April 7, 2025
Are you trying to make it on YouTube? Here’s some food for thought:
Whatever type of following you’re trying to build and for whichever reason, you’re in the right place. If there’s a magic formula for online visibility and recognition, it’s YouTube.
A viral YouTube video can reach 100 million views in less than 24 hours, make your brand famous, and then boost your sales. But there’s a catch: others will try to do the same.
In fact, you’ll be competing against 14 BILLION other videos.
So, how can you make sure your YouTube video gets discovered and seen?
The answer is: SEO and keyword research for YouTube.
Optimizing your videos with the right keywords makes it easier for users to find them. But that’s not all. Keywords also inform viewers, shape their expectations, and set the mood.
Today, we will be talking about the best YouTube keyword tools (free & paid) and how they can help you find and select buzzwords and phrases that entice views and engagement.
Here’s what’s on the agenda:
Let’s dive in.
YouTube keyword analysis is the process of identifying and selecting the best words and phrases for your video titles, descriptions, tags, and content. What do I mean by “best”?
To answer that question, we need to understand how YouTube ranks videos.
Like other search engines, YouTube uses an algorithm to recommend videos based on factors like relevance and engagement. The algorithm ranks videos after looking at specific metrics, such as click-through rate, watch time, video length, likes, comments, shares, etc.
So, the best keywords for YouTube SEO are RELEVANT to users’ search intent.
Another question is: Are these keywords different from keywords used on Google and other search engines? Or can you simply use the same keywords you use for your website?
Unfortunately, you can’t just copy-paste your website keyword map. YouTube is a video platform, so people phrase their search queries differently than on Google. Because their end intention is to watch some kind of video, YouTube keywords are what we call VIDEO-SPECIFIC.
Don’t let that scare you. You’re using video-specific keywords every day:
All these sound like something I’d type into the YouTube search bar. And that makes perfect sense. When we’re not looking for artists or creators, we’re searching for videos that show us how to do something or how something is. Hence the terms like “review,” “prep,” “demo,” and “how to.”
But wait. Things are about to get more complicated. Let me explain why.
Let’s say you’re trying to launch a fitness channel on YouTube. You’d probably want to rank some of your videos for “fitness workout at home.” It’s relevant and video-specific, but…
…look at these numbers:
You’d be competing against 14.7 million other videos!
Keyword analysis for YouTube is not only about finding relevant and video-specific keywords. It’s also about discovering keywords that have a HIGH SEARCH VOLUME (lots of users use them) but are NOT VERY COMPETITIVE (not many other YouTube content creators target them).
Spoiler alert! High-volume, low-competition keywords are often impossible to find in popular categories such as fitness, marketing, personal finance, etc. Later in the article, I will tell you how to avoid this obstacle and still get views from users who are willing to subscribe or convert.
So far, we’ve determined that a YouTube keyword analysis involves finding relevant, video-specific, popular, and non-competitive keywords. Could there be more? Well, of course.
There’s one other thing that improves your ranking chances on YouTube, and that’s keyword placement. Analysis can also help you pinpoint where, how, and at what frequency you should add keywords to your video and metadata for optimum results based on video type, category, etc.
What are some places where YouTube keywords can be strategically used?
It’s not only about where and how often. There are also keyword placement practices that work better than others. In my experience, these tricks can mean all the difference:
Remember, YouTube is about videos. Many people come here to avoid reading, so keep the titles as brief as possible without jeopardizing clarity. The optimal length is 60 characters.
Descriptions are a different story—they are created for YouTube crawlers first and readers second. Even though YouTube limits them to 5,000 characters, 2,000 is usually quite enough.
Watch out for truncation! YouTube descriptions get cut off if they are too long. Include the main keyword naturally in the first 150 characters before the “…more” button:
A good content writing trick is to use so-called “power words” whenever appropriate. Action verbs (imperatives) are more suitable for search engine optimization, but YouTube SEO benefits from superlatives and words that spark curiosity and create a sense of urgency.
