How to Find YouTube Keywords and Drive Views

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Finding the best keywords for your YouTube videos boils down to a simple, yet crucial, balancing act. You need to figure out what people are actually typing into the YouTube search bar (search volume) and then see how many other channels are trying to rank for those same terms (competition). Nail this, and you give your videos a real fighting chance to get discovered.

Why Your YouTube Keyword Strategy Matters

Before we dive into the "how-to," let's be clear on why this is so important. A lot of people think they can just take their blog's SEO strategy and slap it onto their YouTube channel. That's a huge mistake. YouTube is its own beast—a search engine where things like watch time and viewer engagement are king. Your whole goal is to bridge the gap between your awesome content and the audience that's actively looking for it.

A smart YouTube keyword strategy is the most direct path to increasing organic traffic to your channel. It’s not about racking up vanity views. It’s about attracting the right viewers—the ones who will stick around, subscribe, and come back for your next video.

Finding Your Strategic Sweet Spot

When you're just starting out, the number one metric you should care about is search volume. This is simply the estimated number of times a keyword gets searched on YouTube each month. While it's tempting to go after the big, flashy keywords with tens of thousands of searches, those are almost always dominated by massive channels.

This is where you have to be strategic. The real magic for new and growing channels happens in the medium-volume range. Think of it as your sweet spot. These keywords offer a great balance—enough people are searching for them to make a difference, but the competition isn't so fierce that you'll get drowned out.

To give you a clearer picture, here's a quick breakdown of what those volume numbers actually mean.

YouTube Keyword Volume Tiers

This table is a quick reference guide to help you understand and target different keyword search volume levels on YouTube.

Volume Tier	Monthly Searches	Best For	Example Keyword
Low	0 - 1,000	Hyper-niche topics, brand new channels	"beginner sourdough starter hydration"
Medium	1,000 - 5,000	Growing channels building authority	"how to edit youtube videos"
High	5,000 - 10,000	Established channels with a solid subscriber base	"best budget camera 2024"
Very High	10,000+	Large, authoritative channels	"home workout"

By focusing on those medium-tier keywords first, you start winning. You build momentum. As your channel's authority grows, you can absolutely start punching up and targeting those more competitive, high-volume terms. There are some fantastic YouTube keyword tools out there that can help you pinpoint these numbers.

Your initial YouTube keyword strategy shouldn't be about winning the biggest race. It's about winning the races you can actually finish, building your channel's strength one video at a time.

Understanding Viewer Search Intent

At the end of the day, all of this comes down to one thing: understanding what your audience really wants. Behind every search is a person with a specific goal. Are they trying to learn something? Find a product review? Be entertained?

Matching your video to that search intent is everything.

Let's say someone searches for "how to fix a leaky faucet." They have a clear problem and they need a direct solution. A video titled "My Crazy Plumbing Adventure" is going to get ignored, even if it shows the repair. But a title like "Easy 5-Minute Leaky Faucet Fix (Step-by-Step)" speaks directly to their need. It promises a fast, simple solution, making it way more likely to get the click.

When you nail search intent, you do more than just rank. You create content that genuinely helps people, and that's the foundation for building a loyal audience and a successful channel.

Mining for Keywords Inside YouTube Itself

Before you jump into any fancy third-party tools, some of the best keyword intelligence you can get is right inside YouTube. It’s completely free, and it shows you exactly what your audience is searching for, straight from the source. The most obvious, yet often overlooked, starting point is the search bar itself.

Ever notice how YouTube starts guessing what you’re looking for as soon as you type? That autocomplete feature is more than just a convenience—it's a direct line into the collective mind of your audience. These suggestions are the most popular, real-time searches related to your topic.

Let's say you start typing "how to edit." Instantly, you'll see suggestions like:

"how to edit videos for youtube"

"how to edit pictures on iphone"

"how to edit reels"

Right away, you have a handful of validated video ideas. These aren't just guesses; they are the exact phrases people are using to find content, which tells you how to find YouTube keywords with proven demand.

