10 Best YouTube Keyword Research Tools (Free & Paid)

Can you guess how many videos are available on YouTube? It’s more than 800 million. Yes, you heard it right. This means that no matter how unique and innovative your content is, you can find a dozen or more videos on the same topic already competing for views. Each content creator and advertiser puts in their best effort to get the maximum number of viewers and increase their popularity.

With such fierce competition, YouTube is no longer just an entertainment platform; it is a powerful search engine. In fact, it is the second most used search engine after Google and the second most visited website worldwide. 

Similar to other search engines, it also uses algorithms to rank videos and serve relevant content to users when they search for something. Hence, marketers are also devising effective YouTube strategies to stay ahead of the competition, and one of them is keyword research. 

For this, they rely on a comprehensive YouTube keyword tool software that identifies opportunities on this crowded platform. Also, keyword tools eliminate guesswork by providing accurate insights into consumer behavior, allowing businesses to offer the right content at the right time to viewers.

If you are still not using any keyword research tool for your YouTube marketing campaign, then it’s time to embrace one to ensure you make the best of all available marketing opportunities by incorporating relevant keywords. 

In this blog, we have listed the top 10 YouTube keyword tools that top marketers and content creators recommend. 

Table of Contents

• What Is YouTube Keyword Research?
  
• Importance of YouTube Keyword Tools for Creators
  
• List of YouTube Keyword Tools
  
• Best Keyword Tools for YouTube (2024)
  
• How Keywords on YouTube Affect Video’s Ranking
  
• YouTube Keyword Research Tips
  
• Where to Use Keywords on YouTube Channel?
  
• FAQs About YouTube Keyword Tools
  

What Is YouTube Keyword Research?

YouTube keyword research is a basic and important SEO practice to find relevant and quality keywords and alternate phrases that people use while searching for something on YouTube.

It helps businesses and marketers understand what types of search terms people are using while looking for different videos so they can optimize their video titles, descriptions, and tags accordingly to drive organic traffic. 

Companies, content creators, and marketers use a reliable keyword generator for YouTube to discover the top searched keywords, how many people are searching for related or similar keywords, what their search and viewing patterns are, and more. 

Once you know the most beneficial and top-ranked keywords, feel free to include them in your content and boost its ranking. More importantly, you will get confidence that you are creating videos that your target audience is looking for. 

Different businesses, brands, advertisers, influencers, and content creators use some sort of keyword tool for YouTube to plan and execute their YouTube marketing strategy strategically. They count on these tools to boost their marketing efforts, and today, we are going to discuss some of the most helpful tools in this blog.

Importance of YouTube Keyword Tools for Creators

Keyword research is crucial for YouTube content creators, acting as the cornerstone of successful SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and content strategy on the platform. Its importance stems from several key areas impacting a channel’s visibility, audience engagement, and growth:

1. Improves Discoverability

Keywords are critical for optimizing video titles, descriptions, and tags, making content more likely to appear in YouTube search results and Google searches. Well-researched keywords help YouTube’s algorithm understand and categorize content, matching it to relevant user queries.

2. Enhances Audience Targeting

Effective keyword research ensures that videos reach viewers who are genuinely interested in the content. By understanding the terms and phrases your target audience uses, you can tailor your content to meet their interests and queries, increasing the chances of engagement.

3. Boosts Engagement and Watch Time

Videos that rank well for specific keywords tend to receive higher engagement rates, including likes, comments, and shares. Keywords that accurately reflect the video content encourage longer viewing times, contributing to better overall performance on the platform. Hence, it is important to use the best keyword tools for YouTube.

4. Informs Content Strategy

YouTube keyword tools can help you uncover content gaps and opportunities within your niche, guiding your content calendar. It helps identify what potential viewers are interested in, allowing creators to produce content that fills those needs and captures audience interest.

5. Competitor Analysis

Analyzing the keywords used by successful competitors can provide insights into effective SEO strategies in your niche. This knowledge can inform your approach, helping you compete more effectively for viewer attention.

