Are Tags Worth The Effort?

[MedTerms]

What exactly are you critiquing about the process? That long-tails aren't worth it? That basic keywords are the place to go? Why not have both? Is your issue that neither of them provide a substantial benefit? Tags aren't all that effective in the big picture, but they can help. In the beginning, about a third of my views came from matched tag searches.

That in my experience the results are actually the opposite of what I'd expect. This may be true , or not, for others. That's the reason for the thread - to see if this is a unique experience.

 

[PictureFIT]

It would definitely depend on the long-tail keywords and its relevance versus the basic keywords and its relevance/competition.

If I had one moderately competitive long-tail keyword with high traffic versus one with low competition but very little traffic, 100% I'm going for the moderately competitive long-tail keyword. A big issue that people often run into is choosing long-tail keywords that absolutely no one else would search for (e.g. "best way to eat hotdogs without chopsticks). Of course they'll rank high in that keyword but it really doesn't matter.

Is this the experience you're seeing?

 

[MedTerms]

It would definitely depend on the long-tail keywords and its relevance versus the basic keywords and its relevance/competition.

If I had one moderately competitive long-tail keyword with high traffic versus one with low competition but very little traffic, 100% I'm going for the moderately competitive long-tail keyword. A big issue that people often run into is choosing long-tail keywords that absolutely no one else would search for (e.g. "best way to eat hotdogs without chopsticks). Of course they'll rank high in that keyword but it really doesn't matter.

Is this the experience you're seeing?

You're spot on, and that may be the explanation: there are really few moderately competitive keywords in my niche. Two or three have good traffic and are highly competitive (none of these are long-tailed). The rest (found through research and tag tools) are much less competitive, but have negligible traffic. For individual videos, I've found that search traffic varies with the level of interest in the word/term that is being taught in the video, regardless of the phrases entered in the tags.

 

[PictureFIT]

You're spot on, and that may be the explanation: there are really few moderately competitive keywords in my niche. Two or three have good traffic and are highly competitive (none of these are long-tailed). The rest (found through research and tag tools) are much less competitive, but have negligible traffic. For individual videos, I've found that search traffic varies with the level of interest in the word/term that is being taught in the video, regardless of the phrases entered in the tags.

I share similar experiences. It really boils down to hitting the right topics that itself would generate a lot of interest and traffic (rather than trying to pin the right tags). That being said, that makes proper tagging for those lower-interest topics imperative. They cannot rely solely on popularity or interest. They need to hit those niche searches that people will search for.

 

[Dave2017]

I think tags are important especially is you have a smaller channel. If you channel gets big at some point it will be easier to get your content shared and then you might want to focus more on making greta thumbnails. It looks like your videos get a lot of views but you "only" got 188 subscribers? Do you advertise your videos?[DOUBLEPOST=1527767111,1527767085][/DOUBLEPOST]I think tags are important especially is you have a smaller channel. If you channel gets big at some point it will be easier to get your content shared and then you might want to focus more on making greta thumbnails. It looks like your videos get a lot of views but you "only" got 188 subscribers? Do you advertise your videos?

 

[MedTerms]

I think tags are important especially is you have a smaller channel. If you channel gets big at some point it will be easier to get your content shared and then you might want to focus more on making greta thumbnails. It looks like your videos get a lot of views but you "only" got 188 subscribers? Do you advertise your videos?[DOUBLEPOST=1527767111,1527767085][/DOUBLEPOST]I think tags are important especially is you have a smaller channel. If you channel gets big at some point it will be easier to get your content shared and then you might want to focus more on making greta thumbnails. It looks like your videos get a lot of views but you "only" got 188 subscribers? Do you advertise your videos?

Yes, I do advertise. Can't leave it all up to search.

 

[Boris Qs]

It's a question of whether the methods really have much value (FWIW, I've used 2 SEO tools for a couple months now) or whether they're over-hyped.

It works and tools are not magic pills that you use and it pops out the right keywords. If you dont know what exactly you are looking for the tools will not help.

The tools only facilitates the process...You have to research about the people you are targeting, what words do they often use, what other activity people in the niche like to do

Gathering that type of info will help guide you to look for the right longtail keyword which the tools will help you do.

I am sorry I don't know how to explain it better but I hope get it SEO works if you do it right...again my channel is all based on that strategy together with making the videos engaging
Hope that helps

 

[EVO]

I use a mix of relevant tags/lengths and fill the 500 box. Whether it does anything to help the video I am not 100% convinced.
There is a new channel in my genre that is storming it with every video and regardless of the content uses the same few tags. Must be less than 100 characters and have no bearing on the content.

 

[MedTerms]

It works and tools are not magic pills that you use and it pops out the right keywords. If you dont know what exactly you are looking for the tools will not help.

The tools only facilitates the process...You have to research about the people you are targeting, what words do they often use, what other activity people in the niche like to do

Gathering that type of info will help guide you to look for the right longtail keyword which the tools will help you do.

I am sorry I don't know how to explain it better but I hope get it SEO works if you do it right...again my channel is all based on that strategy together with making the videos engaging
Hope that helps

Not looking for magic pills. Please read my posts to understand the reason for this thread.[DOUBLEPOST=1527786192,1527785677][/DOUBLEPOST]

I use a mix of relevant tags/lengths and fill the 500 box. Whether it does anything to help the video I am not 100% convinced.
There is a new channel in my genre that is storming it with every video and regardless of the content uses the same few tags. Must be less than 100 characters and have no bearing on the content.

(emphasis mine)

A close look at the search terms in your analytics will tell you that. Which is precisely where this conversation began...​

 

[ProXima123]

I always use tags in all of my videos. I do believe it is helpful, as I used to never put tags in any of my videos, but ever since I have, my channel has been growing more rapidly. If you use proper tags and high ranking tags, it will result in your channels and videos getting more expsoure.