To get good at anything, it helps to study the best. To get better at writing YouTube video titles, I found it useful to study the work of MrBeast, who just crossed 100 million subscribers.

I analyzed the titles of over 50 videos made by MrBeast over the past 3 years and found common patterns. A NewTuber can use these patterns to immediately improve their titles. Using these patterns in your title won’t make you an overnight sensation, but they will give your video a boost.

The big takeaway is that MrBeast’s video titles are written so even a person without a school education can understand them. This is one of the reasons his videos consistently pull in over 50 million views.

You could argue the concept and execution of each video is the reason for pulling in viewers. But it’s the title that communicates the concept to prospective viewers. Without titles like these, MrBeast wouldn’t be pulling in viewership at the scale he does.

Titles of the top 5 most viewed videos

  1. $456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!
  2. I Spent 50 Hours In Solitary Confinement
  3. I Spent 50 Hours Buried Alive
  4. Press This Button To Win $100,000!
  5. Last To Leave Circle Wins $500,000

Tips for writing a title

After analyzing his video titles, I've come across patterns that are useful to create our own video titles.

1. Only grade level 0 comprehension needed

People without a school education can understand his titles. Use the simplest words possible.

2. Most titles have 8 words or less

3. Most words in a title are monosyllabic

For e.g. Food, Cleaned, Spent, etc. When we read a word, we make its sound in our head. Monosyllables mean less reading effort.

4. All titles are complete sentences in active voice

For e.g. "I spent 50 hours". Active voice is easier to understand.

5. All use title case capitalization

For e.g. "I Spent 50 Hours Buried Alive"

6. The most common starting phrase is “Would you”

A sentence starting with 'would you' kindles a viewer's imagination.

7. Money and time are featured in many titles

26 titles refer to money ($) and 12 refer to time (“hours”, “day”, etc.). Money and time are universal concepts that attract a viewer's interest.

Analysis

I looked at over 50 titles and analyzed each in a readability analyzer. I also counted the words and syllables.

Views Title Grade Words Syllables
283 M $456,000 Squid Game In Real Life! 0 6 6
190 M I Spent 50 Hours In Solitary Confinement 5 7 11
190 M I Spent 50 Hours Buried Alive 0 6 7
186 M Press This Button To Win $100,000! 0 6 6
178 M Last To Leave Circle Wins $500,000 0 6 6
171 M Anything You Can Fit In The Circle I’ll Pay For 0 11 13
167 M I Put 100 Million Orbeez In My Friend's Backyard 3 9 11
160 M Going Through The Same Drive Thru 1,000 Times 2 9 8
156 M Would You Sit In Snakes For $10,000 0 7 6
155 M I Ate A $70,000 Golden Pizza 0 6 7
150 M Would YOU Rather Have A Lamborghini or This House 5 9 13
150 M Last To Leave $800,000 Island Keeps It 0 7 7
143 M Would You Rather Have $100,000 OR This Mystery Key 2 9 11
138 M If You Click This Video I'll Give My Friend .001$ 1 10 10
136 M I Bought The World's Largest Firework ($600,000) 4 7 9
136 M I Adopted EVERY Dog In A Dog Shelter 0 8 12
135 M I Bought The World's Largest Mystery Box! ($500,000) 1 8 10
134 M I Went Back To 1st Grade For A Day 0 9 8
133 M I Ate The World’s Largest Slice Of Pizza 0 9 10
130 M I Ate $100,000 Golden Ice Cream 0 7 6
127 M Surviving 24 Hours Straight In The Bermuda Triangle 8 8 12
123 M World’s Most Dangerous Escape Room! 3 6 8
123 M Steal This $100,000 Diamond, You Keep It 1 8 7
121 M Surviving 24 Hours On A Deserted Island 4 7 11
120 M I Spent 24 Hours In A Doomsday Bunker 0 8 9
120 M Spending 24 Hours On Top Of A Mountain 1 8 9
118 M I Gave My Credit Card To Random People 1 8 11
116 M Spending $1,000,000 In 24 Hours 0 5 4
116 M I Survived 50 Hours In A Maximum Security Prison 4 9 15
116 M I Opened A Restaurant That Pays You To Eat At It 0 11 14
108 M Extreme $100,000 Game of Tag! 0 6 5
106 M Hit The Target, Win $300,000 0 6 5
105 M I Got Hunted By A Real Bounty Hunter 0 8 12
102 M I Got Hunted By The FBI 0 6 7
97 M I Built Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory! 6 6 12
96 M Last To Take Hand Off Lamborghini, Keeps It 3 8 11
96 M I Sold My House For $1 0 6 5
94 M Offering People $100,000 To Quit Their Job 3 8 9
90 M Anything You Can Fit In The Triangle I’ll Pay For 1 11 13
89 M $10,000 Every Day You Survive Prison 2 7 8
86 M If You Can Carry $1,000,000 You Keep It! 0 8 8
83 M Would You Swim With Sharks For $100,000 1 8 6
82 M I Got Hunted By The Military 0 6 10
80 M First To Rob Bank Wins $100,000 0 7 5
79 M Extreme $500,000 Game Of Tag! 0 6 5
74 M Would YOU Quit School For $100,000 0 7 5
72 M Extreme $1,000,000 Hide And Seek 0 7 5
68 M I Cleaned The World’s Dirtiest Beach #TeamSeas 5 8 9
65 M 100 Girls Vs 100 Boys For $500,000 0 8 3
58 M $1,000,000 Influencer Tournament! 5 5 6
57 M I Gave My 100,000,000th Subscriber An Island 2 9 9
50 M I Didn’t Eat Food For 30 Days 0 8 7
19 M 100,000,000 Subscriber Special 6 5 5

We can see in the table that most titles have a grade level of 0. This means they are very easy to understand, even to someone without a school education.

We also see that the most common word length is 8 or less.  Also the number of syllables in a title is almost equal to the number of words, which means he mostly uses monosyllabic words. With fewer words and syllables, the title is much easier to understand.

The first two words of a title are very important for grabbing a users attention, when users are quickly scrolling down a list. Here are the most common starting two words in his titles.

  1. "Would you..." - 5 times
  2. "Last to..." - 3 times
  3. "I spent..." - 3 times
  4. "I got..." - 3 times
  5. "I ate..." - 3 times
  6. "Extreme $100,000" - 3 times

In conclusion

The takeaway from MrBeast’s video titles is to write complete sentences using a basic vocabulary, active voice, monosyllabic words and have an interesting hook.

Email Sunil at sunil@outklip.com