Start from what people search
Search is one way a short is found; recommendations are the other. Use both: pick a phrase people actually type, and package the video around it. A long, specific phrase often shows almost no search volume while its broader term carries it, so put the broader term in the title and cover. Back the idea with more than one signal, and skip a topic a much bigger video just covered.
FrameMotive’s free keyword tool scores a phrase for demand (how early YouTube autocomplete offers it and how many views the top results get each day), competition (who ranks and how directly they target it) and opportunity, which combines the two.
Make the first two seconds the promise
The first frame should show the thing the video promises: no logo, intro or scenery. Start speaking straight away, in three to nine words, with the proof on screen at the same moment. Hooks that work tend to show a paradox, compare two things under the same conditions, or drop the viewer into a problem that is already happening. One strong hook is enough; add on-screen text only when it adds a stake the picture doesn’t.
Write the voiceover for the ear
Give the video one question and answer it. Show the problem, change one thing, replay it so the outcome flips, then name what happened. Budget about two words per second of video, leaving a quarter of the time for the footage, and never speed the voice up to fit. Shorts just end: skip the subscribe ask and the recap.
Captions, sound and posting
Time captions to the words, break them at pauses and punctuation, and never show a result before it is said. Keep the voice on top of the music, and never post muted. Upload a clean 9:16 file without another app’s watermark. On Instagram, sends and watching to the end matter most and the caption is the main text signal; on YouTube Shorts, original videos are prioritised, and narrating someone else’s clip doesn’t count as original.
None of this guarantees views. It gives a good video its best chance to be found and watched.
Do it in Claude or ChatGPT
Add the FrameMotive MCP server to Claude, ChatGPT or Codex and ask for help promoting your video. Your assistant can then look up real search data for your topic, follow the playbook above when it writes your hook and script, and hand the idea to the studio when you want it made. It’s free and needs no account.
Or let FrameMotive make it
FrameMotive does the whole path in one place: upload a clip or type an idea, approve the keyword and angle, pick from three hooks, edit the script, choose a voice, and get a captioned, voiced 1080×1920 video. Auto mode does every step for you. Plans start at $39 a month for 15 edited videos.