YouTube, like its parent company, Google, uses keywords to help its algorithm determine which videos are most pertinent to a user’s search. Tags on YouTube videos are one kind of keyword you might encounter on the platform.
Behind the scenes, tags tell YouTube what your video is about. They are like signposts that tell YouTube’s algorithm how to categorize and suggest your video.
Although tags won’t guarantee that your video will go viral by themselves, they are a crucial component of a well-rounded optimization strategy.
In this YouTube tags guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about tags, their creation process, and best usage practices.
What Are YouTube Tags, and Why Are They Important?
After posting a video to YouTube, the next step is to ensure the correct audience sees it. How do you do this effectively, though? YouTube tags are useful for that.
Understanding the Role of Tags in YouTube SEO
To begin, let’s review the fundamentals: what are tags on YouTube? YouTube tags are descriptive terms and phrases that you can use in your video. Viewers cannot see them; instead, they help the algorithm comprehend the context of your video. For example, if you’re uploading a tutorial about “How to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies,” tags like “baking,” “chocolate chip cookies,” “cookie recipe,” and “how to bake” can help categorize and discover your post. This increases the likelihood of appearing in searches and being suggested to potential users.
What are tags for YouTube SEO, and do they affect it? To be honest, not really. Even Google says the video’s title, description, and thumbnail are more important factors for SEO. Still, YouTube tags can be a great extra way to make your videos easier to find on the platform. While adding tags to your YouTube videos won’t make them go viral, research indicates a slight connection between keyword-rich tags and YouTube video rankings. You might still want to use them, though. It won’t hurt.
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How Tags Help Improve Video Discoverability
Adding tags to your YouTube videos can help improve their discoverability. When used wisely, they lead people to your content-like signs.
How do tags work on YouTube? Here is how:
- Improving Search Visibility: When someone searches for a video on YouTube, tags are one of the many things the platform uses to decide which videos to show. Proper tagging can improve a video’s visibility in related searches, allowing more people to find and watch it.
- Video Topics: What a video is about may not always be fully conveyed by its title or description. Tags give YouTube the extra details it needs to comprehend the main ideas of the video.
- Expanding Your Viewership: When users search for related topics, YouTube tags can direct them to your music video. For example, tagging a video about fitness advice with terms like exercise workout routine and fitness motivation can make it easier for viewers to search for related content.
- Supporting Video SEO: YouTube is a search engine, and tags are a form of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Using relevant tags helps viewers find your videos.
Furthermore, one of the YouTube tag tips is that they allow you to tag the spelling mistake without including it in the title or description, which is useful if people frequently misspell your content keyword.
How to Add Tags to Your YouTube Videos
- Step-by-Step Guide to Tagging on YouTube
- Best Practices for Tag Placement and UsageTop
- Tools for Generating YouTube Tags
- Best Practices for Optimizing YouTube Tags
- Success Stories: How Tags Boosted YouTube Growth
Step-by-Step Guide to Tagging on YouTube
So, now the main question is how to tag a YouTube video. Adding tags to your videos is very easy. Just follow these steps:
Adding Tags to New Posts
- To start, log in to your YouTube account and click “Create” at the top of the screen.
- Choose “Upload video” from the drop-down menu, then select the video file to upload.
- Start adding tags and other metadata to the movie while it’s uploading. This is where you’ll find “Tags.”
- Put relevant keywords in the tags box, making sure there are commas between each one. You can also just press “Enter” to save each tag.
- Finish the upload by clicking “Next.”
All of your tags can have up to 500 characters, so be precise and pick words that really describe what the video is about.
Editing tags on existing videos
Changing tags that are already on a YouTube video is also quite simple:
- In YouTube Studio, choose “Content” from the menu on the left.
- Select the video you wish to edit by clicking on its thumbnail.
- To view the Tags section of the video details, scroll all the way down. You might have to click to enlarge the page to get to this section.
- As needed, you can add, remove, or modify tags.
- Click “Save” in the top right corner of the screen to save your changes.
Best Practices for Tag Placement and Usage
Check out these YouTube tags tips to get the best results from your videos.
1. Start with your main keyword
When YouTube ranks videos in their search results, they pay a lot of attention to the first few tags, especially the first one. So, make sure the term you want to rank for is in the first tag. Then, arrange the tags in order of significance.
2. Use broader terms for other tags
Use broad terms if you want YouTube to know what your video is about in general. For example, “books” for a video about “How to read more books.”
3. Pick a few relevant tags
Tags do not have to be restricted to the specific topic of your video. Consider what else your audience might be interested in that is related to your content. That is, if your video is about “Yoga for Beginners,” you could also add tags like “mindfulness,” “stress relief,” or “meditation.” With these linked tags, your video may be shown to people already watching videos in similar categories.
