According to research by Small Business Trend, video content will account for 80% of all internet
traffic by 2019.
Plus, with over 1.9 billion monthly active users and over 1 billion hours of video watched daily, it’s no
surprise that YouTube is a key tool in many digital marketing strategies .
To be effective, not only should you focus on producing quality content , but these strategies should
also be based on an effort to optimize SEO .
After all, you need to make sure that the material will reach you, despite the ocean of options available
on the web.
That’s where YouTube tags come in. Throughout this post, we’ll explain what tags are and provide
awesome tips on how to use them. Check it out!
What are YouTube tags?
Tags are a key factor in search ranking south africa telegram data by the YouTube algorithm . These
are words or short phrases that indicate the topic, category, and other details of your video.
This information is so that both YouTube and Google can send your video to users who
are most likely to show interest .
You know when you’ve just finished watching a video and then another one starts playing
automatically? Or even the options on the right bar, like recommendations for what to watch next?
Well, it’s because of tags!
These suggestions are likely to have tags related to what you’re looking at, and are therefore considered relevant to you by the algorithm.
Therefore, to use your YouTube channel efficiently in a marketing strategy , it is essential to choose the tags carefully, as they are keywords that will make your person go directly to your content.
How to choose the right labels
Understanding the role of tags in the next system we tried YouTube SEO is just as important as knowing how to choose the ones with the greatest potential for appeal.
Naturally, to do this, the first step is to have your buyer persona well defined and updated.
In this way, it is possible to detect the most searched keywords by a market niche . However, the easiest way to find them is through a simple and free technique: YouTube autocomplete .
Go to the website, type a term in the search field and look at the suggestions presented: they represent the most frequently used terms in searches that contain the keywords you have entered.
Another interesting way to obtain relevant information for choosing your tags is to analyze the ones used by your competitors . This information is not openly available on the page, but it is possible to find out by following a few steps:
- right click on the video page;
- select the option “show page source code”;
- use the “Ctrl+F” function;
- search for ” keywords “.
In addition to these methods, there are also tagging programs for YouTube, a topic that we will cover throughout the text.
How to use Youtube tags in the best possible way?
Almost every professional who lack data works with digital marketing knows the importance and efficiency of SEO for the page where the videos are shared. With that in mind, applying the best techniques to put your planning into practice is essential.
Use short or long tags depending on the situation
Merging the two styles is as important as understanding the difference in the effect generated by short or long tags.
Short tags generally have a more generic meaning, meaning they have a broader coverage. On the other hand, as with long-tail keywords , long terms are more specific, restricting the search and reducing the number of results.
Let’s take an example: imagine an analytical video of the iPhone XR launch that uses the tag “smartphone.”
The results presented to someone searching for the term will include not only reviews of the iPhone in question, but also various content that relates in some way to all smartphones.
Still with the example: imagine that the tag “iPhone XR analysis” was used.
This time around, search results will be funneled so that all suggested videos relate specifically to reviewing the iPhone XR, taking other smartphones out of the equation.
For optimization purposes, YouTube recommends using a maximum of 120 characters . Generally, it is recommended to convert these 120 characters into 6-8 tags.
Don’t worry about using capital letters or accentuation
YouTube’s algorithm is able to interpret and understand words, even if an accent or capital letter is missing.
So, when you define your tags, don’t waste time worrying about the correct spelling of each term. So don’t worry, your audience will have access to your videos, since, as we told you, YouTube can distinguish them perfectly.
Don’t use other channels’ names in your tags
Trying to reach the top of searches by using another channel’s name in your tags is against YouTube policy and can result in severe penalties.
Furthermore, this practice benefits the ranking of the mentioned channel more than your own video.
The only case in which you can use the name of other YouTube channels in tags is when you actually mention them in your video. In this case, there is no contraindication.
Don’t use tags in descriptions
There is a reason behind the existence of specific spaces for tags and descriptions: they are not the same thing.
The description should talk about the content of the tags, but in the form of coherent and informative text .
As the name suggests, the idea is to describe the content of the video, while tags should summarize the topic without describing it.
Even posting descriptions using only keywords is considered illegal by YouTube, as it is set up in an attempt to circumvent the algorithm. Therefore, use tags only in the space reserved for them.
Don’t overdo it with the tags
Your video may have a very broad topic, allowing for the use of a variety of tags.
However, it is important to resist the urge to use dozens of labels, as this can confuse the algorithm used for classification .
Remember that we mentioned that it is most appropriate to have between 6 and 8 tags that accurately describe the content.
Also, you need to pay attention to the number of words per tag. There is research showing that tags with 2 or 3 words are the most efficient.
Finally, keep in mind that YouTube pays special attention to the first tags, so try to make your first tag exactly the keyword you want to use to reach your target audience.
What are the main label generator programs?
As we mentioned earlier, there are specialized programs to help you with the task of researching and generating YouTube tags. Below we will list and explain some of them:
Keyword Tool
Keyword Tool is one of the most widely used tools for keyword research. Using autocomplete, it offers you over 750 keyword suggestions in seconds.
So instead of manually searching for every term on YouTube, you can boost your search with just a few clicks.
In addition, it is possible to filter results according to the countries and languages supported by YouTube, allowing for greater segmentation and search efficiency.
The results are generated with commas already inserted, so your job is just to copy the ones that are relevant to you and paste them into the space provided for your video tags.
vidIQ’S Keyword Tool
Like Keyword Tool, vidQI’S is one of the few tools on the market that has a specific function for tag research on YouTube. Using it is simple: just enter the desired keyword and you will receive hundreds of suggestions.
The difference, which makes this tool so interesting, is that it gives you the data relating to each of the suggested tags .
Therefore, you can find out the search volume, competitiveness, and efficiency of the tag before making the decision to use it.
YouTube Analytics
That’s right! You can use your own YouTube Analytics to choose the tags you’ll add to your video.
This is because the tool accurately presents which keywords were used by the users who reached your video .
To access this information, go to YouTube Studio, click on “stats” and choose the “reach” option.