Do you want to get started on YouTube with a solid start? Then you need the best YouTube keyword tool to research your video topics first. In this post, I’ll give you a list of 5 top keyword research tools for YouTube. Some of them are free tools, while others are paid.
YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world, after Google. It has over 2 billion monthly logged-in users across the globe. And if you want to crack into the YouTube ecosystem, you need to be rigorous in doing so.
Unfortunately, there’s no official YouTube keyword research tool. But the good news is that there are many third-party tools to help you do the content research for your YouTube channel.
Let me tell you how the top 5 of them work and how you can use them for YouTube growth. Sounds exciting? Let’s get started right now.
5 Best YouTube Keyword Tools for 2021 (Free & Paid)
Some of these tools like Google Trends are free forever, while others like TubeBuddy are paid. So let’s get to know all of them one by one so that you choose the right keyword research tool for YouTube.
TubeBuddy – Best Paid YouTube Keyword Tool in 2021
TubeBuddy is a free browser extension that helps you do keyword research and much more for your YouTube channel. The extension has paid plans from $7.2 to $39.2 per month, depending on your needs.
TubeBuddy is a one-stop solution for all your YouTube things. From increasing productivity to benefiting from the data and research, you can do it all. The features have 5 major categories given below:
Productivity features help you do the advanced video embedding, personalize your repeated messages, and format commenting on your channel. It also lets you publish scheduled videos, generate thumbnails, and do much more.
Bulk Process lets you bulk delete, edit, and copy screens and cards for your YouTube videos. Automating the entire process becomes seamless without a doubt.
Promotion allows you to know the best time to publish videos on your YT channel. It also helps you randomly select a winner if you run a contest. You can also publish the same video on other social media platforms like Facebook.
Data & Research helps you monitor any activity related to your brand, backup your YT channel, and understand your growth via detailed analytics. You can also grant your team members access to your TubeBuddy account.
Video SEO does everything for which you’re here. It auto translates your titles and description, tracks your ranking, and does the video A/B testing. In addition, TubeBuddy‘s Keyword Explorer gives you topic suggestions, search volume, and much more.
Let’s dive into the Explorer even more.
TubeBuddy’s Keyword Explorer
It’s an excellent keyword tool for YouTube because it helps you get the maximum information about the keywords. As a result, it helps you rank high in search results and ultimately get more views. You can also find long-tail keywords to target your audience specifically.
I like that it lets you discover trending tags to keep your YouTube videos relevant for a long time. So, it helps you rank high on YouTube even if you have published videos on your Channel.
Final Thought:
TubeBuddy offers you a complete checklist for guaranteed YouTube growth without a doubt. It also helps you see your channel’s progress along the way. So go for it if you’re looking for a paid YouTube keyword tool to outperform on the platform.
KeywordTool.io
KeywordTool.io is based on a freemium business model with many useful keyword tools, including the one for YouTube. When you enter a seed keyword into the search box, you get relevant keywords with their volume, trend, CPC, and competition.
For example, it rolled back 228 unique keywords for ’email marketing’ with this result page:
The ’email marketing tutorial’ result has 2000 monthly search volumes with $21.73 CPC and 27 competition, which is low according to the tool.
You can also use the ‘Negative Keywords’ feature, which helps you exclude unwanted words or phrases from your keywords. For example, if you are looking for keywords about a fruit called ‘apple,’ then negative words should be ‘iPad,’ ‘iPhone, or ‘MacBook.’
KeywordTool.io’s YouTube keyword tool also divides your keywords into questions, prepositions, and hashtags. It’s helpful when you’re looking to prioritize your content. Sorting the keywords with ascending or descending order is also seamless on KeywordToo.io.
Final Thought:
Keyword Tool Pro offers a lot of value in terms of keywords’ volume and competition. And I believe it’s a super helpful tool to boost your YouTube success. But it’s a little more on the pricey side, and the plan starts from $69/month and goes on to $159/month.
Ahrefs Keywords Explorer for YouTube
Keywords Explorer by Ahrefs uses over 640 million YouTube keywords, which is phenomenal. You enter your seed keyword and get valuable data from clickstreams like global and local volume to clicks and more.
You can see how many people search for a keyword on YouTube every month. And you can also get to know how many people click on a video after searching for a particular keyword.
Ahrefs allows you to export all the data to CSV or other file formats. You’ll never run out of ideas if you buy a subscription from Ahrefs. Why? It’s because it has tons of keyword ideas for almost every keyword in the world.
Final Thought:
Digging Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer can be gold for YouTube growth. If you already have an Ahrefs subscription. But I wouldn’t recommend buying the subscription solely for YouTube keyword research.
Google Trends – Topic Trend Analyzer
Google Trends shows interest in a topic over some time in a particular region of the world. It’s free and yet extremely valuable at the same time. You can see which topics are rising on YouTube comparatively.
For example, when I search for ’email marketing in the US, I get this result:
As you can see, you can select a particular country or the entire ‘world.’ For researching YouTube only, select ‘YouTube Search’ from the last tab. If the topic shows consistency in the graph, you should make a video on it.
You can also compare between two or more keywords to see which one has more interest. For example, from Google Trends, I concluded that people search for email marketing more than content marketing.
What I like about Google Trends the most is that it gives you a comparison breakdown by subregion. For example, Nevada, Arizona, and New York are the subregions with the most interest in email marketing. Also, it shows some related queries as well.
Final Thought:
My final thoughts about Google Trends for YouTube keyword research are positive. No matter what, you must always use the tool to decide on the topic or keyword for your YT videos.
YouTube Autosuggest (Not a Tool, But Worthy YT Feature)
Nothing is better for YouTube keyword research than its platform. Hover over to the YouTube search bar and enter your seed keyword without pressing search for it. YouTube suggests a few keywords related to your seed keyword.
And if you use the YouTube Auto-Suggest feature, you’ll not need to go further down the road. It will give you all the keywords that people are using to watch videos. Benefiting from the long-tail keywords for YouTube, success can be phenomenal without a doubt.
Unfortunately, YouTube doesn’t give you any information like monthly search volume.
Final Thought:
YouTube Auto Suggest is a must when you are looking to make videos on YouTube. It’s free. And it’s gold because of authenticity.
Conclusion: Best YouTube Keyword Tools for 2021
Making videos on targeted keywords with substantial search volume and low ranking difficulty is a recipe for YouTube success. Targeting trends may also help grow your YouTube channel.
So, I highly recommend using the tools I have shared here in the post. Let me give you direct suggestions if you feel overwhelmed with the list. Do you want to go free forever? Choose Google Trends.
Do you want to enjoy a premium tool? Get started with TubeBuddy because it has plenty of useful features without a doubt. Are you into digital marketing and have an Ahrefs subscription already? Then, hover over to ‘YouTube’ in Keyword Explorer.
Let me know which YouTube keyword tool you’re going to choose? And which of the tools listed here have you never heard of? Let me know in the comments below.