Unlocking More Keyword Variations

Here's a simple trick I use all the time to dig deeper. Use an asterisk (*) as a "fill in the blank" wildcard in your search. This prompts YouTube to show you all the popular ways people complete that phrase, uncovering a ton of long-tail keyword opportunities.

Imagine you have a fitness channel. Instead of a broad search, try typing how to get abs * at home. YouTube's autocomplete might fire back with some gold:

"how to get abs fast at home"

"how to get abs in a week at home"

"how to get abs without equipment at home"

Each one of those suggestions is a highly specific problem that a segment of your audience wants to solve. You’ve just found less competitive keywords that target a precise user need, and each one could be its own dedicated video.

This hands-on approach of mining YouTube directly gives you a foundational list of relevant keywords straight from the source. It ensures your content ideas are perfectly aligned with genuine viewer interest before you ever hit record.

While dedicated keyword tools are essential for gathering data on search volume and competition, starting here is non-negotiable. It grounds your entire content strategy in the reality of what viewers are actually looking for, not just what you think they want.

Spotting Trends and Niche Keyword Opportunities

Great keyword research isn't just about what people searched for last month; it's about getting a jump on what they'll be searching for tomorrow. When you can tap into the pulse of your niche, you get to ride the wave of a trend instead of always playing catch-up. This means looking past the obvious evergreen terms and hunting down those timely, industry-specific opportunities.

The keywords that kill it for a tech review channel are world's apart from what works for a finance or gaming channel. Viewer interest is always shifting, and spotting these micro-trends is how you create content that feels urgent and necessary right now.

The numbers back this up. Keyword performance swings wildly between industries. For instance, a term like 'iPhone 15 review' can pull in over 1.2 million searches a month, while educational keywords like 'learn Python' shot up by 85% in 2023. At the same time, health-related searches for 'mental health tips' saw a 57% jump. You can dive into the full research on YouTube keyword statistics to see just how much these trends can make or break a video.

This isn't just interesting data—it's proof that aligning your content with what's happening in the market is a non-negotiable part of how to find YouTube keywords that actually deliver views.

Using Google Trends for YouTube Insights

One of the best free tools in your arsenal for this is Google Trends. While it defaults to Google searches, it’s a fantastic way to gauge rising and falling interest in a topic. The trick is to switch the filter from "Web Search" to "YouTube Search" to get data specific to the platform you care about.

Let's say you run a cooking channel. A search for "air fryer recipes" might show consistent, steady interest. But what happens if you use the comparison feature to add "slow cooker recipes"? You'd likely discover a clear seasonal pattern, with one spiking in the summer and the other dominating the winter months.

That kind of insight is pure gold. It helps you map out your content calendar months ahead of time, letting you drop videos right when viewer interest is about to peak.

Capitalizing on Seasonal and Event-Based Keywords

On YouTube, timing can be everything. If you can line up your content with seasons, holidays, or big industry events, you can catch a massive—even if temporary—boost in viewership.

Seasonal Keywords: These are the reliable, cyclical opportunities. A gardening channel should be all over "planting tomatoes" in the spring, while a fashion channel needs to be targeting "fall outfit ideas" as summer winds down.

Event-Based Keywords: These are tied to specific, one-off moments. Think of a gaming channel dropping content the day a huge title like Grand Theft Auto VI is released, or a finance channel breaking down a major interest rate announcement from the Fed.

By mastering trend-spotting, you stop chasing search volume and start creating it. You're not just making content; you're making the right content at the exact moment your audience is looking for it.

For a practical example, a channel for small business owners could create a video on "last-minute tax tips for freelancers" in early April. For most of the year, search volume for that is dead. But for a few weeks, it absolutely explodes. Nailing that window of opportunity can bring a flood of new, highly motivated viewers to your channel—people who might just stick around long after tax season is a distant memory. That’s the kind of strategic thinking that separates the good channels from the truly great ones.

Putting Keyword Research Tools to Work

While YouTube's built-in features give you a decent starting point, dedicated keyword research tools are what really separate the pros from the amateurs. They give you a massive competitive edge by serving up hard data on search volume, competition levels, and hidden opportunities.

