Answers that mention vidIQ

If your goal is specifically finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimated YouTube search volume, I’d rank the options like this:

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Gives estimated YouTube search volume, competition, trend direction, related keywords, and keyword scores.
• Particularly good for finding opportunities such as “easy chicken dinner,” “high protein breakfast,” or “air fryer recipes” and then drilling into variations.
• Its current keyword tools also surface rising searches and competitor keyword/tag data. vidIQ vidIQ
• My pick for a cooking channel.
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimizing existing videos

• Keyword Explorer provides volume, competition, related terms and tag suggestions.
• Its Search Explorer works directly alongside YouTube search, which makes it convenient when researching individual recipes. TubeBuddy TubeBuddy
• Especially useful if you already have a large library and want to optimize lots of videos.
• support.google.com — Best free option

• YouTube itself now has a Trends tab showing what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for.
• It includes “Top searches” based on your audience and saved searches over the previous 28 days. Google Help
• This is particularly valuable because it's first-party YouTube data rather than a third-party estimate.
• trends.google.com — Best for spotting food trends

• Great for comparing things like “cottage cheese recipes” vs. “high protein recipes” vs. “air fryer recipes” and seeing seasonality.
• It gives relative interest rather than exact YouTube monthly search volume. Google Trends

What I'd use for a cooking channel

YouTube Studio Trends + vidIQ is probably the strongest combination.

For example, suppose you're making a video about chicken:

Seed: chicken recipes

vidIQ might help you discover/compare:

• easy chicken recipes
• chicken breast recipes
• high protein chicken recipes
• crispy chicken
• air fryer chicken breast
• one pan chicken dinner
• chicken meal prep
• healthy chicken dinner
• chicken and rice
• easy chicken dinner

Then I'd use YouTube Trends to determine which topics are actually gaining interest among your audience, rather than blindly choosing the keyword with the highest volume.

One important caveat: don't obsess over tags. Search volume and topic demand are much more useful for deciding what video to make; tags themselves are a relatively small part of YouTube discovery. The better workflow is keyword → topic → title/thumbnail → video, then use your own YouTube Analytics to see which searches actually generated traffic.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. healthy recipes, desserts, Indian food, meal prep, air fryer, Italian, budget meals), I can also research the current YouTube keyword landscape and give you 20–50 high-potential cooking keywords with estimated volume, competition, and video ideas.

If your goal is specifically finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimated YouTube search volume, I’d pick vidIQ first.

My ranking for a cooking channel

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• YouTube-specific estimated search volume
• Competition and keyword/opportunity scores
• Related keywords and search phrases
• Rising/trending keywords
• Can inspect keywords while browsing YouTube
• Particularly useful for turning something broad like “chicken recipes” into lower-competition opportunities such as “easy chicken dinner,” “crispy chicken thighs,” “high protein chicken recipes,” etc. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ
• tubebuddy.com — Best for optimizing lots of existing videos

• Strong keyword/SEO workflow
• Useful if you already have a substantial library and want to optimize titles, descriptions and tags at scale.
• I'd choose it over vidIQ if your primary job is managing/optimizing an existing channel, rather than discovering new video ideas. LensPOV
• YouTube Studio Trends — Best free option

• YouTube itself now has a Trends tab showing what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for.
• It includes Top searches based on your audience and saved searches over the previous 28 days.
• This is particularly valuable because it's first-party YouTube data. Google Help
• keywordtooldominator.com — Good for generating lots of phrases

• Uses YouTube autocomplete to expand a seed such as pasta, air fryer chicken, or sourdough.
• Good for discovering the actual phrases people type, but its popularity score is relative rather than a monthly search-volume number. Keyword Tool Dominator

What I'd actually use

For a cooking channel, I'd use:

YouTube Studio Trends → vidIQ → YouTube search results

For example, suppose you're considering a video on chicken:

chicken recipe
↓
easy chicken recipes
↓
easy chicken dinner
↓
one pan chicken dinner
↓
one pan chicken dinner for family

I'd compare search volume + competition + trend direction, rather than simply picking the keyword with the largest volume. vidIQ specifically provides estimated volume, competition, related terms and an overall score. vidIQ Help Center

One important point: don't over-focus on tags. YouTube says search ranking considers relevance, engagement and quality, with title, tags, description and video content among the relevance signals. Google Help For a cooking channel, I'd put much more effort into finding the right topic + title/search phrase than building a huge tag list.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Indian, healthy, air fryer, baking, budget meals, BBQ, Italian, Shorts), I can also research the current 2026 keyword landscape and give you a list of high-volume/low-competition cooking topics to target.