Here are a few examples:
Every video on YouTube can be keyframed into chapters and timestamped. This is good practice in general because it makes it easier for viewers to find exactly what they are looking for, which increases the overall user experience. But can you guess what else it can be used for?
That’s right—chapter names are a convenient place for secondary keywords.
This is perfect for videos, including reviews of multiple products, comparisons of many different features, or individual segments that could be of interest to different types of users.
Look at this example:
A call-to-action (CTA) is the sublimation of your marketing efforts. On YouTube, CTAs invite users to like, comment, or share videos, subscribe to a channel and keep exploring other videos, or download or buy something. This, too, should include keywords you’re trying to rank for.
Here’s how Physics Girl does it:
Add keyword variations and secondary keywords to the video description. With 200-500 words being a golden standard for this, you have plenty of space to include all those aspects of your video that the title isn’t directly referring to—and attract clicks from different audience segments.
I have a few practical tips:
Like this delicious example:
If you think hashtags are tacky in 2025, think again. They still have an important purpose to fulfill—they inform YouTube crawlers of your video’s topic, trend, niche, and category.
A good practice is to use a combination of keywords in hashtags, covering many possible aspects of your video. For example, a video editing tutorial for Capcut could have these:
Never in my life have I ever written McDonald’s correctly the first time, and I’m still not sure how many D’s are in Adidas. I’m not alone in this. Some brand names get misspelled so frequently that both versions become widely accepted. If that applies to your keyword, include a misspelled variant.
If you aim for SEO greatness, keywords can’t be a second thought for you. They must be a central part of your video content, too, which means revisiting your script with SEO in mind.
There’s another advantage of doing this. YouTube crawlers index captions!
When you have a keyword-rich video script, you can count on your captions and subtitles to increase your visibility. Don’t forget to turn off generic and upload custom captions.
Shall we sum it up real quick? The main goals of YouTube keyword research are:
Now, we can start looking for the best YouTube keyword research tool for you.
YouTube keyword tools help optimize YouTube videos with the right keywords based on user intent and search trends. In addition to user behavior, these tools also analyze the competition to suggest relevant keywords that can improve a video’s visibility in YouTube’s search results.
Is there any other way to conduct keyword research for YouTube videos?
There are a few. You could use YouTube’s autocomplete feature, for instance, to see popular searches for specific topics. But that’s about as far as this manual method goes.
SEO is a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s even more challenging on competitive channels such as YouTube. Over there, you can’t get far with a few potentially good keywords.
What you need is a STRATEGY.
Enter: YouTube keyword tools.
Broadly speaking, two things make tools better than any other method: scope and automation. The best of them offer hundreds of different keywords and comprehensive user data, something that you would never be able to accumulate with manual research. And there’s more.
Because they’re made for a strategic approach, many also enable tracking and performance monitoring. They allow you to stay on top of your rankings and measure improvements.
Here’s how YouTube keyword tools help find high-ranking search terms:
How do they do all that? Like many other tools, YouTube keyword tools rely on a combination of AI and machine learning to collect data from YouTube, Google Trends, and other relevant sources. And it’s not only about automation. AI and ML can also accurately predict future trends.
