built
360. 13:30this short high impact course to walk
361. 13:32you through step by step how to write
362. 13:35high performing titles and also design
363. 13:38scroll stopping thumbnails. It's packed
364. 13:40with proven frameworks, real examples,
365. 13:43emotional triggers, thumbnail practices,
366. 13:45and so much more. And as a thank you for
367. 13:47making it to the end of this video, you
368. 13:49can get the entire course for 50% off.
369. 13:52So, if you want to stop guessing and
370. 13:54start getting your videos the views they
371. 13:55deserve, click on the link in the
372. 13:57description and I'll see you