How to Use YouTube Tags to Get More Views (Competitor Research)

The fastest way to find YouTube tags that get views is to extract them from videos already getting views in your niche. Our free YouTube Tag Extractor pulls the complete tag list from any public video — paste the URL, get all tags in under a second, no extension needed.

This isn't copying. Tags are metadata signals for the algorithm, not creative content. Looking at a competitor's tags and building a smarter version of your own strategy is exactly what YouTube SEO is about. Here's the full research method.

Why Competitor Tag Research Actually Works

YouTube's algorithm uses tags as one signal to understand what a video is about. When multiple high-performing videos in the same niche share specific tags, that's evidence the algorithm has learned to associate those tags with that type of content.

If 8 out of 10 top gaming videos about "minecraft diamonds" all use the tag "how to find diamonds in minecraft 2026", then YouTube has strong confidence that tag belongs in that content category. Using that tag in your video signals to the algorithm: this video belongs in that cluster.

The alternative — guessing your own tags from scratch — means relying on intuition instead of data. It might work. Or it might not match what the algorithm expects. Competitor research removes the guesswork.

Step 1: Find Your Top 5 Competitor Videos

Search YouTube for the main keyword your video targets. Look at the top 5-10 results. These are the videos already ranking for that term — which means their tag strategy is working.

Focus on videos with:

• Similar content to yours — if your video is a beginner tutorial, extract from other beginner tutorials, not advanced ones
• High view counts relative to the channel's average (a 500K view video on a channel that usually gets 10K is a signal, not just a popular channel's average content)
• Recent upload dates — tags that worked 3 years ago may be less relevant than tags working now

Copy the URL of each of these videos. You're going to extract all of their tags.

Step 2: Extract All Tags — One URL at a Time

Open the YouTube Tag Extractor. Paste the first video URL and click Extract. Download the CSV. Repeat for each competitor video.

The CSV includes the tags plus the video metadata (title, views, likes, comments, date). This gives you context for each tag set — you'll know which tags came from a 2M view video versus a 50K view video.

After extracting all 5-10 videos, you have a set of CSV files with complete tag data. Next step is finding what they have in common.

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Step 3: Find Tag Overlap — These Are Your Must-Use Tags

Open your CSVs and compare tag lists. Any tag that appears in 3 or more of your top competitor videos is a high-signal tag. It means the algorithm consistently sees that tag alongside content like yours.

These overlap tags should be in your video's tag list. They're not guaranteed to rank your video, but they put you in the right neighborhood.

Also note tags that appear in only 1 high-performing video — especially if that video dramatically outperforms the others. These might be underused opportunities that less-researched creators missed.

For a complete picture of how tags interact with titles and descriptions, the YouTube keyword research guide walks through all three signals together.

Step 4: Build Your Tag List — Research Plus Original Tags

Your final tag list should combine what you learned from research with tags unique to your specific video:

• High-overlap tags (appeared in 3+ competitor videos) — include all of these that apply to your content
• Your specific title tags — a tag that exactly matches (or closely matches) your video title
• Long-tail variations — add specific phrases that your video addresses that competitors may have missed ("minecraft diamonds in version 1.21" vs just "minecraft diamonds")
• Channel-specific tags — your channel name or series name if you have one, so YouTube groups your videos together

Stay under the 500-character total limit. Most creators use 8-15 tags. More isn't always better — low-quality or unrelated tags can confuse the algorithm about what your video is actually about.

What to Check Beyond Tags

Tags are one signal. When researching competitors, also look at:

• Titles: What words do top-ranking titles all share? These are keyword signals the algorithm explicitly sees.
• Descriptions: The first 2-3 lines matter most. Do top performers front-load the main keyword?
• Thumbnails: Not algorithm signals, but clicking patterns affect CTR which affects ranking. What makes the top thumbnails stand out?

For a full keyword strategy that includes all three, see the best free YouTube keyword research tools. If you're also working on getting views via hashtags, the complementary approach is covered in the YouTube hashtag guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it allowed to look at competitor YouTube tags?

Yes. Tags are public metadata embedded in the page source. Viewing them doesn't violate YouTube's terms of service. Using them as research to build your own strategy is standard YouTube SEO practice.

How many competitor videos should I research?

At minimum 5, ideally 10. The more videos you extract from, the more reliable your overlap data becomes. Patterns across 10 videos are more meaningful than patterns across 2.

Should I use the exact same tags as competitors?

Use the tags that genuinely apply to your content. Don't include tags just because a competitor uses them if they don't describe your video — irrelevant tags can hurt more than help by confusing the algorithm.

Do tags matter more for new channels or established channels?

Tags may matter proportionally more for newer channels because YouTube hasn't built up viewer behavior data for the channel yet. Tags help the algorithm categorize new content before view data accumulates.