Choosing the right keyword research tool for YouTube could be exhausting, so allow me to help you out. Here are the key features that you should be looking for in a YouTube keyword tool:
The best paid YouTube keyword analysis tools, in my opinion, are TubeBuddy, VidIQ, and Morningfame. Take a look at my quick comparison table so that you know what to expect:
| TubeBuddy | VidIQ | Morningfame | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword Optimization; Strength Metrics | Search Volume; Competition Score; Optimization Strength; Interest Over Time | Search Volume; Competition Score; Overall Score | Subscribers; Views; Engagement; Relevance |
| Keyword Suggestions | Related Searches; What's Trending | Related Keywords; Trending Keywords; Inline Keywords | Common Keywords; Uncommon Keywords |
| Channel-Specific Results | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SEO Tools and Tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| For Multiple Channels | X | ✓ | Z |
| Pricing | Starts at $3.60 per month (billed annually) | Starts at $16.88 per month (billed annually) | Starts at $4.90 per month (billed annually) |
| Pros | Comprehensive features for all levels, keyword analysis based on channel performance, affordable Pro plan | Good for beginners, AI-powered recommendations, search term suggestions based on channel data | Step-by-step optimization workflow, realistic rankability predictions, video performance insights, fair price |
| Cons | Not suitable for new channels with under 200 videos | Expensive, complains about AI quality | Can feel complicated for users compared to other tools |
TubeBuddy is a comprehensive YouTube SEO tool that helps with keyword research, tag suggestions, and overall optimization. It provides in-depth insights into keyword performance and ranking potential, and it does that for your channel specifically based on your content and success rate.
According to an internal study, TubeBuddy users saw an 86% improvement in views (+170.85%) and a 55% improvement in subs (+89.40%) compared with other YouTube creators.
Do you want to see what TubeBuddy can do?
We’re talking about over 65 features for YouTube optimization, including the SEO Studio with suggested tags, advanced analytics, and even video A/B testing for thumbnails and titles. I must also mention the Best Time to Publish feature, which tells you when your audience is active.
But if you want to find and select the right keywords for your channel, you need a feature called Keyword Explorer. It comes with What’s Trending highlights for local SEO, where you can find fresh ideas for new content. Do you already have a keyword in mind? Type it in and hit Explore.
Here’s what you’ll get:
This is how it looks:
You can choose between two plans—Pro and Legend—both available for a monthly and annual subscription. The Legend includes powerful SEO features like Videolytics, Search Rank Tracking, and Video A/B Test. All other features I mentioned above are available in the Pro plan.
TubeBuddy is definitely worth it—though more for some than others. While Weighted metrics provide personalized keyword suggestions for your channel, these suggestions are only as good as your channel data. They won’t make a big difference unless you already have a lot of videos.
That said, TubeBuddy is a feature-rich tool with incredibly powerful analytics that can help you get more views and grow your channel, but it will work better if it already has some juice.
VidIQ is an AI-powered tool for YouTube keyword research and channel growth with both free and paid versions. The paid plans offer more robust keyword analysis tools, allowing you to discover high-traffic keywords, analyze your competitors, and optimize your video metadata.
With over 20 million users and nearly 1K 5-star reviews on TrustPilot, VidIQ is obviously doing something right. Here’s my experience with using this tool, along with my two cents.
VidIQ’s keyword research capabilities are solid but not revolutionary:
Here’s a screengrab of VidIQ’s essential keyword analysis for YouTube:
Some other features that could make VidIQ a useful ally are Top Playlists with SEO metrics that YouTube Studio doesn’t have and Embed URLs that tell you where your YouTube traffic comes from, and the Best Time to Post. As exciting as it sounds, Subscriber Analysis just isn’t that good.
VidIQ puts a lot of focus on AI tools like VidIQ Boost, a feature that optimizes a certain number of your videos each month. AI also provides keyword-rich title recommendations.
VidIQ comes with two pricing plans: Boost and Coaching. Alongside features available in the Boost plan, Coaching subscribers get weekday access to VidIQ’s 1-on-1 coach, expert channel audits and feedback, and step-by-step growth plan to grow faster. Sounds expensive? It is.
VidIQ is a helpful tool with many practical features for YouTube keyword research, idea (and content) generation, and AI-powered video optimization. It’s useful no matter how many videos or followers you already have—that is, if you’re desperate enough to invest the money.
Morningfame is a YouTube-focused SEO tool that helps with keyword research, video performance tracking, and keyword analysis that can improve ranking. It’s particularly useful for growing and managing YouTube channels. It’s also my favorite tool in this category.
What do I like about Morningfame so much that it makes me say that?