You just can't get that level of insight from the YouTube search bar alone. Think of it this way: brainstorming is like having a paper map, but using a keyword tool is like firing up a GPS with live traffic updates.

Let's move from theory to action. The end goal here is to build a "master keyword list." This isn't just a jumble of phrases; it’s a prioritized list of content ideas backed by actual search data. Using a proper tool helps you find that perfect sweet spot: keywords with enough search volume to be worthwhile, but with low enough competition that your video actually has a chance to rank.

Building Your Master Keyword List

The first thing you'll do with any tool is plug in your "seed" keywords—those broad topics you came up with earlier. The tool will then work its magic, spitting out hundreds of related long-tail variations, each with its own juicy data points.

Let's say your seed keyword is "sourdough starter." The tool might give you a list that looks something like this:

"how to feed a sourdough starter": Huge search volume, but the competition is brutal.

"sourdough starter smells like acetone": A decent amount of searches and manageable competition.

"rye flour sourdough starter ratio": Low volume, but virtually no competition.

This is where strategy comes in. That first keyword is probably out of reach for a newer channel. But the third one? That's a fantastic, super-specific topic that could pull in a small but highly engaged audience. And the one in the middle is your bread and butter—a common problem people are searching for, where you can realistically compete.

The real magic of these tools isn't just finding keywords. It’s the ability to filter, sort, and organize them. In seconds, you can arrange your list by search volume or competition score, instantly zeroing in on those golden long-tail opportunities.

Interpreting the Data

Once you have a list of potential keywords, you need to know how to read the numbers. Most tools give you a few core metrics that will become the foundation of your entire content calendar.

The graphic below gives you a clear visual of how you might weigh different keywords by comparing their search volume against their competition.

As you can see, the keyword with the highest search volume isn't automatically the winner. Often, the best target is the one that strikes a balance between decent search interest and a lower competition score. That's the sweet spot.

Comparison of Top YouTube Keyword Tools

With so many options out there, it can be tough to decide which tool is right for you. Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the most popular choices to help you get started.

Tool Name	Key Feature	Pricing Model	Ideal For
vidIQ	Real-time stats directly in your browser	Freemium, with paid tiers	Creators wanting data integrated right into their YouTube dashboard.
TubeBuddy	Powerful A/B testing for thumbnails & titles	Freemium, with paid tiers	Data-focused creators who love optimizing every last detail.
Ahrefs	Deep-dive search volume and difficulty scores	Premium Subscription	SEO pros and creators analyzing both YouTube and Google traffic.

Ultimately, the "best" tool really depends on your budget and how you like to work. The most important thing is to pick one and make it a non-negotiable part of your process. This is how you stop guessing and start building a content strategy that actually works.

Winning Traffic from Google Search Results

If you're only focusing on what happens on YouTube, you're missing a huge piece of the puzzle. One of the most powerful—and often overlooked—sources of views comes directly from Google search. Learning how to find YouTube keywords that Google already loves to feature can open up an entirely new audience for your channel.

The strategy here is a slight shift in thinking. You’re hunting for search queries that Google has decided are best answered with a video. By creating content around these specific phrases, you get your videos in front of people who might not have even thought to open the YouTube app. It's a killer way to expand your reach well beyond the platform itself.

Identifying Video-First Keywords

So, what are these magic keywords? Your goal is to find search terms where Google consistently shows a video carousel or a featured video snippet on the first page. These are often "how-to" guides, product reviews, tutorials, or unboxing videos.

It makes perfect sense when you think like a user. If someone searches "how to tie a bow tie," it’s infinitely more helpful to watch a quick video than to decipher a long, text-heavy article. Google knows this.

This is where a good SEO tool becomes your best friend. Most advanced platforms let you filter keyword lists to show only the ones that trigger video features on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP). That data is pure gold. We're not talking about a small opportunity, either—more than 40% of desktop Google search results in the US now feature YouTube videos. You can use tools like SEMrush and its Keyword Magic Tool to pinpoint these opportunities, as they detail in their own guide to YouTube keyword research.

