Our clients frequently ask: How to write the best YouTube video title to maximize video SEO?

We’ve analyzed over 50,000 trending YouTube videos to uncover the characteristics of an ideal title that maximizes SEO performance and boosts visibility.

In this post, we’ll share our research findings to help you optimize your titles and will suggest free tools to make this task easier. Keep reading!

Hi, I’m Mik from TunePocket. This post was based on the actual trending YouTube videos titles collected over the course of 6+ months. Based on that data we’ve came up with the recommended recipe for SEO friendly YouTube titles.

This post focuses on long form videos. Read our new study focusing on identifying the optimal title length for YouTube Shorts.

Key takeaways

• We’ve analyzed 50,000+ of trending YouTube video titles.
• Most trending titles are between 41–60 characters long, with 7–9 words being the most common word count.
• Mixed case capitalization dominates, and statement-style titles are far more common than questions or commands.
• A large share of trending titles include special characters, numbers, hashtags, or brackets, simple elements that help titles stand out and grab attention.
• Don’t rely on the video title alone, use video tags, hashtags, along with meaningful description to boost your video’s discoverability (we’ve listed some free YouTube SEO tools later in the post).

help titles stand out and grab attention.

• Last but not least: Check YouTube metrics to see how your titles perform and adjust as needed.

How we conducted the research

Your video title is one of the most critical factors for YouTube SEO, significantly influencing your video’s visibility, click-through rate, and overall ranking in search results.

To find out the optimal YouTube video title recipe for SEO, we conducted extensive research by collecting and analyzing the titles of over 50,000 trending YouTube videos.

Our analysis explored various factors, including the length of titles measured by both characters and word count, sentence structure such as questions versus statements, capitalization patterns, the use of special characters and emojis, numerical elements commonly found in listicle formats, emotional and power words, the presence and impact of parentheses or brackets, as well as overall sentiment.

Trending videos data sample

Here’s a small snapshot of the data we’ve been collecting for the analysis:

What exactly we analyzed

Title Length (Characters and Words):

Measured the length of trending video titles to identify common character and word counts appearing frequently on YouTube’s trending page.

Sentence Structure:

Analyzed types of sentence structures (questions, statements, commands, listicles) commonly used in titles appearing on YouTube’s trending section.

Capitalization Patterns:
Examined capitalization styles (ALL CAPS, Title Case, sentence case) often featured in video titles that made it to YouTube’s trending list.

Special Characters and Emojis:

Explored the prevalence of emojis and special symbols in titles selected by YouTube’s algorithm for trending status.

Numbers and Listicle Formats:

Observed the frequency and patterns of numeric or list-style titles (“Top 10,” “5 Secrets,” etc.) among trending YouTube videos.

Emotional and Power Words:

Identified emotionally charged and powerful words commonly found in titles chosen by YouTube for prominent display on its trending page.

Use of Brackets and Parentheses:

Assessed how frequently brackets or parentheses are used in titles that have successfully appeared in YouTube’s trending videos.

Hashtags in Titles:

Analyzed the presence of hashtags in video titles that appeared on YouTube’s trending page to understand their usage and role in visibility and categorization.

Sentiment Analysis:

Classified titles by sentiment (positive, negative, neutral) to recognize patterns in tone among videos selected by YouTube’s algorithm for the trending section.

Most common characteristics of YouTube’s trending video titles

After crunching the data, here’s what we found:

Optimal Video Title Length for YouTube SEO

The average length of titles from trending YouTube videos is approximately 53 characters and about 9 words.

This suggests that shorter, concise titles tend to perform well and align closely with typical recommendations for optimal SEO readability and clickability.

While exact title length isn’t a strict ranking factor by itself, it plays a critical role in ensuring titles appear fully in search results and suggested videos, thus improving viewer engagement and SEO visibility.