6. Optimizes Video Ads

For content creators who invest in YouTube ads, keyword analysis tools help in targeting ads more effectively, ensuring they are seen by viewers most interested in the content or products being promoted, thereby improving ROI on advertising spend.

7. Long-term Growth

Regularly performing keyword research and updating video metadata accordingly can lead to sustained organic growth. As search trends evolve, keeping your content’s keywords updated ensures continued visibility and relevance.

List of YouTube Keyword Tools

1. VidIQ
2. TubeBuddy
3. KeywordTool.io
4. Ahrefs
5. YouTube Keyword Tool Dominator
6. Google Trends
7. Keyword Keg
8. YouTube Autosuggest
9. Kparser
10. Keywords Everywhere

Best Keyword Tools for YouTube (2024)

Let’s learn about the top YouTube keyword research tools in detail here:

1. VidIQ

VidlQ is one of the best YouTube keyword research tools that help content creators find the best keywords to improve the searchability of their videos, which maximizes their viewers. 

As you search keywords using VidlQ, the tool extracts data from YouTube to give you insights into that term. You can see its search volume, keyword stats, competition level, related queries, overall score, and tags from the top-ranked videos. 

You can also see the best-performing videos in SERPs and find new keyword ideas. If you want to dive deeper into certain keywords, VidlQ allows you to explore search volume reports of the past month, year, or even more than that. 

Marketers use this tool to ensure they are targeting the right keywords in their content while determining new options and assessing their competitors for higher search rankings. 

If you want a YouTube keyword tool free with basic features, VidlQ is a great option. However, for advanced features, you would need a subscription.

• Pricing- Free version with basic features
• Paid– $7.50/month.

2. TubeBuddy

Are you a video SEO enthusiast? Then, TubeBuddy can be your favorite companion throughout your keyword research journey. It is a browser extension for Chrome that works directly with YouTube. It offers a keyword explorer that finds the top relevant keywords to help you optimize your videos and grow your audience. 

This tool is designed specifically to identify trending tags and keywords related to your search terms. Tubebuddy is no regular YouTube keyword tool. It goes beyond basic functionality, providing a dashboard to show the overall score of search terms, the number of times they were searched, competition level, and other details. 

It conducts audits for best practices so your content adheres to YouTube regulations and recommendations. You can also use this tool to promote, publish, and optimize your content on YouTube. As it’s a Chrome extension, it’s not just easy to use but also easy to install. 

If you want the best keyword research tool for YouTube to find tags for your videos and translate titles and descriptions into different languages, then Tubebuddy should be your pick. 

It offers a free version, but you can buy a Pro or other paid subscription for more features.

• Pricing- Free Version
• Pro– $7.20/month
• Star– $15.20/month
• Legend– $39.20/month

3. KeywordTool.io

Keyword Tool is an autocomplete keyword tool that generates popular search phrases using base terms. Whenever you search for any video on YouTube, you get a long list of recommended results. These suggestions are based on what others have searched for in the past. Keyword Tool uses the same data to generate accurate reports that reflect users’ interests. This guides marketers to improve their YouTube SEO strategy and enhance their marketing efforts. 

It categorizes the comprehensive list of keywords according to keyword suggestions, hashtags, questions, and prepositions. It will also sort out the list of related keywords by popularity. You can export reports and data as a CSV file for additional analysis. 

If you want YouTube keyword research tools free for your project, KeywordTool.io is a perfect choice. But the free version offers basic and limited features. For plenty of other advanced features, such as competitor keyword analysis and cost-per-click data, upgrade to the paid version.

Pricing- Free version with basic features

Paid versions- 3 plans ranging from $69 to $159/month.

4. Ahrefs

Every market must have used Ahrefs in their professional journeys. It is a popular SEO tool that offers keyword research, competitor analysis, and keyword identification features to optimize content. With leading companies like Netflix, Facebook, and Uber trusting this tool, we know it’s something that we can count on, too. 

Ahrefs has a YouTube keywords finder tool that shows search volume for keywords from up to 170 countries. You can discover the most valuable keywords to target in your content. Its easy-to-use and sophisticated dashboard makes it easier to manage the tool, even for beginners. You just have to input keywords in the search bar, and it will extract data from around the world to give results, showing total clicks around each term and its search volume. 

