5 Best YouTube Keyword Research Tools (2024 Update)

Success on YouTube isn’t just about making great videos. It’s about making sure people can find your great videos. In other words, YouTube SEO optimization (or YouTube SEO optimisation for UK readers.

Is it redundant to say YouTube SEO optimization (or YouTube SEO optimisation for our UK readers) when the O in SEO stands for optimization? Probably. Whatever, the point stands: optimizing for videos for discovery both on and off YouTube is key.

You need YouTube keyword research tools, and you need to use them.

Why You Need a YouTube Keyword Research Tool

There’s a lot that goes into YouTube SEO optimization (check out our YouTube SEO primer post) but let’s cover it at a hight level before we get into the YouTube keyword research tools.

Finding the right keywords is, well, key to YouTube SEO optimization. The “right” keywords have to meet some important criteria:

• Relevant: The keywords you choose have to be directly related to your content. In other words, if someone searches your keywords, finds your content, and clicks through, they should be glad they did.
• Natural: “Create for humans first” is the mantra. You need to be able to work your keywords in to your content naturally; you don’t want your YouTube SEO efforts to be too obvious, and you can’t sacrifice content flow for SEO.
• High volume: The more people searching for a given keyword or phrase, the more potential traffic for your video. But…
• Low competition: The more creators who are trying to rank for a given keyword or phrase, the harder it is to stand out.

The more competitive your niche (e.g. if you’re in one of the most competitive YouTube niches, which correlate with the most profitable YouTube niches), the harder it will be for you to rank for the hot keywords and keyphrases related to that niche.

The solution is to find long tail keywords. Long tail keywords get specific. So instead of just “recipes” (high volume but crazy high competition) or “dinner recipes,” (ditto) the keywords we’re looking for are more like “easy weeknight family dinner recipe(s)” or perhaps “meatless Monday family dinner recipe(s)” or maybe “

The examples above are all long tail keywords that people will actually search for (volume) or that might even auto-complete in the search bar. But they’re specific enough that not every creator is trying to rank (competition).

The best YouTube keyword research tool should help you find the high volume, lower difficulty keywords that are relevant to your content, and it should also help you integrate those keywords into your content.

So with that in mind, let’s get into the 5 best YouTube keyword research tools.

Best Keyword Research Tool for YouTube

1. TubeBuddy
2. Keywords Everywhere
3. Google Trends
4. Sitechecker
5. Seospark

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1. TubeBuddy: Best for YouTube Creators Seeking Growth and Optimization Solutions

You’re on the TubeBuddy blog so hopefully you’ve heard of us before but here’s the short version as a refresher: TubeBuddy is a browser extension made by YouTube creators, for YouTube creators. It integrates directly with YouTube Studio and brings more than 50 tools and features to help YouTube content creators and companies better grow, manage, and optimize their YouTube videos and channels.

Features

• Keyword research
• Search rank tracking
• A/B testing

Keyword Research

TubeBuddy’s Keyword Explorer is a research tool for YouTube and Google Trends, helping you rank higher in search results and gain more views. You can easily find long tail search terms and trending tags to target your audience. Incorporating relevant tags and long tail keywords can keep your videos relevant and attract more viewers.

TubeBuddy’s keyword research feature sets it apart from its competitors by providing a keyword score; an accurate and easy to understand breakdown of how well a given keyword will likely perform on YouTube.

How to get more views on YouTube with keyword research | Tubebuddy’s Keyword Explorer

Search Rank Tracking

TubeBuddy’s Search Rank Tracking feature helps you monitor your videos’ rankings across YouTube and Google search results for specific keywords.

You can compare your ranking with your competitors and get an overall status of your channel’s performance in search engines. This feature provides valuable insights to help you optimize your videos for better performance and reach.

See how YOUR videos are performing in YouTube & Google search!

A/B Testing

TubeBuddy’s A/B Testing and AI Title Generator tools help you optimize your YouTube videos for better performance. With A/B Testing, you can test different thumbnail designs and styles to see which resonates best with your audience.

The AI Title Generator uses machine learning to suggest titles that are more likely to drive clicks and improve discoverability. By experimenting with different titles, descriptions, and tags, you can improve your video’s search traffic and attract more viewers.

YouTube Thumbnail A/B testing – Earn more views with better thumbnails!

Pricing

TubeBuddy has three pricing plans: Pro, Legend, and Enterprise for brands.

If you pay annually, a TubeBuddy Pro account is $3.75/mo. and a TubeBuddy Legend account is $16.50/mo.