4. Keep the majority of your tags within 2 to 3 words
You should definitely use long-tail keywords and a few general match variations, but YouTube seems to like two to four-word phrases better.
5. Avoid going overboard with tags
Tags assist the algorithm in determining the topic of your video so that viewers who are searching for similar videos will see it. However, the intended message of your video may be lost if you use too many keywords. If tags are used appropriately, the ideal number is between 31 and 40. They lose power if they do more than that.
Top Tools for Generating YouTube Tags
There’s nothing worse than staring at your screen while you try to think of tags for your latest video. Not only is that annoying, but it’s also bad for SEO. You don’t have to pull tags out of thin air, which is good. There are numerous useful YouTube keyword research tools that generate relevant tags on demand.
You may wonder, “What are YouTube tags generators for?” if you don’t know which one to choose or if you need them at all, do not worry — we’ve got you covered. Below is a quick review of the most popular keyword tools, both free and those that require a subscription. You can compare their main features and pick one based on your budget and needs.
Using TubeBuddy to Find Relevant Tags
TubeBuddy is one of the best and most famous tools for people who make videos for YouTube, especially for making video tags work better. Beyond making tags, it has many other features, such as keyword research, video SEO data, and even A/B testing for thumbnails.
Key Features of TubeBuddy:
| Feature | Description |
| Tag Suggestions | The tag generator on TubeBuddy looks at your video’s topic, title, and description to develop very appropriate tag suggestions |
| Tag Explorer | This feature analyzes search patterns, competition, and keyword rankings to help you find high-performing tags |
| Competitive Analysis | TubeBuddy lets you examine your competitors’ tags and see which ones bring them the most traffic. You can then use those tags in your own plan |
| SEO Studio | This tool shows you how to improve the title, tags, and description of your video so that it ranks higher |
| Tag Rankings | You can assess the efficacy of your tags by seeing where they rank on YouTube with TubeBuddy |
Exploring VidIQ for Keyword Optimization
VidIQ is another useful YouTube tool that helps artists attract more viewers by suggesting what tags to use on YouTube and optimizing videos. It is particularly well-known for its sophisticated data and up-to-date information on the performance of your channel.
Key Features of VidIQ:
| Feature | Description |
| Tag Autocomplete | VidIQ will automatically generate tags for your video based on the title or description you enter, ensuring that you include all pertinent keywords |
| Keyword Research Tool | This feature assists you in finding the best tags by examining search traffic, competitiveness, and keyword trends |
| Analysis of Competitor Tags | Similar to TubeBuddy, VidIQ allows you to see which tags your rivals are using to improve their search engine rankings |
| Real-Time Video Analytics | VidIQ offers a comprehensive analytics dashboard that displays the impact of your tags on your video’s performance, including the number of views, shares, and impressions it receives |
| Tag Recommendations | VidIQ helps you understand how to properly tag YouTube videos based on your channel’s niche. This aids in developing a more focused tag strategy |
Free Tagging Tools for YouTube Creators
RapidTags
RapidTags is one of the many free and best YouTube tag generators. The tool will automatically generate a list of highly relevant tags when you enter a keyword or title. For both novice and seasoned creators who need to create optimized tags quickly, its user-friendly interface will work well.
Key Features:
- Free
- No Login Needed
- Tags are auto-generated according to your keyword or title
- Copy tags with just one click
This tool is fantastic for video producers looking for a simple and quick method of creating tags without dealing with complex features. By ensuring that the tags it creates are helpful, RapidTags raises the likelihood that the appropriate audiences will discover your video.
YouTube Tag Generator by TunePocket
TunePocket’s YouTube Tag Generator is another easy-to-use free tool. In order to assist creators in creating effective YouTube tags, the tool analyses currently popular terms linked to their content. This may help their videos appear more in YouTube searches.
Key Features:
- Intuitive layout for quick tag creation.
- Suggests words based on popular search trends.
- Easy to change and copy tags.
Although it lacks premium features like search volume, TunePocket’s best YouTube tag maker is solid and trustworthy, and it can quickly and easily create high-quality tags.
Keyword.io
Keyword.io is a tool that allows the creator to delve deeper into SEO and tag generation. It gives you a wide range of tag ideas specific to YouTube and helps you with keyword analysis. Furthermore, it is useful for discovering long-tail keywords, which are often overlooked by other generators.
Key Features:
- Automatically creates tags based on data analysis of keywords.
- A considerable amount of information about what target keywords are popular right now.
- A detailed filter and the ability to customize the tags.
Keyword.io can help artists learn more about how SEO works. You can fine-tune your tag strategy to get the best results from the powerful insights it gives you.
Best Practices for Optimizing YouTube Tags
It takes more than just using well-known search terms to increase the number of views and interactions on your video. Make sure you adhere to these YouTube tags best practices for optimal outcomes.