Low clicks mean users are not happy with the recommendations and results they see using that search phrase. So, they might want more engaging and unique videos that align with their search queries. It can also mean that the video title, description, and thumbnail don’t compel users to click on and watch that content. 

One key factor that makes Ahrefs stand out is it provides accurate results when it comes to search volume statistics for YouTube keywords. You get the exact average monthly search volume and number of clicks. On the other hand, other tools mostly estimate the popularity of those keywords. 

It also acts as a keyword generator tool as it pulls other important data, such as phrases using your keywords or ones that are relevant to your search terms. With so many details to help you, you can explore opportunities to compose better content for YouTube and drive maximum traffic. 

Although it’s a bit more expensive than other tools, it is one of the most trusted keyword research tools, making it worth your money. You can take a 7-day trial for $7 to know if it works for you or not.

Pricing- Starting from $99/month for a single user.

5. YouTube Keyword Tool Dominator

Keyword Tool Dominator by YouTube is a comprehensive keyword research tool designed to help marketers and video creators identify relevant and quality keywords for Amazon, YouTube, Etsy, and other platforms. It uses the Autocomplete service of YouTube to find keywords directly from YouTube. 

It may not be as amazing or mind-blowing as the name suggests, but it’s user-friendly, which makes it an ideal YouTube keyword analysis tool for beginners and learners. 

You simply have to type search terms into the search bar, and it will generate a long list of suggested keywords that you can use to promote your videos. It resembles basic search engines, offering keywords related to your topics and providing basic results. You can choose the keywords you want to add to your custom list and export the file. 

The free version allows up to 2 searches every day. For additional features and frequent keyword searches, upgrade to the Pro account.

Pricing- Free version- up to 2 searches/day

Paid- $9- $28/month

$144 one-time price.

6. Google Trends

Google Trends is one of the free YouTube keyword research tools that you can rely on to find target keywords for your content. Although it is also used for search engine optimization, you can filter results to only YouTube for video-specific data. 

Enter the related phrases or terms, select the preferred date range, and narrow down to ‘YouTube Search,’ and it will generate a list of related queries and topics. It will show search interest for all terms over time. This will help you evaluate if that keyword has become more popular or less over a specific period.

Google Trends also compares search interest between two keywords and discovers new potential topics. 

Pricing- Free for all users

7. Keyword Keg

Keyword Keg is a suite of 5 tools designed to meet your keyword research needs. It collects data from 12 APIs, and for YouTube, it mainly uses a tag generator. It also utilizes the input keywords to find relevant search terms and phrases. 

Mention your keywords in the search bar, let the tool pull all the required data, and you will get a complete list of suggested keywords within seconds. It will also highlight other aspects, such as cost-per-click, search volume, overall keyword score, etc. Using all the available information, you can zero in on the keywords for our video title, description, and tags.

One feature that makes it the best YouTube keyword research tool is it allows you to filter results so you can see keywords related to buyer intent. This will give you shortlisted keywords that are more likely to convert. You can also check if selected keywords are trending or not based on search volume. Keywords with a downward trend are not worth your time and effort. 

Pricing- Free sample version

$38/month for website owners

$762/month for SEO agencies

8. YouTube Autosuggest

Among all the paid and advanced tools, here is a completely free tool that you can’t miss- YouTube Autosuggest. It is not technically a tool but a YouTube functionality that you can tap into for keyword research. Many marketers, freelancers, and content creators consider it the best YouTube keyword research tool 2024. 

Go to the YouTube search bar and type a keyword; you will see a dropdown menu presenting a host of video suggestions containing the same keyword. For example, if you search for ‘digital marketing’, the dropdown menu will show several useful ideas like ‘digital marketing tutorials’, ‘digital marketing hacks’, and ‘digital marketing tips’. 

These are not random suggestions but are based on relevant search queries that users have searched for in the past on YouTube. Therefore, don’t forget to use them to optimize your content. Although you won’t be able to see search volume or other details related to these terms, it can enhance your keyword research efforts by providing quality and top-ranking keywords.

Pricing- Free