While it serves the same goal as TubeBuddy and VidIQ, Morningfame isn’t afraid of being different. So, instead of a keyword analysis focused on metrics and suggestions, you get a 5-step workflow that guides you through the process of finding, selecting, and using the right terms.
Let me show you how it works.
Below, you can see top-ranking competitor videos for that search term, along with the Gateway Video—the first video in YouTube search results from a channel with fewer subscribers than you. Morningame’s entire philosophy is centered around beating this video. If you can outrank the Gateway Video, you have a great chance of cementing your place here.
Cool, right? I think so, too.
HOWEVER. As much as I appreciate Morningfame’s attempt at innovation, I can’t ignore the fact that Tubebuddy, VidIQ, and many other YouTube keyword tools stick to a “traditional” approach to keyword analysis and scoring for a very good reason: it’s clear, simple and easy to use.
In its pursuit of originality, Morningfame leaves out several features that are crucially important for YouTube keyword research, such as a good old keyword suggestion list with key metrics neatly arranged in a column for easy comparison and a standard percentage-based scoring system.
On the other hand, it introduces unique features that you can’t find anywhere else. The Gateway Video highlight is only one of them, but it perfectly encapsulates what Morningfame is all about: helping YouTubers set realistic expectations rather than aim for the top of search results.
Here’s another controversial decision—Morningfame is an invitation-only tool.
How does this work? You can’t just jump in and check the tool, even if you want to pay to use it. Instead, you must be invited by an existing user and enter a code to unlock the free trial.
After one month of using Morningfame for free, you have the following options:
The Basic Plan offers limited access to the Keyword Research Tool with full features unlocked for 24 hours every 12 days, allowing you to plan your videos for the next 2 weeks.
I dare say yes. Morningfame won’t give you what you expect from a classic YouTube keyword research tool, and it will take you a while to figure it out, especially if you’ve already used the likes of Tubebuddy and VidIQ. But let its suggestions lead you, and you’ll get real, measurable results.
💡 Want to maximize your YouTube reach? Rankioz helps you uncover high-ranking keywords, analyze competition, and optimize your videos for better views, engagement, and rankings. Try it today and boost your channel’s growth! 🚀
Let’s get one thing out of the way: no free YouTube keyword analysis tool is 100% effective. That said, most creators use YouTube autocomplete, Keyword Tool, and TubeBudy’s free extension as $0 alternatives to paid versions. Here’s a quick overview of these three solutions:
| YouTube Autocomplete | Keyword Tool | TubeBuddy (Free) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword Optimization Strength Metrics | X | Limited | Limited |
| Related Keywords | 10 suggestoions | ✓ | X |
| Channel-Specific Results | X | X | X |
| SEO Tools and Tracking | X | X | Limited |
| Pros | Shows user search behaviour for free | Shows hundreds of keyword suggestions | Reliable optimization strength scores |
| Cons | No keyword optimization strength score, no personalization | Limited optimization metrics, not reliable | Limited to 5 searches per month, no personalization, no keyword suggestions |
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, YouTube’s autocomplete feature is a free and simple way to get keyword suggestions. As you type in the search bar, YouTube will suggest popular search queries based on what people are actively looking for. But how useful is this, really?
Let’s switch tabs and see how it works in action.
Right now, all I want to know is how to talk to a teenager without getting into an argument. (It’s a real struggle, people). So, I went to YouTube and started typing the dreaded words.
Here’s what came up:
All good suggestions, I must say. But I’m not looking at it from the creator’s viewpoint. If you’re trying to find new keyword ideas for your YouTube videos, this is only a starting point.
Obviously, this feature wasn’t made for data-based keyword analysis, so you won’t be able to see crucial rankability figures like search volume, competitiveness, or optimization strength.
YouTube autocomplete is good for one thing—getting to know what most users search for and how they phrase their queries. This feature is helpful to users and creators because it offers suggestions based on popularity. This means that more commonly searched terms are more likely to appear.
