While there are many platforms to showcase your content, YouTube is perhaps the most popular. With over 1.3 billion users, it is a great opportunity for you or your business to get the word out about your products and services.

However, YouTube SEO is a bit different than conventional SEO. This means that simply using popular keywords in your content may not be enough to get your videos in front of the right audience.

With all of this in mind, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Fortunately, you don’t need to go through this process alone! In this article, we’ll go over why you should use the best free YouTube SEO tools available today and provide tips on how you can use them to improve your channel and videos’ performance.

Can Free And Best Seo Tools For Youtube

Boosting your YouTube reach and video rankings is about more than just pumping out video after video. You’ll get better results when you focus on quality over quantity. That’s how you can rank higher and nab that top spot, skyrocketing your video views and subscribers – or at least stop putting out mediocre videos because you’re trying to meet some arbitrary quota. But as anyone who’s ever tried to boost their reach and increase video views on YouTube can tell you, it isn’t easy. Fortunately, we’ve found 26 awesome YouTube SEO tools that can streamline your path to a growing and engaged YouTube following.

26 Top YouTube SEO Tools to Boost Your Reach and Rankings:
1 . TubeBuddy

2. YouTube Analytics
3. vidIQ
4. YouTube Autosuggest
5. Google Keyword Planner
6. Keyword Tool (Keywordtool.io)
7. Rank Tracker
8. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
9. Kparser
10. YTRank
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    Why YouTube Optimization Matters
    YouTube is a powerful search engine. In fact, it’s the second most popular search engine in the world behind Google. And, Google loves YouTube content. When you do a Google search, video content stands out from the rest of the search results:

When you focus on creating the right YouTube content using the right keywords and tags, you put yourself in an excellent position to rank higher on Google and YouTube’s internal search. That’s why we’ve put together this list of 26 YouTube optimization tools you can use to get more YouTube followers and improve your ranking without spending countless hours creating videos just for the sake of creating videos.

26 Best YouTube SEO Tools
When you consider that video is the top-performing content across all social media platforms it just makes sense to focus on creating the best, most optimized YouTube videos possible. You can then share them across your social networks, growing your followers, and increasing your reach. But with more than 2 billion users on the platform, getting your videos found can be a bit difficult.

That’s where these YouTube optimization tools come in.

Here you’ll find all the tools you need to create great videos, find the right keywords and tags, find out what your competitors are up to, and track the performance of your YouTube channel.

Manage Your YouTube Channel
A successful YouTube channel requires a bit more than just posting videos. You also need to track the performance of your videos to make sure that you’re not wasting time and money on content that’s missing the mark. In this section, you’ll find YouTube optimization tools that will help you understand how your channel is performing so you can take steps to correct its course or share the content that’s performing well to your other social networks.

1 . TubeBuddy
youtube seo tool tubebuddy

TubeBuddy is a browser extension that offers tons of different ways to effectively manage your YouTube channel. It includes productivity, video SEO, data and research, promotion, and bulk processing tools. Using TubeBuddy, you can create and schedule your YouTube videos, use saved responses for easy content moderation, and build end-screen templates, among other cool things.

2. YouTube Analytics

Source: convertkit.com

YouTube’s own analytics tool is one of the best tools you can use to find out where your channel is succeeding and where it isn’t. You can use it to learn more about your audience and the content that grabs them, improving your YouTube video views, and keeps them engaged. You’ll also be able to check out the watch time on your videos (a signal in YouTube’s search algorithm) and how your following is growing.

3. vidIQ

VidIQ is a browser extension that shows you the stats you need to track your YouTube performance. You can also add competitor channels to see how they compare to your own as well as set up email alerts to find trending topics. There’s even a Facebook Syndication feature that lets you share your video instantly across social media platforms.

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Identify Your Best Keywords
Descriptions and titles are important information for YouTube users. When you include the right keywords in your YouTube video descriptions and titles, users are better equipped to decide if your video is right for them. In this section, you’ll find YouTube optimization tools that can help you find the keywords that will get your videos ranked and viewed.

4. YouTube Autosuggest

If you’ve ever searched for a video on YouTube, you know that the moment you start typing, YouTube starts offering suggestions for keywords and phrases to help you along:

This is a great tool for users but it’s also an extremely useful tool for creators. Similar to Google Trends, you can enter your keyword or topic into the search field on YouTube and use the autosuggest results to find keywords that you should include in your video description, tags, and title.

5. Google Keyword Planner

Google offers tons of free tools that creators can use to find just the right keywords to include in their content. Google Keyword Planner is a great tool. You can access Google Keyword Planner from your Google Ads dashboard (you don’t have to run ads to use it). It will help you find the keywords that are worth the most for Google searches so you can plug those keywords into your YouTube descriptions and titles.

6. Keyword Tool (Keywordtool.io)

Keyword Tool is a freemium tool you can use to find topics that your viewers might be interested in based on what they’re likely to search for. Just enter a high-level keyword or topic and Keyword Tool will give you suggestions in the form of questions, prepositions, and even hashtags. The paid version starts at $69/month and gives you access to search volumes, cost-per-click, competition data, and trends.

