There is a good reason why many businesses use YouTube as a platform for business marketing through organic video promotion or with paid advertising on YouTube. YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world after Google, and if you offer a product or service online, there is a high chance that your target audience browses the platform. What helps get a high ranking on YouTube for certain keywords is performing SEO actions just like you do on website content, only on your YouTube content. These actions include the use of tags. Today, many YouTube channels do not use tags at all due to a lack of understanding of the SEO world or a lack of awareness of the significance of YouTube tags for ranking videos on the platform. In this article, we will go over everything you need to know about using tags in YouTube videos. Before we begin, it is important to understand what tags actually are.
What are YouTube tags?
YouTube tags are phrases or words that you can use to describe your video in order to find the right target audience. Tags function on YouTube like meta tags that help the YouTube algorithm understand the content inside your video. If you are familiar with the world of search engine optimization, you already understand that using tags is optimizing your videos with keywords. It’s important to distinguish between tags and hashtags. You can add hashtags in your video description to help viewers find more relevant content. However, hashtags do not help in the process of promoting your videos on YouTube. One of the reasons that YouTube channel managers don’t add tags to videos is that when uploading a video, the tags option is not visible and you need to know where to click to get to the place where tags are added to the video.
How do you add tags to YouTube videos?
The option to add tags to YouTube videos is hidden during video upload under the words “Show More”. Once you click on this phrase, several advanced settings open, including the setting for adding tags. You can enter as many tags as you want as long as the total sum of tags does not exceed 500 characters. Tags should be complete phrases separated by commas. In order to add tags to your videos, follow these steps:
- On the video editing screen, click on Show More to open the expanded settings for the video upload.
- In this section, add as many tags as you want, including long-tail and short-tail tags of your choice.
How important is it to use tags in YouTube videos?
To understand the impact of YouTube tags on video rankings and the SEO of a YouTube channel, it is recommended to look at YouTube’s list of ranking factors. The list includes technical parameters like video quality and length, but also contains audience behavior factors such as the number of subscribers to the channel, actual views, and various engagement metrics. However, before your video can be ranked, YouTube’s algorithm needs to determine what your video is about. Since the algorithm cannot access the video content itself, it needs text it can crawl. Tags represent part of the text the algorithm can read to better understand the video.
The most relevant factors for ranking a video on YouTube are:
- Total channel watch time
- Channel authority
- Positive engagement level
- Broad match keyword targeting in the title, description, and tags
Keywords are essential to your YouTube SEO strategy, and although tags are not the main factor, they support your chosen keywords found in the title and description, allowing YouTube to accurately identify the content and send higher quality, more relevant traffic to your video.
Which tags should be used in videos?
YouTube has over 2 billion users, and the technique of scattering keywords and content to reach as many people as possible does not work well. Audience targeting requires sharp and precise focus directly on your potential customers. Tags help YouTube match search intent and select the exact queries for which your video provides answers. Follow these five tips to focus your tag usage on YouTube:
1. Using tags related to your channel
The first rule of using tags is matching the keywords in the tags to the keywords found in the video’s title and description. YouTube identifies related keywords appearing in different places. When you use terms representing a large number of topics, you confuse the algorithm. Therefore, do not try to cover a wide range of topics, and build your tags around the main keyword and the video’s core message.
2. The main keyword should be the first tag
The first tag must be your main keyword that also appears in the description and title. This way, you ensure that your chosen keyword receives the required attention from YouTube. Video tags are like small pieces of meta description. Place your keyword in every relevant spot, and of course, in the tags as well.
3. The more tags, the better
There is no limit to the number of tags you can add to YouTube videos. It is recommended to use keywords containing 2–3 words and also diversify with long-tail keywords. The recommended usage in terms of characters is between 200 and 300, which means using 31 to 40 tags is optimal and will yield the best performance. These numbers are not a strict guideline or direct instruction from YouTube, so it is recommended to use discretion and add or remove tags according to relevance and need for the video.
4. Using explanatory and descriptive tags
When adding tags to a video, use keywords that explain, elaborate on, or clarify what the title hints to viewers. Think of ways to guide the YouTube algorithm in the right direction. Use phrases to clarify the connection between the title, the description, the tag, and the video content. For example: instead of using single-word tags like “SEO” or “promotion”, use more detailed tags like “using tags in YouTube videos” or “video tags YouTube SEO“. You can use phrasing with identical or similar meanings.
5. Using broad keywords to strengthen channel authority
Add broad keywords to your tags to describe the video’s topic. Suppose you have a YouTube channel for a pet supply store—the product category or brand name would be a broad keyword. It is also recommended to add keywords in the tags that are relevant to your entire channel. While these words may have less of an immediate impact, they can strengthen your channel’s authority, and you will benefit in the long run. A word that appears repeatedly in the tags of your videos will signal to YouTube that this is indeed the channel’s area of expertise.
In Conclusion
After reviewing the topic of tags in YouTube videos and their importance for your videos, we recommend starting to add tags to your videos if you haven’t done so until now. Click on edit video, then on Show More, and from there you already know what to do. There’s no need to start from scratch when adding tags to videos—you can take each video’s keywords found in the title and description and add them as keyphrases in the tags to help YouTube better understand the videos.
Q&A - YouTube Tags
Video tags are keywords used to describe your video content. You can add tags to help YouTube understand what your video is about and display it for relevant search queries.
Descriptive tags are the best tags to use for YouTube videos. Your tags should provide further detailed explanation of your video’s title and description.
Yes. YouTube considers tags in its ranking calculation. However, tags are not a primary factor; the title, description, and thumbnail have a greater impact.
About the Author
Dvir Naaman, 27 years old, graduate of the Digital Marketing course at HackerU College. Experienced in WordPress website development, paid advertising on Google, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok platforms. Specializes in organic promotion (SEO) at Fialkov Digital. Richly experienced in e-commerce and dropshipping, and owner of Merchant Center—a website providing information on e-commerce platforms and advanced marketing systems to increase business conversions with an emphasis on e-commerce store sales.
