Top 5 YouTube Keyword Tools (Field-Tested For Growth)

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The quality betwixt getting discovered connected YouTube hunt and being invisible?

Strategic keyword research.

By optimizing videos with the close terms, you tin dramatically summation your integrated traffic.

Take YouTuber Caren Magill’s ADHD coaching channel, for example.

With 4.95M beingness views and 116K subscribers, it’s harmless to accidental Caren has recovered a palmy niche.

YouTube illustration   – TubeBuddy extension

But this wasn’t luck.

Caren optimizes her video’s titles, descriptions, and tags with presumption that pull her people audience.

YouTube – TubeBuddy – Channel Keywords

The bully news?

You tin bash it, too—all you request is simply a reliable keyword probe tool.

To assistance you with this task, I evaluated 5 of the astir fashionable YouTube keyword tools.

And gave each 1 a “Best for” standing based connected its standout features and wide value.

Before I dive into the reviews, let’s research wherefore keyword probe is important for your channel’s success.

YouTube Keyword Tools astatine a Glance

YouTube Keyword Tool Best For Starting Price (Monthly)
VidIQ Deep keyword intelligence $19/month; 7-day escaped trial
Keyword Analytics for YouTube Finding fashionable effect keywords 7-day escaped trial; $10/month; unsubscribe anytime
TubeBuddy In-browser keyword probe and transmission optimization $7.50/month; constricted escaped plan
Keywords Everywhere Analyzing competitors’ keywords $2.25 per month; constricted escaped plan
Google Trends Real-time keyword inclination tracking Free

Why YouTube Keyword Research Matters

Keyword probe reveals what your assemblage wants to ticker and helps your videos look successful hunt results.

This is wherefore it’s a captious measurement successful increasing your channel’s scope and engagement.

Decode Audience Search Intent

On YouTube (and hunt engines), radical hunt with antithetic goals successful mind. They mightiness privation to larn something, comparison options, oregon find entertainment. This is called search intent.

Keyword research lets you lucifer your contented to your audience’s hunt intent to pull engaged viewers that crook into subscribers.

For example, informational searches similar “how to deadlift” amusement viewers privation to larn circumstantial skills, portion commercial searches similar “best location gym equipment” bespeak they’re comparing antithetic options.

Matching your contented to these hunt patterns helps you pull much engaged viewers.

Keyword Magic Tool – Fitness workouts – Intent

Find High-Performing Keywords

Smart keyword probe helps you observe topics with precocious hunt measurement but debased keyword difficulty—the saccharine spot for increasing channels.

For example, alternatively of competing for overcrowded presumption similar “gardening tips,” much circumstantial searches similar “apartment gardening” tin beryllium easier to fertile for but inactive thrust important traffic.

Keyword Overview – Apartment gardening – Overview

Identify Trends to Maximize Discoverability

Popular YouTubers expect spectator demand—and keyword tools uncover precisely erstwhile that request is building.

Using keyword probe tools helps you:

  • Spot rising topics earlier they peak
  • Create timely contented erstwhile hunt involvement is growing
  • Build momentum from trending searches

For example, erstwhile the TV amusement “Squid Game” announced its 2nd season, keyword tools showed surging searches for “squid crippled play 2” and “squid crippled play 3″—revealing cleanable opportunities to make videos earlier highest interest.

Google Trends – Squid crippled  – Explore

Now that you cognize wherefore keyword probe is important, let’s research the champion tools for it.

5 Best YouTube Keyword Tools (Free & Paid)

I tested the astir fashionable YouTube keyword tools to spot which ones performed champion astatine keyword analysis, competitory intelligence, and inclination spotting.

Here’s what I discovered.

1. VidIQ: Best for Deep Keyword Intelligence

VidIQ helps YouTube creators find contented ideas and maximize their scope organically.

Its adjuvant browser hold lets you execute keyword research, audit your channel, way competitors, and more.

Conduct Keyword Research

VidIQ’s keyword investigation stands retired arsenic the astir elaborate of the tools I reviewed.

It provides:

  • An overview with cardinal metrics
  • Related keywords
  • Matching terms
  • Trending videos

For example, erstwhile I searched for “affiliate marketing,” I could spot its SEO score, hunt volume, and contention level, on with aggregate different adjuvant metrics.

VidIQ – Keywords – Affiliate marketing

This includes long-tail keywords, applicable questions, and variations containing my superior keyword.

This accusation volition let maine to absorption connected niche topics that thin to pull smaller but highly engaged audiences.

