How to: Write an EPIC Production Title

Creating a great video is only one part to a superb video production. One must consider marketing, distribution, display formats, and much more. So now that you have your finished production, what next? Next is to take steps to make sure it gets viewed. One of the easiest ways to increase viewership is by creating a strong production title that is:

• Innovative
• Search engine optimized
• Persuasive
• Short

For your next video production don’t just stick with a boring old title, like “Mr. Green’s Testimonial” or a super long, video spoiling,  wordy title like “Cats Take Each Other On and Then Make Up and Everything Is Alright.” Really consider your video title choice. It should be creative, eye-catching, encompass the purpose or content of your media production, and to the point. The VMP team has compiled a list of tips to use when brainstorming your production title to help you in the daunting process.

Make it short

If it is short, when your audience searches for the video they will be able to view the whole title and read it quickly to decide if they want to watch the production. In the same way that you are drawn to magazine article titles or book names that are catchy, short, and descriptive. You want your viewer to be enticed from just a glance to click on the link to your video, if the title is too long it gives them time to think and change their mind, or even just skim over it to the next option.

Be descriptive but mysterious

The title should be creative and innovative but it needs to describe the video. Avoid deception in titles as viewer will feel cheated and you won’t get the viewers you want for your target audience or the word of mouth traffic you might otherwise get.

 Action at the beginning

Keep action words at the beginning. For example, change the title “Cats Take Each Other On and Then Make Up and Everything is Alright” to “Battling Ninja Cats” in order to shorten it, describe the video without revealing the whole piece, and have the action at the beginning. By putting “Battling” at the front, rather than “Ninja Cats” the viewer is curious to keep reading the title to discover what is experiencing or acting on the action (in this case the ninja cats).

Don’t capitalize every single letter or word.

This is a minor one, but a good tip we came across when generating article titles. Recently, everyone seems to capitalize every single letter in a title, but this is unnecessary! Are we going around speaking about “HOW EPIC VIDEOS OPTIMIZE BUSINESS” or “How Epic Videos Optimize Business,” or are we simply learning, “How epic videos optimize business”? This links back into what I am talking about next, which is search engine optimization. You want your title to be something potential viewers can stumble upon by searching for general, related things on a search engine or YouTube. In the VMP office our poll found that none of us capitalize things when we search. However, this tip is a personal preference, so feel free to take it or leave it.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Keywords, keywords, keywords. What will clients, customers, or your target audience type in when searching for videos? Consider this question and use it to your advantage! Start regularly observing changes in Google trends, or twitter keywords to help stay on top of popular terminology and search terms. Keep the keywords relevant to your business and target audience.

Depending on your video and your audience you may have a bit of leeway for creativity. Writing something slightly differently with the correct keywords can help your video stand out. But don’t go overboard, remember the basics. Keep it short, don’t give everything away, keep the action at the beginning and optimize with keywords.

At VMP, we have years of experience in corporate video production in Brisbane, so next time you need to promote your business why not contact us for a quote to create a video? Let’s talk! Give us a call on 07 3324 0900 or drop us a message, today!

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Bibliography:

“How Does YouTube Rank Videos For Organic Search?.” Internet Marketing for Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. (https://www.jimkukral.com/).

“YouTube SEO: The Ultimate Guide.” Backlinko. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. (https://backlinko.com/how-to-rank-youtube-videos).