A free YouTube keyword research tool that shows what people search and how crowded each search is.
Type the topic of your next video. You get what people search around it, straight from YouTube's search box, and how crowded each search is, so you pick the ones a video can rank for.
Type a keyword
Suggestions and results are YouTube's own, read signed out from the country you pick and kept for a few hours. YouTube doesn't publish search volume, so none is shown.
This free YouTube keyword research tool shows what people search on YouTube, and how crowded each search is.
Type a topic and it reads YouTube's own search suggestions 32 ways, then the top results, in any of 42 countries. Here's a 5-step way to research the keywords for a video, with the tool doing the reading.
What is YouTube keyword research?
YouTube keyword research is finding the searches people make on YouTube for a topic, and picking the ones a video can rank for.
How to use the YouTube keyword research tool
Step 1: Start broad
Start with the topic in a few words, like "time management". Broad words bring the most suggestions, and the long tail shows up under the letters.
Step 2: Read the questions
The Questions tab holds searches that start with how to, what is, why and best. A question is a video idea already phrased by the viewer: answer it, and put its words in the title.
Step 3: Check the competition
Press Check on a suggestion to read its own top results. Here's how to read them:
| Sign | What it means |
|---|---|
| Median views far above your usual | People watch this, and a new video needs to be strong to take a spot |
| Several new videos in the top | Fresh videos get a chance here |
| Many different channels | No channel owns the search |
| Mostly Shorts | Viewers want it short, so make a Short |
Step 4: Pick one main search
Pick the one search your video answers best, and 2 or 3 close ones it also answers. A video aimed at 10 different searches answers none of them well.
Step 5: Use the words where YouTube reads them
YouTube's page on how search works says it estimates relevance from "how well the title, tags, description, and video content match your search query". Put the main search in the title, the first lines of the description and the first 30 seconds of the video.
Why there's no search volume here
YouTube doesn't publish search volume, so any number for it is an estimate. This tool shows what YouTube shows, and leaves the guessing out.
For a step-by-step guide to growing a YouTube channel, read Sean Cannell and Benji Travis's book:
For videos in your niche that did far better than their channel's usual, use the YouTube outlier finder. To size up a niche first, use the YouTube niche finder.
Who is the YouTube keyword research tool for?
It's for YouTubers planning their next video:
- YouTube outlier finder – creators looking for proven topics
- YouTube niche finder – people choosing a niche first
- YouTube title checker – anyone writing the title
- YouTube tag generator – creators filling in tags
The rest of my tools are on the free tools page.
YouTube Keyword Research FAQs
Questions about researching YouTube keywords? Here's what to know.
YouTube keyword research is finding the searches people make on YouTube for a topic, and picking the ones a video can rank for.
Type your topic into the YouTube keyword research tool and read YouTube's own suggestions for it.
Check the competition on the ones that fit, pick one main search, and use its words in the title, description and first 30 seconds.
Yes, this YouTube keyword research tool is free, with no sign-up.
It reads YouTube's own suggestions and results in any of 42 countries.
No, YouTube doesn't publish search volume.
The tool shows what YouTube shows: its suggestions, in its order, and the videos that rank.
One main search and 2 or 3 close ones.
A video that answers one search well does better than one aimed at many.
A little.
YouTube's help page on tags says they're useful when a video's content is commonly misspelled, and otherwise play a minimal role in discovery.
The title, thumbnail and description matter more.
The YouTube keyword research tool is for creators planning videos, and for editors and agencies writing titles and descriptions for channels.
For tags from the videos that rank, use the YouTube tag generator.
To see where a video ranks for a search, use the YouTube rank checker.
I did. I'm Navid Moazzez, and I made the YouTube keyword research tool as one of my free tools on navid.me.
More about me.
Navid Moazzez
AI business strategist & AI OS builder
Navid Moazzez helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life.
Navid.me is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this site, I may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
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