The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Video Tags: How to Optimize Tags for Maximum Reach
YouTube tags are one of the most important yet often overlooked aspects of YouTube SEO. When used strategically, video tags can significantly boost your reach and help your content get discovered by new audiences.
In this comprehensive guide, you‘ll learn exactly what YouTube tags are, why they matter, and proven techniques to optimize your tags for maximum impact. Plus, we‘ll share some of the best tools to streamline your keyword research and tag generation process.
Let‘s dive in!
What are YouTube Tags?
YouTube tags are keywords that you can add to your video‘s metadata to help YouTube understand your video‘s content and context. Essentially, tags give YouTube information about your video‘s topic, category, and target keywords.
Tags work together with your video‘s title, description, thumbnails, and content to help YouTube identify when to surface your video in search results and suggested videos. Proper tags ensure your video reaches viewers who are searching for content like yours.
However, tags have become less important over time as YouTube‘s algorithm has advanced. YouTube now relies more on user engagement signals and machine learning to understand and rank content. While not as crucial as they once were, optimizing your tags remains a YouTube SEO best practice that can give your videos an extra boost.
Why YouTube Tags Matter for Discoverability
The ultimate goal of adding tags is to maximize your video‘s discoverability and reach on YouTube. Here are a few of the key benefits of optimizing your tags:
1. Rank higher in YouTube search results
When users search for topics related to your tags, YouTube is more likely to feature your video in the search results. This is especially true if you include your main keyword as the first tag.
2. Show up in YouTube‘s Suggested Videos
YouTube‘s Suggested Videos feed recommends videos to users based on their viewing history, as well as other engagement factors and metadata (like tags). Including relevant tags gives YouTube context for when to recommend your video to interested viewers as they browse the platform.
3. Reach Your Target Audience
Ultimately, tags help put your content in front of the right people at the right time. By targeting relevant keywords that your ideal viewers are searching for, you can attract a more qualified audience to your videos. This leads to better watch time, engagement, and channel growth.
Now that you know why tags are critical for growing your channel‘s reach, let‘s look at exactly how to add and optimize tags for your videos.
Step-by-Step: How to Add Tags to YouTube Videos
The process of adding tags is quick and easy once you know where to look. Just follow these steps:
Option 1: Add Tags When Uploading a New Video
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Log into your YouTube account and click the camera icon in the top right corner. Select "Upload video."
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On the upload screen, look for the "Tags" field under your video‘s title and description.
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Enter your tags in the field, separating each one with a comma. Put your main target keyword first, followed by secondary keywords.
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Complete the rest of your video details and click "Publish" to make your video live with the tags.
Option 2: Add or Edit Tags on an Existing Video
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Sign into YouTube Studio and navigate to the "Videos" tab in the left sidebar.
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Find the video you want to edit and click the pencil icon to access the Video details page.
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Scroll down to the "Tags" section and make any desired changes. Be sure to separate tags with commas.
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Click "Save" in the top right corner to update your video‘s tags.
Pro tip: If you have a long list of tags, it‘s usually easier to prepare them in advance in a text editor or spreadsheet. Then you can simply copy and paste your comma-separated tags into the field.
YouTube Tagging Best Practices
Optimizing your tags can seem daunting, but it doesn‘t have to be complicated. Here are some of the most effective tagging strategies to maximize your video‘s reach and performance:
1. Always put your target keyword first
YouTube gives more weight to the first few tags, especially the very first one. To rank for a specific search term, make sure that exact keyword phrase is the first tag on your video.
2. Choose 5-8 highly relevant tags
Aim for no more than 5-8 total tags, and make sure each one is highly relevant to your video‘s content. Using too many unrelated tags may get your video removed from search entirely. Quality and relevance beat quantity.
3. Use a mix of broad and specific keywords
Your first tag should be your specific target keyword. Your remaining tags can include broad terms that describe your video‘s overall topic or category. For example, a video titled "10 Easy Vegan Dessert Recipes" may have these tags:
- easy vegan dessert recipes
- vegan baking
- plant-based desserts
- vegan recipes
- healthy desserts
4. Incorporate long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords are more specific, lower-competition phrases that make up the majority of searches. Include 1-2 longer keyword phrases (3-5 words) to help your video rank for niche searches and reach a highly relevant audience.
