YouTubeTags



YouTube tags (also known as “video tags”) are words and phrases used to give YouTube context about a video. Tags are considered an important ranking factor in YouTube’s search algorithm.What Are YouTube Tags?

Why are Tags Important?

Like any piece of  your tags are an opportunity to give YouTube and Google information about your video… including your video’s topic, category, and more.

And found a small but significant relationship between YouTube tags and ranking in YouTube:


With that, here’s how to optimize your video tags.

Best Practices

First Tag = Target Keyword

When it comes to video SEO, YouTube pays special close attention to your first few tags.

(Especially your very first tag)


So make sure that your first tag is the exact, word-for-word keyword that you want to rank for.

For example, let’s say you want to rank your video for the keyword “public speaking tips”.

You’d want to make your first YouTube tag that exact term:

Use a Mix of Broad and Focused Tags

Focused tags (like “get bigger biceps” or “how to start a blog”), help YouTube figure out your video’s specific topic.

But it’s important to use broad tags too. Broad tags help give YouTube important context about your video.

For example, let’s say the primary keyword for your video is: “how to do a pushup”.

You’d want to use that keyword (and variations) in your tags:


You’d also want to throw in a couple of broad tags that describe your video’s broad category or high-level topic. In this case, broad tags would be terms like “fitness” and “workouts”:



Don’t Go Overboard With Tags

Stuffing videos with dozens of tags is a mistake that lots of new YouTubers make.

As it turns out, this can do more harm than good.

Remember: tags are designed to help YouTube understand your video content. And if you hand them 20+ tags, they’re going to have a hard time knowing what your video is actually about.

For example, check out the YouTube tags on this video:

Imagine that you’re YouTube. Based on these tags, what would you say this video is about? One tag says that the video is about blogging. But it’s also about life lessons and CSA?

If you’re confused, YouTube is confused. So if you overload your video with tags, you’re only going to hurt your rankings.

Instead, stick to 5-8 tags that accurately describe your video’s topic. These should be a mix of focused and broad keywords that you found from video keyboard