Today, there are plenty of online platforms that your video search engine optimization (SEO) agency can use to spread brand awareness through video marketing. Once upon a time, YouTube was the only option, but now brands can turn to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), and TikTok to showcase their video marketing campaigns. Here's the difference, though — when people head to YouTube, they're doing so with the specific intent of watching videos; the other social channels don't offer you this same guarantee, as they're designed with different usage goals in mind. This is why any YouTube video SEO agency will tell you how necessary it is to include this media platform in your digital marketing strategy.
So, what does this mean for your business? You should be leveraging the power of YouTube's platform if you want to bolster your digital marketing strategy. This means you should also be optimizing for SEO on this popular channel as part of your YouTube marketing plan. How you ask? Let's take a look!
Why Use YouTube for SEO?
The first search engine you think of is, probably, Google. Did you know, YouTube is the second most visited website globally, with over 2.6 billion active users logging in monthly? Bringing YouTube into your digital marketing strategy is a powerful way to engage audiences, build brand awareness, and drive conversions. Video content is also highly effective at influencing purchasing decisions, as 84% of consumers say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video, per source: Wyzowl. YouTube dropped a major statistic in a blog informing us that users watching an average of 1 billion hours of videos daily. The platform offers brands an opportunity to connect with vast audiences in an engaging and impactful way, making it a critical component of any comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
The Best Free and Paid YouTube SEO Tools
YouTube video SEO involves the process of making sure your channel, playlists, metadata, descriptions, and the videos themselves are designed in such a way that it gives the search engine what it needs to identify your content when it matches users' queries. YouTube SEO is important because when it's done well, it can increase your brand's exposure and even boost your rankings in standard search engine results pages (SERPs). If you don't know where your channel stands right now, it's probably time to perform a YouTube channel audit so you can start with a baseline from which to measure growth and opportunities going forward.
You can leverage many tools, both free and paid, to ensure you're gaining your audience's trust while also appeasing Google's algorithm.
14 Best Free YouTube SEO Tools
1. Google Trends
Google Trends gives you access to unbiased data that's been collected by the search giant. It shows how often a term has been searched in Google.
2. YouTube Search Bar
If you type words and phrases into YouTube's search bar, you'll see the titles and content that are ranking highest. Those are your content competitors and a great opportunity to focus on outranking.
3. Google Video Search Bar
Just like YouTube's search bar will give you insight into your competition and customers' behaviors, Google's video search bar can do the same. Since this is the largest search engine in the world, we'd be remiss if it wasn't included in the list.
4. Social Blade
Social Blade offers you the valuable insights and ability to use its technology to obtain global analytics so you can measure your channel's growth and analyze the results of your YouTube SEO marketing efforts.
5. NoxInfluencer
NoxInfluencer was specifically designed to give you the tools you need to analyze your YouTube channel analytics. Thanks to an all-in-one dashboard, you can track videos and check in on your stats at any time.
6. Keywordtool.io
This free keyword tool uses Google Autocomplete and information from other search engines to generate long-tail keywords relevant to your YouTube audiences' searches. We recommend utilizing Keywordtool.io so your channel can be easily found when people are looking for videos similar to yours.
7. YouTube Analytics
Naturally, it makes sense to use the analytical tools that are built right into the platform itself. With the advanced features of YouTube Analytics, you can easily measure the successes and opportunities associated with your YouTube marketing campaigns.
8. Canva
Since there are both paid and free versions of this site, it's a great way to get your feet wet when you're creating thumbnails for YouTube. You can easily create designs to accommodate your videos with your brand's colors, appropriate layouts, and personal changes that speak to your company culture. Be sure to save each file name using best practices and include meta descriptions when you load them into YouTube.
9. Rapidtags
This tool makes it easy for you to create metatags for your YouTube videos that are effective and specifically designed to be SEO-friendly.
10. YT Ranks
YT Ranks is a simple online tool that allows you to find any YouTube video ranking by simply inserting a URL into the query field.
11. TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is a YouTube SEO tool that gives you direct access to your YouTube dashboard through a Chrome extension. Once installed, you'll be able to see its YouTube SEO features in one easy place.
