YouTube Scripts & SEO prompts

You are a YouTube strategist. Help me find video ideas people are actively looking for.

MY CHANNEL: [CHANNEL TOPIC AND WHO IT IS FOR]
WHAT HAS WORKED BEFORE: [TITLES OF MY 3 BEST VIDEOS, OR "new channel"]
WHAT I CAN REALISTICALLY MAKE: [talking head / screen recording / faceless with stock footage / animation / other]
UPLOAD RHYTHM: [VIDEOS PER WEEK]

Give me 20 video ideas, grouped into three buckets:

1. SEARCH VIDEOS (8 ideas) - answer a question someone types into YouTube or Google. For each, write the exact phrase you think they type, e.g. "how to clean a cast iron pan after rust".
2. SUGGESTED VIDEOS (8 ideas) - ride on topics that already get recommended next to bigger channels in my niche. Name the kind of video it sits beside.
3. SERIES IDEAS (4 ideas) - repeatable formats I can make 10+ episodes of without running out.

For every idea give:
- A working title under 60 characters
- The viewer's problem or curiosity in one sentence
- Why someone would click THIS video over the 50 others on the topic (the angle)
- Difficulty to make: easy / medium / hard, for my production style

Rules:
- No generic ideas like "10 tips for beginners" unless the angle is specific.
- Do not claim search volumes. Instead, tell me how to validate each idea in 2 minutes: what to type into YouTube search, and what to look for in the autocomplete and in the view counts of small channels.
- Flag any idea that would need expertise, licensing or on-camera presence I said I do not have.

Write YouTube titles for my video.

WHAT THE VIDEO ACTUALLY DELIVERS: [THE PAYOFF THE VIEWER GETS]
WHO IT IS FOR: [VIEWER]
MAIN SEARCH PHRASE (if any): [PHRASE]
VIDEO LENGTH: [MINUTES]
THUMBNAIL IDEA (if decided): [WHAT IS IN THE THUMBNAIL]

Give me 12 titles across these styles, 2 each:
1. Plain search title - the phrase people type, stated clearly
2. Outcome title - the result the viewer gets
3. Curiosity gap - a question or tension the video resolves
4. Number / list - only if the video really is a list
5. Mistake / warning - what the viewer is doing wrong
6. Personal experiment - "I tried X for 30 days" style, only if true

For each title:
- Keep it under 60 characters so it is not cut off on mobile
- Put the most important words in the first 40 characters
- Mark whether it works WITH the thumbnail (title and thumbnail should say different things, not repeat each other)

Then:
- Pick your top 3 and explain why in one line each
- Write the title as it would appear in search results next to my thumbnail idea, and check they do not repeat the same words

Rules: no ALL CAPS words except one if essential, no "You won't believe", no promise the video does not keep. A title that overpromises gets clicks and then kills retention, which hurts the video more than a weaker title.

Write a YouTube script.

TOPIC: [TOPIC]
TITLE: [TITLE]
THE PROMISE (what the viewer gets by the end): [PAYOFF]
TARGET LENGTH: [MINUTES]
MY SPEAKING STYLE: [casual / calm expert / energetic / dry humour], [PASTE A PARAGRAPH I HAVE SAID OR WRITTEN, if possible]
MY NOTES / RESEARCH: [PASTE NOTES, FACTS, STEPS]

Structure:
1. HOOK (0-15 seconds) - restate the promise from the title in a new way and show why it is worth staying. No "Hey guys, welcome back". No channel intro.
2. SETUP (15-45 seconds) - what the viewer will learn and why it matters now. One sentence of credibility only if it is real.
3. BODY - in sections. Every 60-90 seconds, add a "re-hook": a question, a surprise, a preview of something coming, or a pattern break. Mark each re-hook with [RE-HOOK].
4. PAYOFF - deliver the promise fully. Do not hold back the good part for a paid product.
5. END - one clear next step: a specific related video to watch (write it as [LINKED VIDEO: topic]), not a list of social links.

Format:
- Write it to be SPOKEN: short sentences, contractions, no words I would not say out loud.
- Put visual directions in [BRACKETS] on their own line: what should be on screen.
- Put approximate timestamps at each section.
- Keep the word count to roughly 150 words per minute of my target length.

After the script, list: any fact from my notes you could not confirm from what I gave you (so I can check it), and the 3 moments viewers are most likely to drop off, with a fix for each.

Write the upload metadata for my YouTube video.

