How To Use Tags in YouTube Videos

How To Use Tags in YouTube Videos

Tags help YouTube understand the content and context of your video. While less important than titles and descriptions, they still play a role in discoverability.

What Are YouTube Tags?

Tags are keywords and phrases you add in YouTube Studio when uploading a video. They help YouTube:

• Understand your video's topic
• Associate your video with similar content
• Correct common misspellings (e.g., "photoshop" vs "photo shop")

How to Add Tags

1. In YouTube Studio, go to your video's details
2. Click "Show more" at the bottom
3. Find the Tags field
4. Type your tags, pressing Enter after each one
5. You have a 500-character limit for all tags combined

Tag Strategy

Target keyword:     "YouTube SEO Tutorial"
Tag structure:
1. Exact match:     YouTube SEO Tutorial
2. Broad match:     YouTube SEO, SEO Tutorial
3. Related topics:  video marketing, YouTube tips
4. Channel name:    YourChannelName
5. Misspellings:    youtube seo tutoral

Best Practices

Do	Don't
Use 10-15 relevant tags	Don't stuff with 50+ tags
Put most important tag first	Don't use irrelevant popular tags
Mix specific and broad tags	Don't copy competitor tags blindly
Include your channel name	Don't use misleading tags

Finding the Right Tags

• YouTube search autocomplete — type your keyword and note suggestions
• Competitor analysis — view source on competitor videos or use vidIQ/TubeBuddy
• Google Trends — compare keyword popularity
• Related videos — check what tags top-ranking videos use

Key Takeaways

• Use 10-15 targeted, relevant tags per video
• Put your primary keyword as the first tag
• Mix exact match, broad, and related tags
• Tags are secondary to title and description for SEO
• Maximum 500 characters for all tags combined