Once you’ve published videos on YouTube for a while, you’ll probably start thinking about how you can grow your channel. Of course, you’ll need to produce content that’s valuable to your target audience. However, it’s difficult for others to find your videos if you don’t optimize for what they’re searching for.
Like blogging websites, you can perform keyword research for your YouTube videos in several ways. And while you can invest in several paid solutions, you don’t necessarily need to. If you’re in your early stages, you might not have the budget to do so—but don’t let that hold you back.
This article will show you how to do keyword research for YouTube without spending money.
1. Free Keyword Tools
When you start a YouTube channel, you’ll quickly realize that growing one takes a lot of work. One of the most significant challenges is constantly thinking of content ideas that you’ll enjoy making but that your audience also wants to see. While you can spend hours brainstorming, getting a bit of help isn’t a bad idea.
There are plenty of free keyword research tools to help you develop interesting content ideas. Some, such as Keyword Tool, allow you to search a specific phrase and pick the language you’re trying to optimize your videos for. Once you’ve done that, you’ll see a list of popular search terms and the average cost per click (CPC) for them.
Keyword research tools can also help you determine how much competition you’ll face to rank, along with current trends. In some instances, you might need to purchase a paid plan to access the entire list—but you’ll at least have enough to get you started with a free version.
2. YouTube Channel Analytics
When you’ve uploaded dozens of videos, your channel will have a good base of data for you to work with. These analytics can offer excellent insights, and knowing your best-performing videos will give you a better idea of what to create moving forward.
But if you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level, you’ll want to consider using the Research tab in YouTube Studio. Here, you’ll discover the terms your viewers search for—which can give you a good idea of what you should optimize your content for.
You can also see what the entire platform is trying to find. When selecting the Searches across YouTube tab, you can look at terms related to your niche. The feature will show you search volumes, and you can also discover where content gaps exist.
To access these tools:
- Go to the YouTube Studio.
- Select Analytics.
- Go to Research.
- Choose the specific tab you want.
3. Social Media
If you want to grow your YouTube channel, having at least one social media account away from YouTube is a good idea. Creating one will allow others to find you, and it’ll also allow you to build a close-knit community within your followership.
Social media has plenty of other benefits for YouTubers, though. One is the ability to find out what other people are interested in. You can use several tools to find content gaps, such as hashtags, searching for key terms, and so on.
As you observe these gaps, you can develop content that serves these individuals’ needs.
4. Observe Other Creators’ Content in Your Niche
Regardless of how obscure your niche is, it’s highly unlikely that you’re the only person on YouTube making those videos. And while you should never copy other people’s content, looking at other creators’ videos can provide a source of inspiration.
As you go through other YouTube channels, you’ll quickly notice that some videos perform better than others. And in almost every case, you can probably find a different angle that will provide just as much value to your audience.
When sifting through your favorite creators’ videos, take notes and look at what they do well—and where you think you can improve. From there, you can start putting everything together into more concrete ideas.
5. Look at the Keywords Your Competitors Use
Sifting through other creators’ videos can spark something inside of you and help you come up with useful ideas. But in addition to that, you might also want to look directly at the words and tags they use to reach their target audiences.
To look at other YouTubers’ keywords, you’ll typically need to use a third-party tool. TubeBuddy’s Channelytics tool is included in a free plan and will show you their tags, most viewed videos, and more.
6. Google Searches
If you’ve ever run a blog before, you might have used Google searching as a starting point for article ideas. And when you’re looking to grow a YouTube channel, you will find the tool equally useful for discovering possible video topics.
When you type in a word or term on Google, you will see a list of related searches. If you notice content gaps on YouTube, you might want to think about making videos to fill these. You can also use the question snippets at the top of your search results for ideas.
If you produce a video that answers users’ questions, you might find your video featured toward the top of these pages. And if that happens, you can draw more attention to your channel—while also getting views directly from YouTube.
7. Google Trends
In the fast-paced world of the internet, you’ll often have to create timely content. And when looking for keywords, knowing current trends is incredibly helpful. Google Trends is one of the best free tools to help you identify the popularity of certain topics.
When using Google Trends, all you need to do is type in the term you’re looking for. You can compare it with different searches, too, which will enable you to get a better overview.
You will find a list of related queries in Google Trends when you scroll down on your screen. The platform also highlights which regions have the highest volumes of a specific query, and you can also segment these for individual cities.
You’ve Got Plenty of Options for YouTube Keyword Research
While many people think of YouTube solely as a video platform, it’s also one of the world’s largest search engines. As such, you should treat video creation similar to producing written content. Knowing which keywords to rank for will make your job much easier.
Even if you don’t have a huge budget, you’ll find plenty of free tools and methods to help you find keywords to rank your YouTube channel and videos for.