YouTube Title Generator

How to use the YouTube title generator

1. Enter the keyword. Use the phrase a viewer would search for, such as “sourdough bread for beginners” or “edit Reels on iPhone”, not your internal project name.
2. Choose the video type. A tutorial, a list, a review and a comparison each need a different promise. For comparisons, add what you compare against.
3. Check the length badge. Green titles are 60 characters or fewer. Amber titles are allowed but may be cut off on some screens. Red titles are over YouTube’s 100-character limit.
4. Copy, then edit. Pick the title that matches your thumbnail and the first seconds of the video, then make it specific: add a number, a result or a time frame you can actually deliver.

How long should a YouTube title be?

YouTube Help sets a hard limit of 100 characters. That is a ceiling, not a target. Titles are often cut short in search results, in suggested videos and on phones, and where the cut falls changes by device. So we flag anything over 60 characters: not because YouTube forbids it, but because you want the keyword and the promise in the part people actually see.

What makes a good YouTube title

• Keyword first. Put the main words near the start. YouTube’s own tips for descriptions recommend featuring one or two main words prominently in both the title and the description.
• A clear promise. Tell viewers what they get: a skill, an answer, a comparison, a result.
• Specific beats vague. “7 Sourdough Mistakes Beginners Make” beats “My Sourdough Journey”.
• Works with the thumbnail. The title and thumbnail should add to each other, not repeat the same words.
• Honest. If the video does not deliver what the title promises, viewers leave early and stop trusting your channel.

Title formulas by video type

Writing the description

A YouTube description can be up to 5,000 characters. Viewers see the first lines before “Show more”, so start with one or two sentences that say what the video covers, using the same words as your title. Then add chapters, links and a short note about your channel. The template above follows that order.

For chapters, YouTube Help sets three rules: the first timestamp must start at 00:00, you need at least three timestamps in ascending order, and each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long. If you use hashtags, keep them few and relevant: YouTube ignores every hashtag on a video with more than 60.

Example

For the keyword “sourdough bread” and the type “mistakes to avoid”, the generator suggests titles such as “7 Sourdough Bread Mistakes to Avoid” (35 characters, green) and “7 Sourdough Bread Mistakes Beginners Make (and Fixes)” (53 characters, green). Pick the one that matches your thumbnail and use the description template to add chapters for each mistake.

Titles are one part of a channel that grows. Our YouTube management team plans and publishes 15 Shorts and 15 community posts a month, with researched titles, descriptions and YouTube SEO. Get a free social media audit of your channel, find video ideas with the Reels and Shorts ideas generator, or check any field with the character counter.

Working towards monetization? Our YouTube Partner Program requirements guide lists the current thresholds from YouTube Help, and the Shorts monetization guide explains how Shorts earn.

Making Shorts? Our guide on how to grow on YouTube Shorts explains how titles, hooks and related videos work together.

Just getting started? Our guide on how to start a YouTube channel covers handles, branding, first uploads and thumbnails from YouTube Help.

Pair your title with the right image: see the official YouTube thumbnail size for videos and Shorts, and how to A/B test thumbnails.

Then write the description: our YouTube description generator adds chapters, links and hashtags and checks them against YouTube Help.

Finally, add a few accurate tags with the YouTube tag generator; YouTube says tags matter less than the title, thumbnail and description.

Growing the channel? Read how to get more YouTube subscribers with YouTube’s own tools.