TITLE: [TITLE]
SCRIPT OR TRANSCRIPT (with timestamps if you have them): [PASTE]
MAIN SEARCH PHRASE: [PHRASE]
LINKS I WANT TO INCLUDE: [LINKS AND WHAT THEY ARE]
CHANNEL CALL TO ACTION: [e.g. subscribe, newsletter, related playlist]

Produce:
1. DESCRIPTION - first 2 lines (about 150 characters) must summarise the video and include the main phrase naturally, because that is all most viewers see before "more". Then 2-3 short paragraphs on what the video covers. Then links, clearly labelled.
2. CHAPTERS - start at 0:00, at least 3 chapters, each at least 10 seconds long, each title under 40 characters and descriptive (not "Part 2"). Only use timestamps that exist in my transcript. If I gave no timestamps, write the chapter titles and put [TIME] placeholders.
3. TAGS - 8-12, starting with the exact main phrase, then close variations. Tell me honestly that tags play a small role and titles/descriptions matter more.
4. PINNED COMMENT - one question that invites a real answer related to the video.
5. HASHTAGS - up to 3, only if relevant.

Rules: no keyword stuffing, no lists of unrelated keywords at the bottom (YouTube treats that as spam), no misleading claims.

Help me diagnose an underperforming YouTube video.

VIDEO TITLE: [TITLE]
THUMBNAIL DESCRIPTION: [WHAT IS ON IT]
TOPIC AND LENGTH: [TOPIC, MINUTES]
NUMBERS FROM YOUTUBE STUDIO:
- Impressions: [NUMBER]
- Click-through rate: [%]
- Average view duration: [TIME] ([% of video])
- Where retention drops sharply: [TIMESTAMPS AND WHAT HAPPENS THERE]
- Traffic sources: [e.g. browse 40%, search 30%, suggested 20%]
MY CHANNEL AVERAGES FOR COMPARISON: [CTR %, AVG VIEW DURATION %]

Work through it in this order and stop at the first real problem:
1. PACKAGING - if impressions are decent but CTR is below my average, the title/thumbnail is the issue. Suggest 3 alternative title + thumbnail pairs I could test.
2. PROMISE MATCH - if CTR is fine but viewers leave in the first 30 seconds, the video does not deliver what the title promised quickly enough. Rewrite my first 15 seconds.
3. PACING - if the drop is gradual, find the flat sections from the timestamps I gave. Suggest cuts.
4. TOPIC DEMAND - if impressions are very low, the topic may not have enough interest, or YouTube does not yet know who to show it to. Say which is more likely from the traffic sources.

Rules:
- Compare against MY averages, not general benchmarks. There is no universal "good CTR".
- Do not blame "the algorithm". The algorithm follows viewer behaviour.
- Finish with ONE change to make on the next upload, not ten.

I want to turn my long YouTube video into Shorts.

TRANSCRIPT WITH TIMESTAMPS: [PASTE]
LONG VIDEO TITLE: [TITLE]
AUDIENCE: [WHO WATCHES]

Find 5 moments that can stand alone as Shorts (under 60 seconds each). For each:
1. TIMESTAMP RANGE to cut from the original
2. WHY IT WORKS ALONE - does it have a complete idea, a surprise, a clear before/after, or a strong opinion?
3. FIRST 2 SECONDS - the on-screen text or spoken line that stops the scroll. If the original moment starts slowly, write a new opening line to record or place as text.
4. ON-SCREEN TEXT - short captions for key words
5. ENDING - how it ends without "link in bio". Suggest a natural line that makes the long video the obvious next step, and tell me to use YouTube's related video link feature for the Short.
6. TITLE for the Short

Rules:
- A Short must make sense to someone who has never seen my channel.
- Do not cut mid-sentence or mid-thought.
- Rank the 5 by how likely they are to work, and explain the ranking.

Plan my next month of YouTube uploads.

CHANNEL: [TOPIC AND AUDIENCE]
UPLOADS PER WEEK I CAN SUSTAIN: [NUMBER]
TIME I HAVE PER WEEK: [HOURS]
ONE BIG TOPIC TO BUILD AROUND THIS MONTH: [PILLAR TOPIC]
WHAT I ALREADY HAVE (footage, research, old videos): [LIST]

Produce:
1. THE PILLAR VIDEO - one comprehensive video on the big topic, scheduled in week 1 or 2
2. SUPPORTING VIDEOS - narrower videos that each answer one question around the pillar and link back to it
3. SHORTS - 2-3 per long video, cut from the long ones, not extra production
4. A CALENDAR TABLE: Week | Day | Video | Type (long/short) | Main search phrase | Links to | Production steps | Hours needed
5. A PRODUCTION CHECK - total hours needed vs the hours I have. If the plan does not fit, cut videos, do not ask me to work more.
6. A PLAYLIST - name and order so viewers binge the set

Rules: be realistic about time. A plan I abandon in week 2 is worse than a smaller plan I finish.