Like “Amazon affiliate marketing,” which gets less searches than “affiliate marketing” but has little competition, too.

VidIQ – Related keywords / Matching items / Questions – Collage

When you hunt for a keyword, VidIQ highlights the apical 10 trending videos for that word truthful you cognize what you’re up against.

VidIQ – Top trending videos

It besides tells you however galore views each 1 has and its engagement rate.

For example, I clicked connected 1 of these videos, and the instrumentality revealed it was performing 15 times amended than this channel’s mean video engagement.

VidIQ – Video report

This tells maine I should analyse further to find retired wherefore it’s doing truthful well—whether it’s niche keywords, prime content, a trending topic, eye-catching visuals, oregon thing else.

I urge repeating this process for 5 oregon truthful rival videos to summation invaluable insights you tin usage to amended your ain video’s optimization and performance.

Create and Track Keyword Trends

Trends determination accelerated connected YouTube—what’s viral contiguous mightiness beryllium forgotten tomorrow.

VidIQ’s real-time inclination tracking keeps you up of the competition.

Set up customized inclination alerts to observe blistery topics successful your niche earlier they explode.

Here’s how:

  1. Give your alert a applicable name
  2. Add people keywords and competitors
  3. Set a views-per-hour (VPH) threshold arsenic your benchmark
  4. Choose however often you privation to person email notifications
  5. Click “Update alert” to spell live
VidIQ – Trend alerts

Outperform the Competition

Use VidIQ’s competitor investigation tools to find keywords and contented types that thrust the highest traction successful your niche.

Track your competitors’ contented show through:

  • Engagement rate
  • Views per hour
  • View velocity

For example, I noticed a competitor’s video gained implicit 400,000 views with a 3.9% engagement complaint and implicit 100 views per hour.

VidIQ – Top Videos From Your Competitors

So, I exported its keywords to spot which presumption the YouTuber utilized to thrust this awesome postulation and growth.

I besides learned erstwhile the video was published and however galore subscribers it attracted.

Data similar this reveals precisely which topics and hunt presumption thrust the astir views successful your niche, giving you a wide strategy for your ain videos.

VidIQ Pricing

  • Free: 7-day escaped trial
  • Boost: $19/month
  • Coaching: $199/month

2. Keyword Analytics for YouTube: Best for Finding Popular Seed Keywords

Keyword Analytics for YouTube is simply a Semrush app (available without a subscription) that lets you probe effect keywords, top-ranking videos, and trends successful your niche.

Fine-tune your hunt by clip play and determination to zero successful connected the astir applicable information for your contented strategy.

Identify Popular, Low-Competition Keywords

Search immoderate word successful Keyword Analytics for YouTube to larn its hunt measurement and competition.

For example, I searched “learn Spanish.”

This keyword gets 140K monthly searches and has a 67 competitory complaint successful YouTube search.

Keyword Analytics for YouTube – Learn Spanish

Hover implicit the competitory complaint for immoderate word for much context.

For instance, “learn spanish” has an “average” level of contention successful YouTube search.

This means it’s perfect for channels with 1M+ subscribers.

Learn Spanish – Level of competition

To find less-competitive keywords, scroll done the list.

This helped maine find presumption like:

  • Learn romance for beginners”: 13K hunt volume; 56 competitory rate
  • How to larn romance fast”: 194 hunt volume; 31 competitory rate
  • Best escaped mode to larn Spanish”: 65 hunt volume; 24 competitory rate
Best escaped  mode   to larn  Spanish – Level of competition

How tin you usage these lower-competition keywords?

  • Create a bid of videos targeting these presumption to amended your visibility successful YouTube search
  • Add them to your video’s statement to pull much viewers

Find Top-Ranking Videos

Need a small originative inspiration?

Go to the “Most viewed videos” tab successful Keyword Analytics to find the astir fashionable YouTube videos successful your preferred country.

Filter by the past 24 hours, week, oregon period to find trending topics you tin crook into fashionable videos.

Keyword Analytics for YouTube – Most viewed videos

Want to spot the top-ranking videos for a circumstantial keyword?

Switch backmost to the “Top Keywords” tab and hunt for your desired term.

For example, I searched “spanish for beginners,” and the app revealed the apical YouTube videos for this term.

Keyword Analytics for YouTube – Spanish for beginners

Hover implicit the video to spot its afloat rubric (take enactment of the keywords) and however galore subscribers the transmission has.

This gives you a decent thought of the contention you’ll beryllium up against erstwhile deciding which presumption to target.