7. Rank Tracker

Rank Tracker is another freemium keyword research tool. You can use it to pull keywords from YouTube’s suggestions and view search volume, competition, expected visits, and more. Rank Tracker is great for finding keywords that will put your videos in the running for that coveted featured snippet position that puts you at the top of the search results. The paid version starts at $72/year.

8. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer has one of the largest databases of YouTube keywords. You can search for your keyword and find local and global search volume, clicks, click percentage, and clickstream data so you can find out how many people search a certain term on YouTube each month. There are also keyword ideas reports that can give you some great keyword or topic ideas.

9. Kparser

Kparser is another easy-to-use paid keyword research tool that focuses on long-tail keywords. You can add keywords before and after your target keyword (similar to Keyword.io) but Kparser lets you choose the parsing depth.

10. YTRank

YTRank is a super simple free tool you can use to track YouTube rankings for a target keyword. Just choose the location you want, add your YouTube video URL, and add your keywords.

Research Profitable Tags
YouTube tags are words and phrases that let YouTube know what your video is about. Like keywords, tags are an important ranking factor in YouTube’s search algorithm. Here you’ll find YouTube optimization tools that will help you find the most profitable tags for your YouTube videos.

11. RapidTags

RapidTags is a free tool that quickly generates tags you can use for Youtube. You can apply a language filter for different locations. Just enter your target keyword into the search box and you’ll get a list of tags you can use on your YouTube videos.

12. TagsYouTube

Similar to RapidTags, TagsYouTube lets you enter your target keyword to get a list of related tags you can add to your YouTube content. This tool also includes features like a thumbnail generator, advanced title, and description.

Find Out What Your Competitors Are Doing
Researching your competitors on YouTube is a great way to come up with better video marketing strategies of your own as well as get inspiration for new content. In this section, you’ll find YouTube optimization tools that will help you get a leg up on your competition.

13. Rival IQ

Rival IQ offers YouTube analytics information that will help you understand your competitors so you can make better decisions about your own channel and get better results. Rival IQ will show you how often your competitors post content, the engagement their content gets, likes, dislikes, subscribers, views, comments, and more.

Best free seo tools for youtube

Video is the best performing content type on all social platforms, and if you’re looking to utilize video in your digital marketing approach, you also need to be considering YouTube, and building a YouTube presence.

The online video leader is now the second most-visited website in the world, and boasts an astonishing 1.9 billion active users. YouTube is also considered to be the web’s second-largest search engine, behind parent company Google’s main app, with a growing number of visitors seeking out videos to help them contextualize their various queries and questions.

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Given these considerations, YouTube marketing will very likely be worth the effort – but if you want to maximize your YouTube performance, you need to ensure that your videos align with those search trends, and are ‘findable’ when users go looking for related content.

To that, you’ll need the help of some tools. These apps and tips will help you optimize your YouTube videos for user search behaviors.

1. Find a topic with Google Trends
   Nothing helps YouTube optimization quite as much as the audience’s genuine interest in the topics you cover. ‘YouTube-able’ content comes in all shapes and sizes – the trick is to find yours.

Start exploring with Google Trends. To do this, type in your focus topic, specify ‘YouTube Search’, then pick a geographical region, category, and time period at which to narrow down the results.

You can take this a step further by adding a topic to compare your focus topic to, in order to see how they compare against each other.

Google Trends also offers a list of related queries for each topic, as well as maps which highlight audience interest across regions. You can also download, embed and share all of this data if needed.

Side perk: Spot breakout trends as part of related queries to boost your videos ranking potential

Pricing: Absolutely free

2. Fetch keyword ideas from Google Ads
   Taking the time to find the perfect keyword/s for your content is probably the best investment you can make while laying out your YouTube strategy.

While we’re on the free first-hand data sources, let’s turn to Google Ads’ Keyword Planner. With a topic in mind, you can run a raw keyword research in order to identify search terms and queries with the highest potential.

Keyword Planner fetches tons of keyword ideas based on your seed keyword/phrase, search settings and filters (if any) specified. You can take a closer look at the average monthly searches and competition to single out the best fits. You can then export your keyword list in one click, with all metrics included.

Side perk: Enter up to ten keywords at a time – putting in a URL also works

Pricing: The tool is free

3. Step up your keyword research with Rank Tracker
   For next-level keyword research, you can also use YouTube autocomplete – either on the platform itself or via a designated keyword research and analysis tool such as Rank Tracker.

Rank Tracker lets you pull keyword ideas from YouTube’s suggestions, and highlights vital metrics, such as search volume, expected visits, competition, etc.

You can also use Rank Tracker to run a quick ranking check, and yield the keywords that deliver video results in featured snippets. Take note of the keywords with the highest search volume – those are most likely to help you rank in organic search.

Side perk: Set YouTube as the search engine to track your videos’ rankings once they’re up and running

Pricing: Paid versions start at $124 (Professional) and $299 (Enterprise) – free version and trial available

4. Do your metadata homework with TubeBuddy
   Optimizing your video content is just as essential as optimizing the content of your webpages – only that there’s no time to waste when it comes to YouTube SEO. Forty-eight hours after your video goes live is your metadata optimization deadline – once you miss that, the algorithm marks your content as less timely, which makes it extra hard to make a comeback.

