Rising Creators Forum

I've been using TubeBuddy for keyword research but I'm not sure if it's actually helping or if I'm wasting my time. my videos still don't rank for the keywords it says are good opportunities

Are there better tools out there? i've heard of VidIQ, Keywords Everywhere, and some others but don't want to pay for multiple tools if they all do the same thing

What do you use for finding good keywords and does it actually help you get views?

Honestly, you don't need paid tools at all. i've grown to 15k subscribers using completely free methods

here's what i do:
1. use youtube search bar autocomplete - start typing your topic and see what youtube suggests. those are real searches people are doing
2. look at the "people also search for" section when you search for topics in your niche
3. check google trends to see if a topic is growing or dying
4. look at competitors' most viewed videos and make content on similar topics

TubeBuddy and VidIQ are useful but they're not necessary. They just make the research faster. If you're on a budget, spend that money on better equipment instead

also the reason your videos aren't ranking might not be the keywords, it might be that your video quality or watch time isn't good enough to outrank the competition. Even the "best" keyword won't help if people click away after 30 seconds

I use VidIQ and it's been worth it for me. the free version is fine for basic keyword research but the paid version shows you search volume and competition scores which help a lot

BUT keyword tools are only useful if you understand how to use them. A lot of people just look for "high volume low competition" keywords and make videos on those topics without considering if they can actually make good content about it

i use VidIQ to:
- see what keywords my competitors are ranking for
- find question-based keywords (people searching for solutions)
- check search volume trends over time

the most useful feature honestly is seeing what tags other successful videos in my niche are using. gives me ideas for topics i hadn't thought of

don't expect a keyword tool to magically get you views though. it's just one piece of the puzzle