Proven title patterns plus an honest 0-100 click score
| Pattern | Example | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| N {topic} tips nobody tells you | 7 Sourdough Tips Nobody Tells You | Number + insider framing |
| Why your {topic} isn't working | Why Your Sourdough Isn't Rising | Names the viewer's exact pain |
| How to {goal} in {timeframe} | How to Start Sourdough in 7 Days | Promises a bounded outcome |
| I tried {thing} for 30 days | I Fed My Starter 30 Days Straight | Experiment narrative, natural series |
| {topic} for beginners (full guide) | Sourdough for Beginners (Full Guide) | Search-matched intent + bracket |
| {n} {topic} mistakes that cost you | 5 Starter Mistakes That Kill Flavor | Loss aversion beats gain framing |
| The truth about {topic} | The Truth About Discarding Starter | Curiosity gap, zero hype words needed |
| Stop doing {thing} | Stop Buying Expensive Flour | Pattern interrupt in a feed |
| {a} vs {b}: which wins? | Stone-Ground vs All-Purpose Flour | Captures comparison search traffic |
| What nobody tells you about {topic} | What Nobody Tells You About Hydration | Insider-curiosity hybrid |
| Title Length | Where It Gets Cut | Scoring Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 0-39 chars | Survives everywhere | Wastes space — usually too vague |
| 40-60 chars | Survives desktop search | Full 100 length score |
| 61-70 chars | Cut in most search results | -2.5 pts per character past 60 |
| 71-100 chars | Cut on home feed and mobile | Heavy deductions — front-load hard |
| 100+ chars | Severely truncated everywhere | Length score near zero |
The formal limit is 100 characters, but nothing past ~60 is guaranteed visible. Put the searchable keyword and the hook in the first half.
This is a rules engine, not a language model. Each title is measured on four dimensions, weighted, and docked for all-caps shouting or outright clickbait phrasing. Same title in, same score out — that determinism is the point: you're comparing drafts against a fixed yardstick, not asking a model to flatter you.
Length score: 100 points for 40-60 characters, prorated below 40, minus 2.5 per character above 60. Power-word score: 40 base plus 20 per hit from a list of 21 proven attention words (secret, mistake, why, how, nobody, truth, stop…), capped at 100. Number score: 100 if the title contains a digit, 50 if not. Structure score: 100 for a bracket or parenthesis tag like "(Full Guide)", 60 without. The weighted sum is 0.35×length + 0.25×power + 0.15×number + 0.15×structure + 0.10 base, minus 20 points per all-caps word (up to 60) and 30 for empty-calorie shock phrasing.
Type your topic, pick the video style, and generate. You'll get ten filled patterns, sorted by score, each with its full breakdown. Copy the ones that fit, then edit and re-score — the "score your own title" box accepts any draft. A score in the 80s is strong; don't chase 100 at the cost of honesty, because a title that promises what the video doesn't deliver tanks your retention, which costs more than the click earned.
Take "7 Photoshop Tricks Nobody Tells You (Beginner Guide)" — 52 characters, so the length score is a full 100. It has one power word ("nobody"), earning 40 + 20 = 60 on that dimension. It contains a digit (100) and a bracket tag (100). Weighted: 0.35×100 + 0.25×60 + 0.15×100 + 0.15×100 + 0.10×100 = 90, with no caps or clickbait penalties. Final score: 90/100.
Now the counterexamples from the same formula. "How I Saved $1,200 on Car Insurance in One Afternoon" also runs 52 characters but has no bracket, dropping it to 84. And a 109-character title that trails off mid-sentence scores 37 — the length penalty alone (100 − 49×2.5, floored at 0) wipes out everything else. Every number in these examples comes straight from the scoring function, and you can reproduce each one in the box above.
Aim for 40 to 60 characters. YouTube truncates titles past roughly 60 characters in search results on most devices, and the mobile home feed can cut even earlier, so the clickable part of your message should land in the first half of the title. Our scoring gives 40-60 characters a perfect length score and deducts 2.5 points per character past 60.
The patterns that consistently earn clicks: a specific number, a curiosity gap the video actually closes, a clear who-it's-for signal, and front-loaded keywords so the meaning survives truncation. The scorer weighs length at 35%, power words at 25%, presence of a number at 15%, and structure like brackets at 15%, with penalties for shouting in all caps.
Odd, specific numbers tend to outperform round ones and vague claims — 7 reads more concrete than 10, and 1,200 reads more credible than a lot. Numbers also set expectations for list videos, which viewers can start at any item. In the scorer, a title containing any digit earns full credit on that dimension.
At most one emphasized word. Titles written mostly in caps read as spam, perform worse in tests creators share publicly, and stand out for the wrong reason next to a clean thumbnail. The scorer deducts 20 points per full-word all-caps word after the first, down to 60 points off.
Free, no account, and nothing leaves your browser. The tool works from a fixed library of title patterns plus a transparent scoring formula — there's no AI generation step, so results are instant, repeatable, and cost nothing to run.
AI tools invent new phrasing from a model; this tool fills proven title patterns with your topic and scores the results against fixed rules. The advantage is determinism: the same topic always returns the same patterns, and the score for any title is the same every time — useful when you're comparing drafts rather than looking for novel wording.