YouTube is a powerful platform. With billions of users and countless hours of video content uploaded every minute, standing out from the crowd is critical. One of the most effective ways to boost your video's discoverability is through strategic use of YouTube hashtags. This article will explore everything you need to know about harnessing the power of hashtags to grow your YouTube channel.
YouTube's significance for marketers can't be overstated. It stands as the second largest search engine globally, only surpassed by Google. In many countries, its monthly active user count rivals that of Facebook. These two factors alone make YouTube a high-priority platform for any marketer looking to expand their reach.
The key is to optimize your videos so they are easily found by users. It's important to shift our perspective and think of YouTube less as a simple social media channel and more as a video search engine. Unlike other social platforms where searching is minimal, most users on YouTube begin by performing a keyword search.
Given the sheer volume of content uploaded – over 500 hours every minute – you need every advantage to help viewers find your videos. Hashtags on YouTube serve to group similar videos around specific topics or themes, enhancing discoverability.
There are primarily two places where you can add hashtags to your YouTube videos:
1. Video Description:
This is the standard and most common method. Simply include the hashtags within the text of your video description. There is no specific field, you just type them in. You can use up to 15 hashtags, but only the first 3 are prominently displayed as clickable links above your video title. These top 3 are the most important because YouTube uses them as easily accessible links, bringing watchers to the correlating hashtag page.
Example:
If you are creating a video about the best SEO tools, you might include hashtags like #SEO, #SEOTools, and #[YourBrandName].
When choosing hashtags, strive to strike the right balance between competitive and unique hashtags.
We recommend structuring your first 3 YouTube hashtags as follows:
2. Video Title:
While less common, you can also add hashtags directly to your video title. This will override any hashtags added to the description. Use this method if you want to strongly emphasize a specific hashtag, particularly if it's brand-related. Otherwise, sticking to hashtags in the description is generally recommended.
YouTube hashtags play a significant role in video discoverability. As a video search engine, YouTube uses various ranking signals to determine the position of videos in search results. Hashtags, along with the video title and description, contribute to your overall video SEO efforts.
Hashtags provide context to YouTube about the video's content, aiding its algorithm and helping viewers understand the topics covered.
Backlinko conducted a study that indicates a relationship between videos ranking #1 in search results and the use of YouTube hashtags. While other factors are involved, the study makes a good case for using hashtags as part of your SEO practices.
A YouTube Hashtag Generator, like the one offered by TubeRanker, can significantly simplify the process of finding relevant hashtags. These tools suggest hashtags based on your target keywords and provide trending options designed to improve your video's visibility.
Remember, the first three hashtags are the most important, so prioritize them carefully.
Using hashtags on YouTube is like using them on any other social media platform. By adding the (#) sign in front of a word, you are creating a searchable tag/link. When creating hastags, you can only use alphanumeric symbols, you can’t use symbols or spaces. For multi-word hashtags, remove the space separating them (#mortgagebroker). When using multiple hastags, you don’t need to use commas or semicolons, simply use a space, or the hashtags within the sentence itself.
By following these strategies, you'll increase your chances of driving more views and engagement to your YouTube channel.
Internal Links: Be sure to check out our other tools to increase video views even further, like our YouTube Title Generator and our YouTube Tag Generator.