Tool up with TubeBuddy, a browser extension which eases channel maintenance, and lends a helping hand with things like titles, descriptions, tags, annotations, cards and more.

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Once integrated into YouTube, the tool will provide you with valuable insights on all the YouTube videos that you open. Maximize your organic reach by fetching any videos’ tags, and save tons of time you’d spend looking for the best fits within the 500-character limit.

TubeBuddy also provides optimization tips, and suggestions for boosting your channel’s growth. Additionally, the tool can provide automated checks to ensure that your videos are set up correctly (i.e. meeting YouTube’s recommendations).

Side perk: Utilize the ‘Vid2Vid’ feature to promote your older videos in the descriptions of new uploads

Pricing: Paid plans start at $9/mo (Pro), $19/mo (Star), $49/mo (Legend) – a free version is also available

5. Manage like a pro with VidIQ
   VidIQ is another channel management toolkit which operates as a browser extension, displaying crucial stats for all the YouTube videos you open – which means effortless competitor research and advanced analytics for each and every video you can find.

The tool’s ‘Most Viewed’ feature lets you identify and match YouTube’s best performing videos against each other. For further intelligence, you can add specific competitor channels, and compare them against your own. With your own 24/7 channel audit on hand, you can see which practices you should consider implementing to boost performance.

You can take it a step further and set up email alerts to keep an eye on trending topics within your field (or your competitors’ channels). And for enhanced outreach, you can use the ‘Facebook Syndication’ feature, and share your video instantly across platforms (though you should exercise caution when cross-posting).

Side perk: Bulk copy cards and end screens, bulk edit end screens.

Pricing: Paid plans start at $7.50/mo (Pro), $39/mo (Boost); free and Enterprise versions available.

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6. Introspect your channel with YouTube Analytics
   YouTube Analytics is simply the best when it comes to identifying your channel’s strengths and weak points.

Learning more about your audience, the content that grabs their attention – and makes them stay – as well as the videos they want to share, gives you crucial insights for maintaining and growing your YouTube presence.

We know for a fact that longer videos perform better. We also know that all YouTube algorithms are focused on watch time, so it makes perfect sense to have a closer look at Watch Time and Realtime reports to examine your average view duration, average percentage viewed, as well as audience retention.

Being aware of which of your videos drive subscribes is also a must, since new subscribers give you a significant advantage in YouTube search. Encouraging your audience to subscribe, like and comment – when executed successfully – is a sure way to get a ranking boost.

Side perk: Study your Interaction reports from the last six months to spot patterns in likes, favorites, comments, or sharing

Pricing: The tool is absolutely free.

7. Track and grow user engagement with Awario
   User engagement with the video remains number one ranking factor on YouTube. Therefore, keeping an eye on the kind of buzz that surrounds your YouTube content – on the platform itself and elsewhere – is a must.

With a social monitoring tool like Awario, fetching mentions of your video and keywords is made easy – you can simply enter your video’s URL to set up an alert, and collect linkless mentions that are already a ranking signal for Google.

For more specific queries, you can try a Boolean search – configure a targeted search to collect existing mentions and identify new link sources.

Add specific search operators, combine groups of keywords, apply additional language or country filters, and much more – whatever it is, Awario has you covered.

Views, likes, comment and subscriber counts, including new subscribers, are all ranking factors – some more than others. Comments, however, are of particular interest as they speak volumes of user engagement.

You can Like and comment directly from Awario’s dashboard to ensure that none of your audience’s feedback remains unaddressed.

Side perk: Use Awario to run competitor research by setting the tool to track YouTube results only

Pricing: Paid plans come at $29/mo (Starter), $89/mo (Pro), and $299/mo (Enterprise); free trial available.

8. Mix up your visuals with Canva
   Channel art may not be the first thing on your mind when laying out the course of your YouTube optimization strategy. However, in a world of tools like Canva, getting creative has never been easier – so why miss out?

A freemium graphic design app, Canva is there to help you manifest your inner designer, via all sorts of visuals – be it a logo or a mind map. As part of your YouTube SEO efforts, expressing your artistic self can be done through developing channel art and thumbnails to increase your click-through rates.

You can start from scratch or browse through the categories and pick any of the templates the app has to offer: Canva’s drag-and-drop interface lets you use professionally designed layouts to further customize them, creating unique and compelling visuals, and re-inventing your channel’s looks.

Side perk: You can also use Canva’s mobile app to create designs and collaborate on projects while on the go

Pricing: Canva Pro comes at $12.95/mo, Enterprise is available on request. There’s also a free plan.

Summary
With YouTubing now a universal pastime, and profitable line of work alike, video optimization is a skill for every marketer to acquire – and sooner rather than later. YouTube SEO is neither quick nor easy – however, when mastered, it can prove to be extremely rewarding.

Download the tools that look like the best fit for your process, and use this listing as a roadmap to make the most of the platform’s ever-growing potential.

Conclusion

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