YouTube is one of the largest search engines in the world. Probably not all of us know that appropriate use of tags and hashtags in this channel can be fundamental to get new subscribers and to improve audience engagement.
In this article, we will go over how to properly tag your videos and how to use hashtags to get more views and a higher rank on YouTube.
How to properly tag your videos?
Basically tags are descriptive keywords. You can add such words to your video to allow viewers find your content more 
easily. If you want to reach to as many people as possible, you have to pay special attention to them because tags are one of the most important factors for the search engine. The YouTube algorithm utilizes tags to appropriately categorize and rank your videos.
The maximum number of tags
Well, you’re probably wondering if there’s any limit of tags that can be added to a single video. The fact is, the number of tags is not restricted. However, you can use max 30 characters per tag, and the text field accepts up to 500 characters, including separators.
A few tips for using tags:
- Tag arrangement – when tagging your videos, the placement of your core tags is very important. You should put the most important tags at the beginning to allow YouTube algorithms quickly locate and categorize your videos.
- Don’t add too many tags to a single video – the more tags you add to the video, the less relevant they become for users who are searching.
- Default tagging – you can create default tags for all your videos. The defined tags will be assigned to all the uploads. Creating such tags increases your chances of showing up in the suggested results.
- Keyword planners – there are tons of keyword tool planners you can use to search for trending tags and to create a substantial list of effective tags. For example, you may try the Google Keyword Planner.
Types of tags
There are 4 types of tags that you can implement in your videos:
- Specific tags – one-word keywords that represent the main topic of your video. In many cases, it makes sense to use the singular and the plural version of a keyword.
- Compound tags (also called Descriptive tags) – multiple-word tags, like long-tail keywords. Pro tip: you can find compound tags using the suggested results from the YouTube search bar.
- Misspellings – remember that tags don’t have to be spelled right! There are millions of searches for words that are misspelled. That’s why we highly recommend you include also spelling mistakes when creating tags.
- Generic tags – words or phrases describing the theme of the video (like how-to, vlog, tutorial, best practices, etc.).
Use hashtags for video search
Hashtags are a great solution to make your videos more searchable! You can easily add hashtags in video’s title or description to ensure viewers find your video when they search for a specific hashtag.
Additionally, when you click on a YouTube hashtag, you can see the type of content other people created about a given hashtag. It’s worth to mark brands or people you mention in your video, including events you are covering or attending and also keep an eye out for trending hashtags relevant to your brand.
How to find a video using hashtags
There are two ways to find a video using hashtags:
- Click on a hashtag in the title or the description of a video.
- Type a phrase (with #) in YouTube search engine and search for a hashtag.
In both cases, you’ll see a list of results that will show the top trending videos for the hashtag and the most recently uploaded content.
Hashtag use policies
If you’re using hashtags, you must remember to meet YouTube Community Guidelines. The most important rules are as follows:
- Hashtags don’t contain any spaces. If you want to have two words in a hashtag, you need to join them together (#TwoWords or #twowords).
- If a video has more than 15 hashtags, YouTube will ignore all of them on that video.
- Don’t add hashtags that are not directly related to the video. Misleading or unrelated hashtags will lead to the removal of your video.
- Use of profanity or offensive terms in your hashtags may lead to an age-restriction or the removal of your video.
- Don’t add a hashtag with the purpose of harassing, humiliating or intimidating. Violating this policy will also result in the removal of your video.
Final thoughts
Understanding how to properly tag YouTube videos is essential when you want to get more views, find new subscribers, and rank higher on the search engine. Make sure that you’re adding relevant tags and hashtags to each of your videos. If you apply the above advice in practice, you will gain new viewers and increase your brand awareness.
Sources of information:
- https://www.yrcharisma.com/2017/09/25/how-to-properly-tag-youtube-videos-growing-your-audience/
- https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6390658?hl=en
- https://searchengineland.com/youtube-seo-find-best-traffic-generating-keywords-275690
- https://whyvideoisgreat.com/optimize-youtube-tags
