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How to Do YouTube Keyword Research That Actually Gets Views (Beyond the Basics)
Feeling lost in the world of YouTube keyword research? You're not alone. Many creators spin their wheels, chasing high-volume terms that never seem to translate into actual views. The truth is, YouTube's algorithm has evolved far beyond simple keyword matching. To get views in 2025 and beyond, you need a modern approach that focuses on audience intent, content strategy, and leveraging the platform itself.
This guide is for intermediate YouTubers ready to move past basic keyword finders and implement techniques that genuinely drive discovery and growth. We'll cover how to find the right keywords, analyze what's actually working on YouTube, and build a content strategy that ensures your videos connect with the viewers you want to reach.
Why Traditional Keyword Research Often Fails on Today's YouTube
You might have heard the old advice: find high-volume keywords with low competition and cram them into your title, description, and tags. While keywords still play a role, this strategy is outdated and ineffective on its own.
YouTube is a dynamic platform that prioritizes viewer satisfaction and engagement. The algorithm isn't just matching text strings; it's analyzing how viewers interact with your video compared to others on the same topic. If your video doesn't deliver what the viewer expected based on the title and thumbnail, they'll click away, signaling to YouTube that your video wasn't a good match. This hurts your chances of ranking, regardless of how perfectly you used keywords.
Furthermore, relying solely on external tools for volume and competition data can be misleading. These tools provide estimates, but they don't always reflect the nuanced reality of the YouTube ecosystem, where platform-specific factors like thumbnail design, hook effectiveness, and overall content quality heavily influence discoverability.
Modern YouTube Keyword Research: Focus on Your Audience and Their Intent
The most effective keyword research starts not with a tool, but with your audience. What are they actually looking for when they come to YouTube? What problems are they trying to solve? What questions do they have?
Understanding audience intent is paramount. Someone searching for "how to change a tire" has a clear, immediate need. Someone searching for "best travel destinations" is likely in the research phase. Your keyword and topic choices need to align with these different intents to provide the right kind of value.
Instead of just finding words, think about finding topics and viewer motivations. Keywords are the language your audience uses to express those motivations on the platform.
Finding Keywords Where Your Audience Lives: On YouTube Itself
While keyword tools can offer a starting point for brainstorming and identifying potential search terms, the most valuable insights come directly from YouTube.
1. Leverage YouTube Search Autocomplete:
Start typing potential video ideas or topics into the YouTube search bar. Pay close attention to the suggestions that appear in the dropdown. These are real search queries that people are actively using on the platform.
- If you type "beginner guitar," you might see suggestions like "beginner guitar lessons," "beginner guitar songs," "beginner guitar chords." These variations show you how people are refining their searches.
- Type a question related to your niche, like "how to edit videos faster," and see what specific software or techniques appear in the suggestions.
This is a goldmine of actual user language and popular search variations.
2. Analyze Top-Ranking Videos for Your Target Terms:
Once you have a potential keyword or topic, search for it on YouTube. Study the videos that appear at the top of the results. Don't just look at the titles; analyze the entire package:
- Titles: What specific keywords and phrases are successful videos using? Are there common patterns or angles?
- Thumbnails: What visual styles, text overlays, and emotions are they using? Thumbnails are critical for getting the click, even if your video ranks.
- Video Length: Are the top videos short tutorials, long explanations, or something else? This gives you clues about the depth of content viewers expect for that search.
- Content Angle: How are they approaching the topic? Are they offering a quick tip, a comprehensive guide, a personal story, or a comparison?
This analysis reveals what YouTube is currently favoring for that search term and, more importantly, what kind of content viewers are engaging with. You can use tools like Subscribr's Video Breakdown tool to analyze the structure, hooks, and engagement patterns of these top videos in detail, helping you understand why they perform well.
3. Explore Related Searches and "People Also Watched":
After watching a top video in your niche, look at the "Up Next" sidebar and the videos suggested after it finishes. These suggestions are based on what viewers who watched the initial video watched next. This provides valuable insights into related topics and keywords your target audience is interested in, even if they didn't initially search for them directly.
Also, scroll down on the search results page. YouTube often includes a "People also searched for" or "Related searches" section, offering more direct keyword variations and related topics.
Going Beyond Keywords: Topic Research and Content Strategy
Modern YouTube success isn't just about optimizing for existing searches; it's also about identifying content opportunities and creating videos that YouTube wants to promote because they satisfy viewers.
1. Identify Content Gaps:
While analyzing top videos, look for gaps. Are there specific questions related to the topic that aren't being fully answered? Is there a sub-topic that successful channels haven't covered in depth? Is there a different format (e.g., a quick tip vs. a deep dive) that's missing from the top results? Finding these gaps allows you to create content that is both relevant to searches and offers something unique.
2. Analyze Successful Channels in Your Niche:
Use tools like Subscribr's Channel Intelligence and Competitive Analysis to study successful channels in your niche. Look at their recent videos, particularly those with high views relative to their subscriber count (outliers). What topics are they covering? What formats are they using? This can inspire new video ideas and help you understand what resonates with your shared audience. Subscribr's Outlier Score calculation can specifically help you identify these unexpectedly high-performing videos.
3. Leverage Trending Topics (Strategically):
While chasing every trend isn't sustainable, being aware of what's currently popular in your niche or related areas can provide timely video opportunities. Use YouTube's Trending tab or explore popular videos within relevant categories. Can you create a video that ties into a trending topic while still providing evergreen value related to your core niche?