Here’s the percentage breakdown of title lengths across trending YouTube videos, showing how often each range appears:

Word Count

1–3 words: 4.07%

4–6 words: 23.37%

7–9 words: 32.03%

10+ words: 40.53%

Character Count

Less than 20 characters: 3.86%

20–40 characters: 30.17%

41–60 characters: 31.95%

61–80 characters: 18.12%

Over 80 characters: 15.91%

While most trending titles lean toward longer lengths (especially in words), most fall within 20–60 character range, ideal for balancing readability and SEO visibility.

Note a drop beyond 60 characters, suggesting that YouTube’s algorithm tends to favor shorter, more digestible titles for visibility and engagement.

Most Common Capitalization

Among trending titles, Mixed Case capitalization (72%) is by far the most popular, followed by Title Case and ALL CAPS.

Mixed case likely appeals to viewers due to its conversational tone and readability, aligning well with typical viewer expectations.

While capitalization alone may not significantly impact SEO, readability and attractiveness contribute to higher click-through rates and viewer interactions, indirectly influencing YouTube’s algorithm.

Popular Title Formats

The majority of trending video titles are statements (84%), followed by questions and listicles.

Statement formats are direct and informational, clearly communicating video content to the viewer.

Use of Special Characters and Emojis

A significant majority (75%) of trending video titles contain special characters or emojis.

This indicates that creators frequently use punctuation, separators, or symbols to catch viewer attention visually.

Although not a direct ranking factor, these visual elements boost a title’s visibility in crowded search results, helping videos stand out and attract clicks, indirectly benefiting SEO.

Numbers and Listicle Usage

Around 28% of titles include numbers, often reflecting popular list-style or structured content formats (like “Top 10”, “5 ways”, and so on).

Numeric titles attract viewers through clear expectations and organized content structure, potentially increasing viewer retention and interaction.

Emotional and Power Words

About 3% of titles explicitly include emotional or powerful words like “legendary”, “epic”, or “shocking”.

While the percentage is small, such words may have a disproportionate impact by enhancing emotional appeal and increasing curiosity.

Brackets and Parentheses Usage

Around 9% of trending titles use brackets or parentheses to add extra context or highlight important content aspects (like [Official] or (Must Watch)).

This practice helps viewers quickly identify valuable or supplementary information, thereby enhancing clickability.

Use of Hashtags in video Titles

Only 16.46% of trending video titles include a hashtag, while the vast majority—83.54% do not.

This shows that while hashtags can help categorize and surface videos in niche searches, they’re not commonly used in the main title. Still, they may contribute to discoverability in specific cases, especially when tied to trends or campaigns.

Sentiment Analysis

The vast majority (88%) of titles have neutral sentiment, with positive titles making up around 3% and negative ones even fewer.

Neutral titles are descriptive and straightforward, meeting viewer expectations clearly.

Positive sentiment, while less frequent, can still be highly effective at encouraging clicks through emotional resonance.

generate SEO optimized YouTube video titles

Related: YouTube Video Titles: 15 Best Practices

how to measure the effectiveness of your video titles?

To estimate the effectiveness of your YouTube titles, you can use key metrics from YouTube Analytics, specifically from the Reach and Engagement tabs.

Here’s how:

Start by looking at your Click-Through Rate (CTR) under Reach.

This tells you how often viewers clicked your video after seeing the title and thumbnail. A high CTR generally means your title (and thumbnail) sparked curiosity or matched viewer intent.

Next, check Impressions.

If your impressions are high but CTR is low, your title may need improvement (it’s being displayed but not clicked).

Pair this with Average View Duration and Audience Retention (from the Engagement tab).

If people click but drop off quickly, your title might be misleading!

By comparing CTR, impressions, and retention together, you can see whether your title is attracting the right viewers and keeping them engaged.

don’t rely on the title optimization alone if you want to succeed you YouTube!

Using the SEO optimized video title is definitely an important step in your YouTube strategy.

However, don’t forget to optimize your channel, as well as each video’s metadata!

Here are some free tools and resources that can help:

Remember this rule of thumb: just make good videos that people want to watch!

Related: How to pick the best name for your YouTube channel based on data research

Questions?

We hope you find our research helpful.

Have another burning question about YouTube? Post it in the comments and we’ll do the data crunching.