Think of it as a two-for-one special. When you optimize for keywords that rank on Google, you're not just competing for views within YouTube. You're also grabbing a highly motivated audience directly from the world's biggest search engine.

This approach blends classic SEO with YouTube-specific optimization. You're no longer just looking for high search volume on YouTube; you're looking for keywords with proven cross-platform power.

Building a Holistic Discovery Strategy

When you bake this tactic into your regular content planning, you create a much more resilient channel. Instead of being entirely at the mercy of the YouTube algorithm, you're building multiple, independent pathways for viewers to find your videos.

Here’s how to put this into motion:

Get Inside Your Audience's Head: Start by brainstorming the questions your audience is actually typing into Google. Are they looking for step-by-step instructions? Do they need a visual demonstration of a product?

Filter for Video SERP Features: As you build your master keyword list in an SEO tool, use the "SERP Features" filter to isolate terms that bring up video carousels or snippets. These become your top priority.

Optimize for Both Search Engines: Write your video titles and descriptions to appeal to both Google's crawlers and YouTube's algorithm. For a deeper dive on this, check out our guide to powerful YouTube SEO tips.

Making this a core part of your research process ensures your videos are discoverable wherever your audience is looking. It’s a genuine competitive advantage that most creators completely ignore.

Common Questions About YouTube Keywords

Okay, so you've done the hard work of researching and have a solid list of keywords. But now comes the tricky part: actually putting them to work. This is where theory meets reality, and a few practical questions almost always pop up.

Getting these details right is what really separates a decent strategy from one that consistently gets your videos discovered. Let's break down some of the most common questions I hear from creators.

How Many Keywords Should I Actually Use in a Video?

This is a big one, but the answer isn't as complicated as you might think. For each video, you want to zero in on one primary keyword and then back it up with three to five secondary keywords.

Think of your primary keyword as the star of the show. It’s the main topic, the search phrase you’re really hoping to rank for. This is the term that absolutely needs to be in your title and right at the beginning of your description.

Let's say your primary keyword is "beginner sourdough starter recipe." Your supporting cast, the secondary keywords, could look something like this:

"how to make a sourdough starter from scratch"

"easy sourdough starter for beginners"

"sourdough starter feeding schedule"

These related terms give YouTube more context about your video. They're perfect for weaving into your description, using as video tags, and even naming your video chapters. Trying to stuff in too many keywords just muddies the waters and can confuse the algorithm.

Where Are the Best Places to Put My Keywords?

Placement is huge. While YouTube's algorithm is pretty smart, it still looks for clear signals to figure out what your content is about. You have to put your keywords where they’ll have the most impact.

Here's the hierarchy I follow:

Video Title: This is your prime real estate. Get your primary keyword in here, and try to put it as close to the beginning as you can without it sounding unnatural.

Video Description: The first two or three sentences are critical. This is the text that often shows up as a snippet in search results, so make sure you include your primary keyword here in a natural-sounding way.

Video Tags: Tags aren't as powerful as they once were, but they still matter. Use this space to list both your primary and secondary keywords. It’s another way to confirm your video's topic for YouTube.

A title like "Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe: An Easy Guide" is perfect. It tells both viewers and the algorithm exactly what they're getting right away.

How Often Should I Revisit My Keyword Strategy?

A keyword strategy isn't something you can just set up once and walk away from. The YouTube landscape is always changing—new trends pop up, different creators enter your niche, and what people are searching for evolves.

I recommend doing a quarterly review of your overall keyword strategy. It's a good cadence to stay on top of things without getting overwhelmed.

During your review, dive into your YouTube Analytics. Look at which search terms are actually bringing people to your channel. Are there new phrases you hadn't thought of? Are some of your go-to keywords starting to lose momentum?

This doesn't mean you need to overhaul your entire channel every three months. It's more about making small, smart tweaks to keep your content relevant and jump on new opportunities as they arise. Being able to adapt is crucial for long-term growth.

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