How to Find YouTube Keyword Competition Score and SEO

If you want to grow your channel and get in front of your target audience, mastering YouTube keyword research is critical. If you understand keyword competition scores and implement good SEO practices, you can significantly increase your video visibility and channel performance. In this ultimate guide, you will learn how to assess keyword competition and optimize your YouTube content so you reach as many people as possible.

Understanding YouTube Keyword Competition

The difficulty of ranking on YouTube for a specific search term is referred to as keyword competition. The established channels with low authority typically rank for “high competition keywords” while newer creators and creators with only a few hundred subs can rank more easily for “low competition keywords”. Finding the balance between search volume and competition is important for being successful on the platform.

Typically the competition score will range from 0 – 100, where low competition will be scored below 30, and high competition would start at above 60. Medium competition would be scored at 30 – 60.

Essential Tools for Finding Keyword Competition Scores

There are some really great tools that can give you important keyword information and competition information. TubeBuddy and vidIQ are browser extensions that are integrated into YouTube. They offer real-time keyword scores, search volume information, and even suggestions for optimizing your efforts as you use the platform. Each keyword will also have a competition score for you to quickly review its potential.

Although Google Keyword Planner is focused on Google Ads, it can still provide valuable keyword search volume and competition levels to aid with YouTube keywords due to the fact that YouTube is owned by Google. Lastly, there are specialized tools such as Keywords Everywhere and Ahrefs’ YouTube keyword tool that will provide competitive analysis that includes metrics for each competitor.

Step-by-Step Process to Analyze Keyword Competition

To begin your keyword research, think about seed keywords related to your video subject matter. You can take these seed keywords and put them directly into your preferred keyword research tool and analyze the competition score of each variation. When analyzing the keywords in your chosen tool, you should look for keywords that have decent search volume (for example, 1,000 searches monthly) but have a lower competition score. Ideally, you want to see competition scores of under 40 for newer channels.

You will want to also analyze the videos that rank on YouTube for your target keyword. Check each video for views, subscribers, how old the video is, and engagement stats. If you are finding that the first page is full of videos from channels with millions of subscribers, then your competition may be steep. If you find that smaller channels are ranking well with unique content, then that indicates an opportunity for you to pursue.

Pay attention to what the search results look like. Specifically, look for videos in the search results that are targeting your keyword in their titles versus those that rank for your keyword by chance. Videos with an exact keyword in the title indicate that the creator is deliberately targeting the keyword and more likely to have higher levels of competition. Try to find gaps where your content could bring something new to the table, that maybe other creators have missed.

Advanced YouTube SEO Optimization Strategies

After you have your target keywords established, the placement of those keywords is important. Add your primary keyword to the video title, ideally at the beginning, but make sure it’s enticing enough to get clicked. Video titles are typically limited to 60 characters, so keep it short enough to not get cut off in search results.

Your video description should be thorough and include your target keyword naturally within the first two sentences. The first 150 characters of your description are weighted heavily by YouTube’s algorithm, so be sure you do not waste them. Use secondary keywords and related phrases throughout your video description but do so in a manner that is readable and provides authentic value to the viewer.

Tags also can be helpful in YouTube SEO. Your first tag should be your exact target keyword, followed by variations and related keywords. Instead of adding a ton of loosely related keywords, you would be better off adding 5-8 highly relevant tags and mix a few broad tags with specific ones to ensure maximum discoverability if a user searches one way or the other.

Leveraging YouTube Analytics for Keyword Performance

Once you have published your optimized material, you will need to check your YouTube Analytics to evaluate the effectiveness of your keyword targeting. The Traffic Source report will tell you what search terms are leading to views for your videos. It is important to identify the keywords that lead to the most views and create additional YouTube videos about similar or related terms to build topical authority.

The Impressions and Click-Through Rate (CTR) will provide you insight into how your optimized titles and thumbnails are performing in searches. A high number of impressions with a low CTR suggests that you need to improve your title or thumbnail. A low number of impressions and CTR could be indicative of targeting keywords that have too low of a search volume.

Watch Time and Average View Duration are metrics indicating the quality of your content, which will be very important when it comes to rankings. YouTube values videos that keep viewers watching your content, even if you have followed the optimization tips, if your video does not keep your audience engaged, it will not rank for any keywords at all. Create engaging content by delivering on what your title promised.

Competitive Analysis for Strategic Advantage

Consistent analysis of your competition allows you to remain a step ahead of it. To do this, identify your top 5-10 competitors and find and analyze their best-performing videos. Use tools to identify the keywords that drive traffic to these competitors’ videos and identify weaknesses or gaps in their content strategies that you are able to leverage.

Also, anytime you can find and explore trending topics in your niche that are not widely covered, you should do so, as soon as possible. Even if trending topics have some competitive element to them, they will almost always drive traffic to your channel. The YouTube trending tab and Google Trends are good places to spot trends and which trending videos and topics appear to be gaining the most interest. Producing content around trending topics before they become saturated can be a significant competitive advantage for you and your channel.

Conclusion

It takes a lot of hard work and an active approach to building YouTube keyword competition scores and optimizing your SEO strategies with the right KPIs. It is important that you methodically use the right tools, study the competition, tweak all aspects of your videos, monitor your analytics, and manage your channel. YouTube SEO is something that requires continuous testing—be prepared to alter your approach based on how your content performs, or if the algorithm changes, while never forgetting to produce great content that meets your audience’s needs. Ultimately, your success on YouTube will result from a thoughtful synergy of keyword targeting strategy and great quality content.