12. RyRob
RyRob is a YouTube Keyword Tool by RyRob is designed to help content creators find high-performing keywords specifically for YouTube videos
13. TunePocket
TunePocket is a free YouTube SEO tool that generates relevant and high-ranking SEO tags for your YouTube videos for better discoverability.
14. Metricool
With Metricool, your channel can track video analytics, engagement, and competitor activity on YouTube. Additionally, schedule videos and shorts on your time!
15 Best Paid YouTube SEO Tools
1. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a popular keyword research tool that will help you analyze your YouTube videos' keyword rankings and overall SEO health. With it, you can conduct keyword research so you can optimize the text content you're presenting on the platform.
2. SEMrush
SEMrush‘s Social Media Tracker tool lets you add your YouTube channel's URL to its search field alongside those of your competitors. From there, you can see which videos have been posted recently in your industry and learn more about consumer behavior by checking out the links, dislike comments, and views over the past month.
3. TubeBuddy (Paid)
This paid browser extension and mobile app integrate directly into YouTube's platform, giving you access to competitor analysis and information you can use to bolster your video SEO strategies.
4. vidIQ
vidIQ can help you generate more viewers and subscribers to your YouTube channel. By giving you relevant topics and keyword options you can integrate into your video titles, descriptions, and tags to ensure your search engine optimization efforts are maximized.
5. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo helps you gain insights and generate new content ideas that can boost engagement and outreach to your YouTube audience.
6. Woobox
Speaking of engagement, Woobox‘s purpose is to make it easy for you to get people excited about your brand by creating contests, giveaways, and promos that can drive traffic to both your YouTube channel and your company's website.
7. Spark Adobe
This Adobe application gives you professional results you can present on YouTube in the form of self-made or edited videos. They give you creative freedom over the video production process at an affordable price.
8. REV Transcription
Including transcripts with your YouTube videos can improve your search rankings, increase traffic, provide link-building opportunities, and decrease your bounce rates because people tend to spend more time watching your videos.
9. SiteChecker
The Keyword Suggestion Tool from SiteChecker is a keyword explorer tool used to generate keywords for YouTube so you can befriend the algorithm and get noticed by the platform when users search for certain words and phrases.
10. Mixkit
Mixkit‘s purpose is to drive engagement and keep your audience coming back with a full collection of screens, overlays, and templates that help ensure your videos are professional and enticing for people to consume.
11. Morningfame
Morningfame focuses on helping YouTube creators grow their channels by providing personalized insights and actionable recommendations for video SEO, thumbnails, titles, and content strategy. It emphasizes simplicity and guidance for smaller creators.
12. ChannelMeter
ChannelMeter is an influencer marketing and analytics platform that tracks YouTube channel performance, audience demographics, and engagement metrics. It helps creators and brands monitor growth, analyze content performance, and identify collaboration opportunities.
13. Tubular Labs
Tubular Labs provides advanced video analytics and insights for YouTube and other social platforms, focusing on audience behavior, trending content, and market trends. It's designed for brands, marketers, and agencies to optimize their video strategies and stay ahead in the digital space.
14. Tubics
Tubics is a dedicated YouTube SEO tool that provides keyword research, video metadata optimization, and detailed analytics to help creators rank higher and maximize discoverability.
15. Zero Gravity Marketing
So not really a tool, but one of the many things Zero Gravity Marketing does well, is take your current channel and optimize for effective YouTube SEO results. Get eye-catching thumbnails, intriguing and keyword optimized video titles, and effective video descriptions for better YouTube search engine rankings.
How to Create a Winning YouTube Marketing Strategy
At ZGM, we do all things digital marketing, including helping our clients optimize their YouTube digital marketing strategies in ways that drive traffic and keep people coming back. If you need help wading through all of this information to find the video optimization tools that'll help your business realize YouTube success, we're here to help. Reach out to our team of digital marketing pros and why our YouTube marketing services experts should be part of your team today!
About the Author
Daniel Hamilton