How to Choose the Right Tags for Your Videos
Follow these steps to discover suitable YouTube tags and utilize them effectively.
Use popular tags
Putting popular tags on your video can help it stand out from others made in the same way. Check tag generator tools that search your field to find keywords that are used often. These sites will give you information like the number of times the term is searched for each month to let you know how popular it is.
However, you should only use trendy tags if they really fit your content and business. Irrelevant searches may generate views but can also result in high drop-off rates, indicating to the platform that people are not interested in your channel.
- Use YouTube auto-suggest for inspiration
People can use auto-suggest to find what they need. These ideas aren’t being shown on YouTube for no reason. Auto-suggest came up with these keywords because they are often looked for about that subject, so don’t be shy about using them as ideas.
- Use competitors to your advantage
Using a program such as Tube Buddy or VidIQ, you can see the tags of your rivals. Don’t just skip over these tags. Make use of them! Add them to the tags you use on YouTube. If you see that all the top videos use the same set of tags, you should also add those to your video’s information.
Combining Specific and Broad Tags for SEO
While concentrating on a specific demographic of viewers, your video can reach a wider audience by utilizing both broad and specific tags. The main idea of your video is communicated to the algorithm when you use general terms such as “photography” for a camera lesson. Additionally, terms like “DSLR settings for beginners” or “how to use a Canon” make your content easier for members of specific groups to find. So, you can reach a larger audience while still attracting interested viewers by striking a balance between the two.
Common Tagging Mistakes to Avoid
It is easy to make mistakes that will negatively impact your exposure and traffic if you are unaware of certain YouTube SEO guidelines and how to use tags on YouTube. When utilizing tags, steer clear of these three common blunders.
- Using Irrelevant Tags: Adding tags that don’t fairly describe your video to get more views can backfire. If the tags you use do not match the content of your video, YouTube’s clever algorithm may have a negative effect on its performance.
- Repeating Tags: It’s not necessary to repeatedly use the same phrase in different ways when adding tags. YouTube’s algorithm already knows that these are two related terms. Keep your tags diverse.
- Ignoring Tags Altogether: Ignoring YouTube tags may result in lost opportunities for your video to be found, even though there are other factors that influence how well it performs.
Success Stories: How Tags Boosted YouTube Growth
Although they might not seem like much, tags can greatly impact growth when it comes to YouTube video optimization. If used strategically, they can help videos rank higher, receive more views from the right audience, and enhance a channel’s overall performance. Let’s examine how YouTube creators have used tags on YouTube to get more views and what you can learn from their achievements.
Case Studies of Creators Using Tags Effectively
- PewDiePie
Peter PewDiePie is a Swedish YouTuber whose videos are primarily about video games, vlogs, and meme videos. PewDiePie didn’t become famous overnight because of a sudden hit video or a change in his YouTube presence. Instead, the reason behind his success is YouTube SEO Optimization. He gained traction on the platform while the gaming community was still expanding by using popular gaming tags early on and uploading frequently. PewDiePie posts videos on his channel nearly every day. Once he started becoming well-known, he built on it and never stopped being online. He passed 110 million YouTube members, becoming one of the first solo producers to do so.
- Morgan Drinks Coffee
Morgan Eckroth used to be a barista champion and now has a Morgan Drinks Coffee channel with many YouTube followers. Her branded content is often incredibly creative. The majority of her posts are about coffee and include product reviews, recipe books, and lengthy instructional videos that fall under this category. After five years, Morgan’s channel has amassed 1 point 39 million subscribers. Her videos receive 100000 views on average. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? However, this success wasn’t a coincidence — YouTube SEO played a significant role in the planning process. This meant enhancing her videos’ titles, descriptions, and tags to make them more accessible and appealing to the appropriate audience.
In order to inform YouTube algorithms about the specific topic of each video, she added tags to them. Morgan employs targeted keywords in conjunction with related long-tail tags to expand his audience and draw in viewers who are interested in related subjects. While appealing to a specific demographic, her content has both general and specific tags that improved its ranking for a wider variety of searches. How did it work out? Her videos became even more popular after they were recommended alongside related videos and appeared in search results.
Lessons Learned from Top YouTube Channels
Overall, make use of this guidance to create your YouTube tags successfully.
- Be Specific. Make sure the tags you use correctly describe your video.
- Only use tags that are pertinent to your content to keep viewers’ trust.
- Remember to put the most important tags first.
- Include general tags that encompass the wide categories in which your video falls.
- Leverage online tools that generate YouTube tags.
- Follow the recommendations of the YouTube search bar.
- Take tags from the most watched videos from your niche and use them.
- Avoid Overstuffing Tags. Focus better on relevance than quantity.