Leveraging Longtail Keywords and Specific Phrases
With the rise of AI search and more conversational queries, longtail keywords (longer, more specific phrases) are becoming increasingly important. Instead of just targeting "beginner photography," you might target "best camera settings for beginner portrait photography" or "how to take sharp photos with a kit lens."
These longer phrases often have lower search volume individually but also face less direct competition. More importantly, someone searching for a longtail term has a very specific need, meaning they are more likely to watch your video if it directly addresses their query. Targeting a series of relevant longtail keywords can add up to significant views and attract a highly engaged audience.
Think about the specific questions your audience might type into the search bar. Phrases that start with "how to," "what is," "best way to," "review of," or "comparison between" are excellent candidates for longtail keywords.
Putting Keywords into Practice (Without Stuffing)
Once you've identified promising keywords and topics, strategically incorporate them into your video's metadata and content. Remember, the goal isn't keyword density, but clarity and relevance for both the algorithm and the viewer.
- Title: Your title is the most critical piece of metadata for search. Include your primary keyword naturally near the beginning if possible, but ensure the title is also compelling and accurately reflects the video's content. Aim for clarity and intrigue.
- Description: Use the first few lines of your description to clearly state what the video is about, naturally incorporating your main keywords and related terms. Think of the description as a mini-summary for both YouTube and potential viewers. You can then expand with more detail, including relevant longtail keywords, timestamps (with keywords in chapter titles), and links to related resources or videos. Subscribr's Description Generator can help you create optimized descriptions quickly.
- Tags: While tags have become less important than titles and descriptions, they still serve as additional signals to YouTube about your video's topic. Use a mix of broad and specific tags, including your main keywords, longtail variations, and terms used by successful competitors.
- Transcript and Chapters: The words you speak in your video are automatically transcribed by YouTube. Naturally mentioning your target keywords throughout your script reinforces the video's relevance. Using chapter markers with descriptive, keyword-rich titles can also improve discoverability, allowing viewers (and the algorithm) to jump to specific sections. Subscribr's AI Script Writer can help you craft scripts that naturally integrate your keywords and flow well.
Analyzing Performance and Refining Your Strategy
Your keyword research and content strategy shouldn't be a one-time effort. Continuously analyze your video performance in YouTube Studio Analytics to see what's working.
- Look at the "Traffic Source: YouTube Search" report to see which search terms are actually leading viewers to your videos. Are they the keywords you targeted? Are there unexpected terms driving views?
- Analyze Audience Retention graphs for videos found via search. Are viewers staying engaged, or clicking away early? Low retention on search traffic might indicate your video didn't match the viewer's intent despite ranking.
- Track Outlier Scores (available in platforms like Subscribr) to see which videos are performing significantly better than your channel average. Analyze the keywords, topics, and content of these outliers to identify winning patterns you can replicate.
Use these insights to refine your keyword research and topic selection for future videos. What topics resonated most with your audience? Which keywords brought in engaged viewers? Double down on what works.
Answering Your Questions
Let's address some common questions about YouTube keyword research:
What is the best keyword research tool for YouTube?
There's no single "best" tool because effective YouTube keyword research requires combining data from multiple sources. While external tools can provide search volume estimates and brainstorming ideas, the most crucial tool is YouTube itself (Search Autocomplete, analyzing top videos, related searches). A platform like Subscribr integrates various research and analysis capabilities, allowing you to gather insights from YouTube data, analyze competitor content, and manage your research in one place, complementing external tools you might use.
How do I find low competition keywords for YouTube?
Finding "low competition" on YouTube is less about a tool giving you a score and more about identifying underserved niches or specific longtail phrases. Here's how:
- Use YouTube Search Autocomplete: Look for suggestions that are very specific or combine multiple terms.
- Analyze Search Results: Search for your potential keyword. If the top results are from massive channels with millions of subscribers and those videos have millions of views, the competition is likely high for a smaller channel. If you see a mix of channel sizes, or if the top videos have relatively lower view counts for that topic, it might indicate a less saturated area.
- Look for Content Gaps: As discussed earlier, identify specific angles or sub-topics within a broader keyword that haven't been fully covered by top channels.
- Target Longtail Keywords: These inherently have less competition than broad head terms.
How many keywords should I use for YouTube?
Focus on quality and relevance over quantity. You don't need a specific number of keywords. Instead:
- Identify 1-3 primary keywords or phrases that accurately describe your video's core topic and target audience's search intent.
- Include these naturally in your title and the beginning of your description.
- Use a selection of relevant longtail keywords and related terms throughout your description, tags, and potentially in chapter titles.
- Don't stuff keywords. Prioritize making your title and description clear and appealing to human viewers.
The number of keywords will vary depending on the topic's complexity and how many relevant variations exist. Focus on using the right keywords effectively, not just a high count.
Conclusion: Building Your Strategy for Views
Effective YouTube keyword research in 2025 is a blend of understanding your audience, using tools for initial ideas, and critically analyzing the YouTube platform itself. By focusing on audience intent, studying successful content, leveraging longtail keywords, and integrating your findings naturally into your video package, you can significantly improve your discoverability and start getting the views you deserve.
Remember to continuously analyze your performance and adapt your strategy based on what works for your channel and your audience. Platforms like Subscribr can streamline this process by providing integrated research, analysis, and content creation tools designed specifically for the modern YouTube creator. Start implementing these strategies today and watch your channel grow!