Keyword Analytics for YouTube – Video name

Get Trending Keyword Data

If you people viewers successful a peculiar region, you’ll find the “Fast-growing keywords” diagnostic peculiarly helpful.

This is due to the fact that it tells you trending topics that volition assistance you pull a section audience.

For example, I learned the apical keyword successful Italy (at the clip of my search) was “Sinner,” the past sanction of a fashionable Italian tennis player.

Keyword Analytics for YouTube – Fast increasing  keywords

The instrumentality besides shows the wide alteration successful keyword show for each term.

Hover implicit the inclination graph to spot however monthly hunt measurement fluctuates.

Fast increasing  keywords – Trend graph

Use this information to make timely, applicable YouTube contented erstwhile hunt involvement is astatine its peak.

Pro tip: Want deeper keyword insights? Use Semrush’s all-in-one SEO toolkit to execute much precocious keyword research.

Keyword Analytics for YouTube Pricing

  • Free: 7-day escaped trial
  • Monthly: $10/month; unsubscribe anytime

3. TubeBuddy: Best for in-Browser Keyword Research and Optimization

TubeBuddy is simply a YouTube browser hold designed to optimize and grow your channel.

Some of its cardinal SEO features include:

Even better?

The instrumentality integrates straight into your YouTube dashboard.

So, you tin instrumentality vantage of its features without leaving your channel.

TubeBuddy – Tools – Dashboard

Get Actionable Keyword Insights

Analyze immoderate keyword successful TubeBuddy’s Keyword Explorer to spot important metrics similar hunt measurement and keyword difficulty.

For example, I searched “how to marque pasta” successful the instrumentality and learned this keyword gets 782K monthly searches but is amazingly not overly competitive.

It besides revealed videos presently ranking connected YouTube for this taxable person “excellent” optimization.

This tells maine thing crucial: I’ll request to absorption heavy connected optimization to springiness my video a bully changeable astatine ranking.

Another chill diagnostic is the wide SEO score, which factors successful aggregate ranking signals.

This helps you gauge the imaginable of a keyword.

TubeBuddy – Keyword Explorer

Not definite which keyword to use? The instrumentality lets you comparison 2 options.

To trial this out, I evaluated “how to marque pasta” and “homemade pasta recipe.”

Keyword Explorer shows that “homemade pasta recipe” has an SEO people of “Good” and a “Very Good” hunt measurement of 156K.

It’s besides a reasonably low-competition keyword, making this word promising.

TubeBuddy – Search Explorer – Homemade pasta recipe

In comparison, “how to marque pasta” has a overmuch higher hunt measurement (782K), a “Very Good” SEO score, and a “Fair” contention level.

This indicates adjacent stronger potential—voilà, I’ve recovered a winner!

TubeBuddy – Search Explorer – How to marque   pasta

Generate and Optimize Titles and Descriptions

TubeBuddy’s SEO Studio lets you instantly make AI-powered titles and descriptions for your videos.

Improve your SEO people by pursuing the tool’s optimization recommendations, specified arsenic “include your people keyword people successful the title.”

TubeBuddy – SEO Studio

Spy connected Your Competitors

Next, I utilized TubeBuddy’s Videolytics instrumentality to measure competing videos and place keyword opportunities.

This almighty instrumentality shows you wherefore videos win oregon conflict by revealing:

  • Performance metrics: Views, likes, comments, and societal shares
  • SEO insights: Optimization scores and which tags thrust traffic
  • Competitor strategies: What apical channels bash differently
  • Improvement tips: Recommendations to boost your video’s visibility

This information helps you make amended contented and get much views by knowing precisely what works successful your niche.

TubeBuddy – Video report

TubeBuddy Pricing

  • Free: Limited escaped program available
  • Pro: $7.50/month
  • Legend: $32.99/month
  • Enterprise: Contact for pricing

4. Keywords Everywhere: Best for Analyzing Competitors’ Keywords

Keywords Everywhere is simply a useful browser hold and keyword instrumentality for YouTube.

It lets you analyse each keyword done data-packed widgets similar inclination charts, fashionable tags, and engagement scores.

Get Detailed Keyword Insights

Keywords Everywhere taps into Google Keyword Planner information to amusement you real-time hunt volume, competition, and cost-per-click (CPC).

For example, erstwhile I searched “weight loss,” the instrumentality suggested related presumption similar “weight nonaccomplishment diet” that had little competition.

This instant penetration helps you prime keywords that volition fertile higher and pull much views.

Keywords Everywhere – YouTube search

Keywords Everywhere besides breaks down precisely what makes videos successful.

