Find the best keywords to add to your YouTube channel settings. Improve your channel's discoverability with optimized channel keywords.
Channel keywords help YouTube categorize your channel and recommend it to relevant viewers.
Understanding the role of channel keywords in YouTube's ecosystem.
Follow these guidelines for optimal channel keyword optimization.
Type your channel's topic or select from popular categories to get started.
Browse keyword suggestions with search volume and competition indicators.
Select your favorites and copy them to paste into YouTube Studio settings.
Follow these steps to add keywords in YouTube Studio.
Channel keywords are meta tags you add to your YouTube channel settings. They help YouTube understand what your channel is about and categorize it appropriately. These keywords influence how YouTube suggests your channel to potential viewers and ranks it in search results.
YouTube officially recommends using 5-10 channel keywords. Using fewer may not provide enough context; using too many dilutes relevance. Focus on your most important and relevant terms. Multi-word phrases count as one keyword.
Yes! Channel keywords describe your overall channel theme and are set once in channel settings. Video tags are specific to each video and describe that particular video's content. Both work together for SEO, but serve different purposes.
While channel keywords are not the biggest ranking factor, they do help YouTube understand your content niche. This improves your chances of appearing in suggested channels, channel search results, and browse features. Combined with good content and video SEO, they contribute to overall discoverability.
Yes! Include your channel name and any variations people might search for. If your channel is "TechMaster Pro," add "TechMaster Pro," "TechMaster," and possibly "Tech Master" as keywords. This helps people find you when searching directly for your brand.
You can research competitor keywords for inspiration, but simply copying them isn't recommended. Your keywords should accurately reflect your channel's content. Using irrelevant keywords can hurt your channel's performance as YouTube may show you to the wrong audience.
Review your channel keywords every 3-6 months or whenever you significantly change your content focus. If you pivot from gaming to tech reviews, your keywords should reflect that change. Regular updates ensure YouTube correctly categorizes your evolving content.
Use a mix of both. Include broad single-word terms for discoverability and specific multi-word phrases for precision. For example: "cooking" (broad) + "easy dinner recipes" (specific) + "meal prep ideas" (specific). Phrases in quotes are treated as single keywords.
Channel keywords primarily affect channel-level discoverability (suggested channels, channel search). For individual video ranking, video title, description, tags, and engagement metrics matter more. However, a well-categorized channel may see indirect benefits in video suggestions.
Using irrelevant or misleading keywords can hurt your channel. YouTube may show your content to the wrong audience, leading to poor engagement metrics. Low engagement signals to YouTube that your content isn't valuable, potentially reducing recommendations overall.
Channel keywords are not publicly visible in YouTube's interface, but you can view them by checking the page source code. Look for the "keywords" meta tag. Browser extensions like TubeBuddy and vidIQ can also reveal competitor channel keywords.
YouTube allows up to 500 characters for channel keywords. This is typically enough for 15-25 keywords depending on length. Stay focused on relevant terms rather than trying to maximize character usage.
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