Home / YouTube Shorts / Title and description
Guide · 16 Oct 2026
How to write a YouTube Shorts title and description
Check a draft in the free character counter. Write the title as the question the short answers. YouTube allows 100 characters in a title and 5,000 in a description. If Vlozy writes the metadata, it uses a tighter title, 60 characters or fewer, and a long description that stays under YouTube’s ceiling. Neither number is a promise that the short will be found.
The limits, and whose they are
| Field | YouTube’s own limit | What Vlozy will accept |
|---|---|---|
| Title | 100 characters. YouTube Help: edit video settings, read 16 Oct 2026. The Shorts creation screen says the same 100-character title cap. Get started creating Shorts. | 60 characters or fewer, written as a question. A longer title is not rejected by YouTube. Vlozy asks for the shorter one. |
| Description | 5,000 characters, same Help page. YouTube also says tags matter mainly when a word is often misspelled. They are not a substitute for the title. | Between 4,800 and 4,999 characters, and no more than 5,000 bytes. Accented letters and emoji can use more than one byte, so the byte cap can arrive first. |
| Short caption | Not a separate YouTube field. The description is what sits under the video. | A shorter caption, 40 to 300 characters, kept beside the long description so the queue card is readable. |
Square or vertical videos up to three minutes can be Shorts on standard channels when uploaded after 15 Oct 2024. YouTube Help, read 16 Oct 2026. A Short over one minute with an active copyright claim is blocked. That is a music problem, not a title problem.
Write the title as the question
The person who finds a Short later is often searching a problem. The title should be that problem, as a question, without the product name in front.
Usable, 58 characters: How do you keep the Friday export from being done by hand?
Too much like an ad: Introducing Acme, the all-in-one platform for modern teams.
Count every character, including spaces and the question mark. If you go past 60, Vlozy will ask for a rewrite. YouTube would still accept it until 100. Do not cut a word in half to squeeze under the line. Rewrite the question.
Lines you can steal the shape from, not the fake product, are in short-form hooks for SaaS. The hook on the video and the title under it should point at the same situation.
Put the answer in the first lines of the description
YouTube’s tips say the opening of the description should carry the main words, and that each video should have its own description. Tips for video descriptions, read 16 Oct 2026. They also say the field allows a maximum of 5,000 characters.
A useful order:
- Two or three sentences that answer the question in the title. No product name yet if the hook also withheld it.
- The steps or the screen the short actually shows. If the short does not show it, do not describe it.
- Who it is for, in one sentence, taken from the public site.
- Three or four hashtags that use words already in the title or the page. Vlozy keeps YouTube hashtags in that small range.
Vlozy then keeps writing until the description is long, between 4,800 and 4,999 characters, so the field is full without crossing YouTube’s 5,000-character limit or the 5,000-byte limit. Length is not proof. A long description that repeats the homepage is still a bad description. If you edit it, keep it inside those bounds or Vlozy will reject the edit.
Asset required. Screenshot YouTube Studio’s title and description for one real Short: the question title visible, the first sentences of the description visible, and no view count cropped in as a boast. Alt text should quote the title. A transcript is not needed for a still. Do not mock a character counter you did not photograph.
What not to do
- Do not paste the Instagram caption into the YouTube description and call it done. The networks are compared on TikTok vs Reels vs Shorts for SaaS.
- Do not stuff tags to make up for a vague title. YouTube says tags mainly help with misspellings.
- Do not promise that a question title will rank. This page does not have that data.
- Do not reuse one title across a month of shorts. YouTube asks for a unique description. A repeated title has the same problem.
Posting the file is a separate job. Account type, approval, and a YouTube day that will not take another upload are in how to automate short-form posting. The Shorts product page is YouTube Shorts on Vlozy.
Write one title, then open the live Short
Use the Friday-export question, or replace Friday export with a task that is actually on your site. After the short is up, read the title on the watch page. If you would not search that sentence, rewrite it before the next one. Vlozy can draft the question and the long description from the site and let you edit them before the post is due.
Early access is not a ranking plan. Sign in if you already have a workspace.