2. Keywords Everywhere: Best for Monitoring Monthly YouTube Search Volumes

Keywords Everywhere is a Chrome/Firefox extension for keyword research. It offers a range of helpful data such as monthly search volume, link metrics, CPC, competition, and 12-month trend data for every search on YouTube.

Additionally, Keywords Everywhere includes multiple tools that allow you to easily find keywords from your initial seed keyword and identify which keywords any page or domain ranks for in the SERPs.

Features

• Search volume by month
• Trend chart
• Tag widget

Search Volume by Month

Besides each search volume in the auto-fill suggestions on YouTube, a small graph displays the search volume for the past year. By hovering over it, users can quickly see whether the search term is trending up or down. This is a helpful tool to help users decide whether or not to create content around that topic.

Trend Chart

When users search on YouTube, a widget appears in the top right corner that displays the trend for that search term since 2008. This feature helps users understand the popularity and longevity of the search term over time, providing insights into the trends and interests of YouTube users.

Tag Widget

The tool also displays a widget for each video users watch, listing all the tags that have been added. This feature helps to gain insights into the related keywords and topics associated with the video content.

Pricing

Keywords Everywhere offer a pay-as-you-go pricing plan along with some monthly subscription options ranging from $6 to $80/mo. Credits are used to access keyword data, with one credit equaling one keyword. Users can purchase 100,000 for $18 ($0.18/1,000 credits) all the way up to $1,500 for 15 million credits ($0.10/1,000 credits). See the full pricing info here.

3. Google Trends: Best for Tracking Search Term Popularity Trends

Google Trends helps analyze how often people search for specific terms on Google. The tool displays the popularity of search terms in real time and considers factors like time, season, and location.  

What we like about Google Trends is that, unlike traditional keyword research tools, it measures keyword popularity instead of search volume. This gives users a distinct perspective on user interests and behavior, which can help them create more targeted and effective marketing strategies.

Features

• Keyword research
• Seasonal trends
• Competitor analysis

Keyword research

Type in your topic or keyword, and select “YouTube Search” to specify the results. From there, you can filter by location, category, and time period to get more relevant insights. Since the data comes from Google, which owns YouTube, it is highly reliable, making it an essential resource for anyone looking to improve their YouTube SEO.

Seasonal Trends

Seasonal trends can help YouTubers identify seasonal shifts in search behavior and anticipate trends. To use this feature, simply enter your keywords and select “Past 12 months” to see how interest in your topic changes over time. By analyzing these patterns, video creators can create timely and relevant videos to their audience’s interests, increasing their chances of ranking higher on YouTube. 

Competitor Analysis

Simply enter your competitors’ keywords alongside yours to compare search interests and see where you stand in relation to them. Analyze the data to identify areas where they outperform you, such as topics or keywords they are using that you are not. Use this information to create similar, more unique, valuable content to attract your audience’s attention.

Pricing

Google Trends is a free tool that anyone can access by visiting the Google Trends website. 

4. Sitechecker: Best for Finding New Content Ideas Based on User Queries

Sitechecker, which evolved from a tool we loved called Kparser, is a keyword discovery tool that suggests relevant keywords to be incorporated into website content to enhance SEO. By providing options based on the seed keyword, language, country, and keyword suggestion sources like Google, Google Mobile, Google News, YouTube, Yahoo, Bing, eBay, Amazon, and Twitter, Kparser assists in creating content that appeals to the target audience.

Features

• Keyword research
• Content idea generation

Keyword Research

Sitechecker presents keyword suggestions derived directly from a specified source. By inputting your desired search term using a variety of letters and numbers, it quickly generates long-tail keyword suggestions by inserting the term into the selected source’s search box.

Content Idea Generation

Where Kparser used to offer specific tools to generate content ideas, Sitechecker is more about tactical SEO and less about YouTube. However, looking through the results when using YouTube Keyword Generator tool will net a ton of great potential content ideas to use as a jumping off point.

Pricing

Sitechecker offers three pricing plans: Basic, Standard, and Premium, ranging from $50/mo. up to $208/mo if you commit for a year. You can also buy credits to use some premium Sitechecker tools with $50 buying 500 credits. See the full pricing breakdown here.

5. Seospark: Best for Competitor Analysis and Keyword Insights

Seospark (formerly Hypersuggest) is a powerful keyword research tool that offers a wide range of relevant keywords and ideas along with deep keyword discovery, gap analysis, and rank tracking.

Features

• Keyword research
• Keyword metrics
• Competitor analysis

Keyword Research

Seospark makes it easier for users to gain visibility and drive traffic to their website by providing highly converting, low-competition keywords with high search volumes. Enter your seed keyword, choose a location, and the tool will generate relevant keywords in seconds.