5. Keep tags under 20 characters
Aim to keep each tag under 20 characters long. Tags over 60 characters will be ignored by YouTube‘s search algorithm.
6. Avoid irrelevant or misleading tags
Only use tags that accurately represent your video‘s content. Using misleading, inaccurate, or irrelevant tags violates YouTube‘s Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines and can result in your video being removed from search or even taken down.
7. Include common keywords and misspellings
To maximize your search visibility, include common keywords that your target audience uses, even if they‘re not an exact match for your content. You can also include a couple common misspellings of your main keywords.
How to Research & Generate the Best Tags for Your Video
Finding the right tags and keywords for your video is part science, part art. Here are a few of the best strategies to uncover relevant, high-impact tags to use:
1. Analyze Competitors‘ Tags
Look at the tags on videos that currently rank well for your target keyword. Chances are you‘ll find some great ideas for related keywords to include. There are several free Chrome extensions that let you view any video‘s tags with one click, such as TubeBuddy or VidIQ.
2. Use YouTube Auto-Suggest
When you type a keyword into the YouTube search bar, you‘ll see a list of suggested searches. These auto-fill recommendations are based on popular queries, so they can be a goldmine for relevant keyword ideas. Jot down any suggestions that apply to your video.
3. Leverage Keyword Research Tools
To find untapped long-tail keywords and gauge a tag‘s search volume, try these proven keyword research tools:
– Keyword Tool – input a "seed" keyword to get hundreds of YouTube-specific long-tail keyword ideas, search volume, and competition data.
– Rapidtags – this free tool generates up to 100 relevant tags based on a target keyword or competitor video URL
– Google Ads Keyword Planner – this free tool from Google is designed for Google Search keywords but can still offer useful insights into the relative popularity of YouTube searches.
– TubeBuddy‘s Keyword Explorer – this powerful tool inside the TubeBuddy app rates a keyword‘s search volume, competition, and optimization strength on a scale of 1-100.
Examples of Great Video Tag Optimization
To see these tips in action, let‘s look at the tags for some of YouTube‘s most popular videos and channels:
Example 1: "Zach King Magic Compilation 2020 – Best Magic Tricks Ever"
– Tags: zach king magic, zach king, magic, magic tricks, zach king magic tricks, best magic tricks, best magic tricks ever, magic 2020, magic tricks revealed, magic vines
This keyword strategy covers all the bases – an exact match for the video title, the creator‘s name, and several related keywords. The tags give context to the video‘s content (magic compilation) and timeliness (from 2020).
Example 2: "How to Make Fluffy Slime!" on Karina Garcia‘s Slime Channel
- Tags: slime, diy slime, fluffy slime, karina garcia, karina garcia slime, how to make fluffy slime, fluffy slime recipe, how to make slime fluffy, best fluffy slime, diy fluffy slime, elmers fluffy slime, fluffy slime ingredients, how to make slime
This comprehensive tag list targets many variations of searches related to fluffy slime. It focuses on long-tail "how-to" keywords that match the video‘s intent. The repetition of "fluffy slime" in different keyword phrases helps this video rank for that search term.
Boost Your Discoverability with YouTube Tags [Key Takeaways]
Let‘s recap the most important things to know about YouTube tags:
- YouTube tags help the algorithm understand your video‘s topic and surface it in relevant searches and suggested videos
- Always include your target keyword as the first tag
- Use 5-8 highly relevant tags that include your primary keyword, variations of that keyword, and a few broader terms
- Research tags by analyzing competitors‘ tags, using YouTube autocomplete, and leveraging keyword tools
- Only include accurate, relevant tags – never use misleading or irrelevant tags
- For best results, combine tag optimization with an engaging title, description, and thumbnail
By putting these tips and tools into practice, you‘ll be well on your way to getting your videos in front of a larger audience and attracting more views, watch time, and subscribers.
Happy tagging!