But YouTube autocomplete is also influenced by other factors, such as:
Also, YouTube personalizes suggestions based on these factors, but it doesn’t personalize them for their channel. It shows search terms that users search for in general (tailored to your own search history and location) but not keywords your channel is likely to rank for in search results.
Being free and instantly accessible, the only thing this method could cost you is your time. But there’s another thing to consider. Although it’s free and instantly accessible, YouTube autocomplete is unreliable as a keyword research tool. Put your trust in it, and it may cost you a lot more.
Keyword Tool is a free YouTube keyword research tool that provides keyword suggestions by pulling data from YouTube’s autocomplete. It gives you a list of search terms based on your seed keyword. It basically takes suggestions from YouTube autocomplete and analyses them for SEO.
All that for free? If you think that sounds too good to be true, you have good instincts. While Keyword Tool does provide keyword suggestions—a lot of them—it keeps all rankability metrics blurred or gives you only a few (depending on the total number of recommended keywords).
I wanted to compare YouTube’s autosuggest with Keyword Tool, so I entered “how to talk to a teen”. The tool also allows you to pick the country and language for local search terms, but I decided to stick with “Global/Worldwide (All Counties)” and “English”. Here are the results:
My screengrab doesn’t show it, but Keyword Tool found a total of 15 related terms (you can actually see that in the widget in the bottom right corner). Out of 10 keywords suggested by YouTube autocomplete, only 7 are on the list. And as you can see, all optimization metrics are blurred.
Truth be told, the SEO analysis—including Search Volume, Trend, Average CPC, and Competition—can be accessed for the first couple of terms in lists with a larger number of keywords.
I typed in “digital marketing” to show you. The tool generated 678 suggestions:
It’s a good thing that suggested terms are in random order, so a high-traffic, low-competition keyword may pop up in the first few. But I was suspicious. According to this, the search term “digital marketing” is a low-competition keyword, which is a bit audacious. So, I double-checked it:
I don’t know about you, but TubeBuddy’s results seem more logical to me.
So, is there anything else that Keyword Tool can do for free? There’s this:
In my opinion, the Keyword Tool isn’t very useful. I suppose it could be used in the same way as YouTube autocomplete—to get random search term ideas for descriptions and hashtags.
Perhaps you could use it in combination with TubeBuddy’s free extension and get a free keyword analysis there, as I did in the previous example. But these results would not be personalized to your channel, so you would probably end up chasing the wrong keyword and wasting a lot of time.
As I hinted before, TubeBuddy also offers a free version that includes keyword research tools, meta tag suggestions, and basic optimization features. It’s useful for getting started with YouTube SEO without any upfront costs. Here’s what is available to users of TubeBuddy’s Free plan:
So, most features I’ve gushed about in the paid YouTube keyword tools section are sadly locked behind the paywall, with only a few features for tag optimization being still free.
But what we are most interested in is TubeBuddy’s Keyword Explorer, which is marked here as “limited”. Here’s what it says when you click the downward arrow to expand the field:
Disappointing, right? Let’s go to TubeBuddy and see how that looks in action:
I must say, opening a TubeBuddy account and connecting it to your YouTube channel is a piece of cake. But then, there’s this little welcome sign that feels more like a cold shower:
So, now we know—the Free plan gives you only 5 keyword searches per month.
In addition to that, the free version of TubeBuddy doesn’t show any keyword suggestions. The complete search term analysis is there, including all essential metrics for optimization:
In case you’ve skipped paid tools and jumped straight to free alternatives, I want to briefly repeat that “Unweighted” means “not personalized”. In other words, the rankability metrics provided by the free version are not optimized for your channel and may not work for you.
Let me explain.
YouTube’s recommendation algorithm prioritizes larger channels that are already established. If you’re running a small channel with under 100 subscribers, it’s less likely you’d be able to compete with larger channels for a certain keyword than if you had a bigger channel.
That’s why you need a personalized or “weighted” competition metric.
Anyway, here’s the free version of TubeBuddy’s Keyword Explorer:
In addition to this, you get a Results report with a top-ranking channel for your search term and several others—which is, frankly, what you get when you search the term on YouTube.