Keyword Metrics

Seospark gives users insights into the keywords they are interested in, including search volume, ranking difficulty, CPC, and competition. By analyzing these metrics, users can decide which keywords to target and how to optimize their content for maximum impact. 

Competitor Analysis

Seospark’s competitor analysis feature allows users to enter a URL and discover their competitors’ ranked keywords, along with metrics such as search volume, difficulty, and CPC. Results can be exported as CSV, XLS, or JSON. This tool helps businesses gain insights into competitors’ SEO strategies, prioritize optimization efforts, and identify new growth opportunities.

Pricing

seospark offers three pricing plans: Starter, Professional, Agency, and Enterprise. The Starter plan is $19/mo. if you pay annually. View the full pricing information here.

How to Choose the Best YouTube Keyword Research Tool

This section will compare three key criteria for each YouTube keyword research platform: keyword analysis, search rank tracking, and pricing. By analyzing these criteria, you can choose the best tool for your needs and budget.

Keyword Analysis

TubeBuddy:

• Offers keyword research for both YouTube and Google Trends
• Allows users to find long-tail search terms and trending tags

Keywords Everywhere:

• Provides a small graph displaying search volume for the past year

Google Trends:

• Provides highly reliable data that comes from Google
• Allows for filtering by location, category, and time period to get more relevant insights

Sitechecker:

• Generates long-tail keyword suggestions and includes a keyword generator specific to YouTube content.

Seospark:

• Allows users to enter their seed keyword and choose a location to generate relevant keywords in seconds

Verdict: While each tool has its own strengths, TubeBuddy, similar to Google Trends, stands out for its ability to offer keyword research for both YouTube and Google.

Search Rank Tracking

TubeBuddy:

• Monitors video rankings across YouTube and Google search results for specific keywords
• Allows you to compare your ranking with competitors
• Offers valuable insights to help you optimize your videos for better performance and reach

Keywords Everywhere:

• No search rank tracking feature

Google Trends:

• No search rank tracking feature

Sitechecker:

• No YouTube-specific search rank tracking.

Seospark:

• Tracks keyword rankings on Google search engine results pages (SERPs)
• Easy to set up rank tracking within 2 minutes
• Provides instant notifications when keywords move within the SERPs

Verdict: Only TubeBuddy and seospark offer solid search rank tracking. TubeBuddy monitors video rankings and offers competitor comparison and optimization insights. Seospark tracks keyword rankings on Google SERPs with easy setup and instant notifications. Keywords Everywhere, Google Trends, and Sitechecker don’t offer search rank tracking.

Pricing

TubeBuddy:

• Three pricing plans: Pro, Legend, and Enterprise
• Pro plan starts at $3.75/month, billed annually

Keywords Everywhere:

• Offers a pay-as-you-go pricing plan
• One credit equals one keyword
• Users can purchase 100,000 credits for $18

Google Trends:

• A completely free tool accessible to anyone via the Google Trends website

Sitechecker:

• Three pricing plans: Basic, Startup, and Pro
• Basic plan costs $50/mo. billed annually

seospark:

• Three pricing plans: Starter, Growth, and Scale
• Starter plan starts at $19/month (billed monthly)

Feature	TubeBuddy	Keyword Everywhere	Google Trends	Sitecheckler	seospark
Keyword research	4.8	4.7	4.6	4.8	4.6
Competitor analysis	4.8	4.6	4.7	4.6	4.6
A/B testing	4.8	3.9	3.9	4.0	3.9
Search rank tracking	4.7	3.9	3.9	4.2	4.4
Pricing	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.6	4.3
Score	4.76	4.36	4.38	4.44	4.36

TubeBuddy: The Ultimate YouTube SEO Solution for Increased Views

TubeBuddy is an all-in-one affordable YouTube keyword research tool that can assist both novices and experienced content creators in optimizing their video content for maximum engagement and visibility. Its powerful keyword research, search rank tracking, and A/B testing tools allow you to streamline your workflow, save time, and achieve your goals on YouTube.

TubeBuddy has gained recognition among some of the top YouTube influencers, including Derral Eves, Roberto Blake, and Nick Nimmin, who have all successfully leveraged the software to optimize their content for search engines and increase their visibility on the platform. TubeBuddy’s top affiliates are a testament to the software’s effectiveness and value within the YouTube community.

Install the TubeBuddy extension now and optimize your YouTube channel with ease.

Get an unfair advantage on YouTube

Give your YouTube channel the upper hand and easily optimize for more views, more subs, and more of every metric that matters.

get started