For example, I recovered that videos astir “weight loss” person 3.35 cardinal views connected average.

60% of these videos incorporate “weight loss” successful the title, and 50% incorporate the keyword successful the description.

This information shows you however to optimize your contented by strategically placing keywords wherever they substance astir to boost your visibility.

Keywords Everywhere – Search insights

Analyze Top-Ranking Competitors

Keywords Everywhere besides tells you what’s moving for your competitors.

I looked astatine an in-depth breakdown of the apical 20 videos for the keyword “weight loss.”

And learned metrics similar presumption count, views per day, ranking difficulty, and SEO score.

But the 1 that stood retired to maine the astir was “Age.”

This metric tells you however agelong agone a video was published.

For example, astir of the videos for my keyword are astatine slightest a twelvemonth aged (and apt outdated).

So, present I cognize there’s a bully accidental I tin outrank the existing contented by sharing caller perspectives.

Besides this elaborate top-20 breakdown, you’ll besides find a summarized investigation of all hunt results for a fixed keyword.

This overview tells you adjuvant info, similar however galore subscribers and views each video has.

But it besides analyzes video titles and descriptions for magnitude and quality.

Keywords Everywhere – Video overview

Generate Keywords successful Bulk

I besides experimented with the Bulk Keywords Data Tool to grow my archetypal keyword list.

A bulk keyword instrumentality saves hours by analyzing hundreds of presumption instantly alternatively of 1 by one.

Seeing each keywords unneurotic besides reveals invaluable patterns successful spectator hunt behavior.

Once you adhd your effect keywords, the instrumentality suggests related terms.

Use these insights to people weave applicable keywords into your video statement and transcript—helping YouTube amended recognize and urge your contented to funny viewers.

Keywords Everywhere – Bulk keyword data

Keywords Everywhere Pricing

  • Bronze: $2.25/month
  • Silver: $6/month
  • Gold: $25/month
  • Platinum: $80/month

5. Google Trends: Best for Real-Time Keyword Trend Tracking

Google Trends reveals real-time hunt patterns crossed web, image, and YouTube searches, helping you spot opportunities others miss.

Compare keywords, way trends, and observe what’s blistery successful circumstantial regions—all for free.

Google Trends – Sports movies – Explore – YouTube Search

Find Keywords for Specific Locations

Want to cognize wherever your contented volition resonate the most?

Google Trends tin amusement you.

For example, erstwhile I searched for “travel destinations,” it revealed unexpected hotspots successful Idaho, Connecticut, and Kansas.

Google Trends – Travel destinations – Filters

I tin crook this penetration into targeted contented similar “Best question destinations successful Idaho” to scope a section audience.

Google Trends – Travel destinations – Interest implicit    clip  / by subregion

Discover Related and Trending Topics

Google Trends shows you related topics for each search, truthful you tin adhd applicable keywords and subtopics to your videos.

But it doesn’t conscionable amusement you what’s popular—it reveals what’s astir to beryllium big.

For example, a hunt for “coffee makers” uncovers emerging trends similar “coffee makers that usage k cups,” which precocious accrued successful involvement by 350%.

Google Trends – Coffee makers – Related topics

For each trending term, you’ll learn:

  • Search volume
  • When the word started trending
  • Specific queries fueling its popularity

Create contented astir these rising topics, and you’ll drawback spectator involvement astatine the cleanable moment.

Google Trends – Trending present  – Example

Compare Keywords to Find the Best Opportunities

Google Trends lets you comparison keywords head-to-head to spot which ones genuinely resonate with viewers.

When I compared “vegan repast prep” versus “quick vegan recipes,” the information revealed “vegan repast prep” consistently attracts much interest.

These nonstop comparisons assistance you absorption your efforts connected topics viewers are actively searching for alternatively than guessing what mightiness work.

Google Trends – Keywords comparison

Google Trends Pricing

Google Trends is escaped to use.

Fast-Track Your YouTube Channel’s Growth

Want your YouTube transmission to get much views and subscribers?

You request to people the close keywords.

And to find those keywords, you request the close Youtube keyword tools.

Whether you usage TubeBuddy to optimize videos oregon Semrush for deeper investigation (or both), keyword probe tin acceptable your transmission up for semipermanent maturation and success.

For champion results, harvester keyword probe with a beardown promotion strategy.

Read our guide: 21 Ways to Promote Your YouTube Videos to maximize your scope and physique stronger marque awareness.

The station Top 5 YouTube Keyword Tools <br>(Field-Tested For Growth) appeared archetypal connected Backlinko.

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