TubeBuddy’s free Chrome extension is an excellent tool for competitor research on YouTube, but it’s not very helpful when it comes to keyword analysis. Although reliable, the SEO metrics are too general. What we have is a limited feature that works more as a free trial than a free tool.
Earlier, I talked about the optimal keyword placements and best practices, but guess what? These were only the essentials. If you’re still a beginner in YouTube SEO, keep reminding yourself where, how often, and how to effectively use keywords in your video scripts and meta tags.
But here’s the deal: the essentials will only get you so far. I want you to have real chances of competing with top-ranked channels and videos, so I will let you in on a few secrets.
These are the “advanced” video SEO tactics used by “serious” YouTubers.
Most YouTube keyword research tools will suggest long-tail search terms in addition to high-volume, high-competition short-tail terms that most searchers use. For example:
Long-tail keywords are more specific, so they target a smaller audience. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you’re still growing your channel, niche-specific keywords will help you bypass the competition and get clicks from users whose needs are overlooked by large channels.
If YouTube autocomplete is the only tool you can afford right now, here’s what you can do. First, look for keyword suggestions on different devices, including incognito mode, mobile, and desktop, to get as many variations as possible. Then, use a word cloud to get other suggestions.
A well-optimized video with an evergreen keyword in a title can keep you at the top of YouTube search results for years. But that’s hard to achieve, especially if you’re still growing. Consequently, evergreen keywords are mostly short-tail search terms that are highly competitive.
Trending keywords are either newly emerged buzzwords or specific terms that narrow down a search to a specific year. Sound familiar? It’s a long-term variant of a broader term.
Here’s an example of trending and evergreen video titles on YouTube:
Since evergreen keywords are harder to compete for, use trending search terms for a quick boost. When the trend fades, you can update the trending title with evergreen keywords.
If your YouTube keyword research tool doesn’t give you access to A/B testing, you can do it manually by posting two similar videos that target the same keyword. Create a different description and hashtags for each and track CTR, watch time, and engagement rates in the first 72 hours.
Important tip: Doing this for every video would not be viable, so you need to watch carefully and draw actionable conclusions. This experiment could tell you a lot about what your target audience prefers in terms of wording and keyword placement—a huge lesson for future videos.
YouTube automatically translates titles, descriptions, and captions into multiple languages. If you have a global audience, you should use YouTube Analytics to identify the top regions following your content and manually translate and optimize keywords for that audience in YouTube Studio.
YouTube users are chatty folks. Their comments are a goldmine of keywords and content ideas, so pay attention to what they’re saying. Take comments with the most upvotes and analyze them for search terms—they can give you a top-ranking idea for a related topic or a Part 2.
YouTube’s algorithm ranks videos based on engagement rates and watch times. This means that all your SEO efforts will be in vain if you don’t know how to keep viewers watching.
But there’s a trick.
The Audience Retention Graph in YouTube Analytics allows you to see at which point in your video most viewers decide they’ve had enough. To make them stay longer, add some kind of hook or teaser to these places and solidify them with keywords that trigger their attention. Like this:
If YouTube Analytics tells you that people leave at 3:30, then at 3:25, add this insert:
“Next up, I’ll share a secret hack most YouTubers don’t know, so stick around!”
Pro tip: By the way, the first 15 seconds of your video should always include the main keyword in speech. Why? Because most people leave after that, but also because YouTube transcribes audio and uses that to calculate your search results ranking.
Clearly, keyword research is a game-changer for those hunting YouTube success. Finding and choosing the right search terms helps your videos get discovered, reach the right audience, and ultimately grow your channel. It’s never too late to start optimizing your videos for search.
Here’s what you can do today:
If you believe in the power of data-based decisions (as you should), check out Rankioz. It is the best YouTube keyword research tool for in-depth analytics, competitor insights, and AI-powered suggestions. I’ve been told it makes finding high-impact keywords for YouTube a breeze.
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