How much is too much when it comes to tags?

MrAndyDick

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I believe YouTube actually suggests to not go over 10 tags if you can help it. It's really just a rule of thumb though, but the more tags you have, the less effective each one will potentially be.
 

CazuaLLUK

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I tag my videos alot, I tag all related to my video plus some related videos.
 

LazloCook

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As many as possible except for mistags, never mistag
 

Grey Valkrie

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I go with anything that relates to my videos... I end up with four rows or more of tags... amidoinitrite?
 

Chef Kendra

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Personally I get tired of of typing around 15-20 so most of my tags end up around there.
 

Tarmack

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The issue with tags is that it's hard to fill the whole thing with truely on topic tags. So the further afield you go, the more views you get where people click away because it's not what they were actually looking for.

Few SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts believe less is more with tags.
 

MrAndyDick

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I looked up the YT Playbook and they don't actually have a general rule of thumb in terms of how many tags to use. Just don't use false tags. Here's what they say:

Tags

  • Use quotes for keyword phrases: “short film.”
  • Provide enough tags to thoroughly and accurately describe the video content.
  • Give a mix of both common and specific tags.
  • Consider how you order your tags in terms of importance.
Reminder: Remember that it is a violation of YouTube Terms of Service to use misleading metadata on your videos.
 

Tarmack

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The thing about tags is that it has a great deal to do with the relationship between multiple tags you're using. "Short Film" as the playbook suggests gets you nowhere by itself because of the sheer volume of videos with that tag. Google is very good at ranking these things based on other videos, your own content, your viewers watch history and so on.

Just like ranking for "Call Of Duty" is meaningless on it's own. It's the combination of that and other tags that gives value.