For the tech review YouTube space, I’d recommend starting with vidiq.com as the most practical all-around option. It is built around YouTube-specific keyword research and can help you find search demand, competition, related queries, and competitor keyword patterns. vidIQ

A good workflow for tech reviews:

1. Find winning topics

• Use vidIQ to compare terms like: - “iPhone 17 review”
• “best budget laptop 2026”
• “RTX 5070 vs RTX 4070”
• “MacBook Air M4 battery test”
• Look for keywords with strong demand but manageable competition. vidIQ
• Study top-performing titles

• Use a title analyzer such as nicheprowler.com or titler.io to break down patterns: - Keyword placement
• Title structure (“X vs Y,” “I tested…,” “Before you buy…”)
• Curiosity hooks
• Length/readability NicheProwler Titler
• Analyze competitors

• Pick 10–20 successful tech channels and compare: - Which products they cover early
• Repeated title formulas
• Words that appear in their highest-view videos
• Whether they lean toward search (“review”) or browse (“I switched to…”) traffic

For a more research-heavy approach, consider:

• tubebuddy.com — useful for channel optimization, keyword exploration, and testing ideas.
• brainnote.co — aimed at spotting trending topics, breakout videos, and niche opportunities. BrainNote
• contiqa.com — useful if you want to paste competitor videos and examine titles, thumbnails, tags, and packaging. Contiqa

My suggested stack for a tech review creator:

• Daily idea research: vidIQ
• Competitor teardown: Contiqa or similar video analyzers
• Title refinement: NicheProwler/Titler
• Final validation: YouTube Studio analytics after publishing

For tech reviews specifically, don’t only chase keywords—many of the biggest videos come from product timing + strong packaging (e.g., “I used the new iPhone for 30 days” often beats “iPhone 17 review” once the initial search wave passes).

I’d recommend vidiq.com for this use case.

For a tech-review channel, it’s particularly useful because you can:

• Analyze competitors: Track specific tech channels and sort their videos by views or views-per-hour to spot titles/topics that are outperforming. vidIQ vidIQ Help Center
• Research keywords: Get estimated search volume, competition, related terms, questions, and an overall keyword score. vidIQ Help Center
• Find rising topics: Its Rising Keywords feature surfaces terms whose YouTube search activity is increasing. vidIQ Help Center
• Study titles: Its optimization tools analyze existing titles and suggest alternatives based on proven title structures, keywords, curiosity triggers, and length. vidIQ
• Research directly on YouTube: The browser extension overlays keyword and competitor information while you're browsing videos. vidIQ

How I'd use it for tech reviews

Pick 10–20 channels covering your territory—for example, smartphone reviews, laptops, GPUs, cameras, or consumer tech. Then look for outliers: videos getting substantially more views than that channel normally gets.

For each outlier, record:

Title → Product/topic → Keyword → Views → Views/hour → Upload age → Thumbnail angle

You're looking for patterns such as:

“iPhone 17 Pro Review”
vs.
“I Used the iPhone 17 Pro for 30 Days — Here's What Apple Got Wrong”

The second type may reveal a content/title angle, rather than merely a keyword opportunity.

vidIQ also has a particularly interesting current feature: vidIQ MCP, which can connect AI assistants to its YouTube intelligence and let you ask questions about channels, videos, trends, titles, thumbnails, and creator analytics conversationally. vidIQ Help Center

Bottom line: If your primary goal is “show me what's working for other tech-review creators and help me find the keywords/title patterns behind it,” I'd start with vidIQ rather than a generic SEO tool. It currently has a free tier, although some competitor and keyword functionality is limited on free plans. vidIQ Help Center

If you tell me whether you're focused on smartphones, laptops, PC hardware, cameras, or general consumer tech, I can also recommend the best workflow for finding high-performing title formulas in that specific niche.

For an educational YouTube channel, you want tools that do more than find popular keywords — you want competitor topic gaps: subjects your competitors rank for, get views from, or are missing entirely.

Here are the strongest options:

My suggested stack for an educational channel

If you are small (<50k subscribers)

Use:

1. vidiq.com — find competitor winners.
2. tubebuddy.com — validate search demand.
3. YouTube comments — find unanswered learner questions.

If you are scaling (50k–500k)

Add:

• semrush.com for systematic competitor comparisons.
• keywordsrocket.com for analyzing successful educational channels.

The workflow I would use

1. Pick 5–10 competitor channels:

• Similar audience size
• Same subject area
• Strong recent growth
• Export their:

• Top videos by views
• Topics repeated multiple times
• Titles/formats that outperform their average
• Look for:

• Topics they mention but never explain deeply
• Beginner questions they ignore
• Outdated tutorials
• Advanced topics with weak explanations
• High-view videos with poor teaching quality
• Create videos that are:

• More beginner-friendly
• More complete
• More current
• More practical

For education channels, content gaps are often not just missing keywords — they are missing explanations. A competitor may rank for “calculus derivatives,” but the opportunity may be “derivatives explained visually for high school students” or “derivatives mistakes beginners make.”

If you tell me your channel niche (e.g., coding, language learning, finance, science, history, exam prep), I can suggest the best competitor-analysis workflow and tools for that niche.

For an educational YouTube channel, you want tools that can answer:

1. What topics are competitors getting traffic from that I’m missing?
2. Which keywords have demand but weak competition?
3. What questions are viewers asking that other channels ignore?
4. Which videos are “outliers” (performing far above a channel’s average)?

The best options:

vidiq.comwww.semrush.com

My recommended stack for an educational channel

If you are under ~100k subscribers:

1. vidIQ → find what similar channels are winning with
2. YouTube Studio Analytics → find your own missed search opportunities
3. TubeBuddy → validate titles/keywords before publishing

This gives you a practical workflow without paying for enterprise SEO software. vidiq.comwww.semrush.com

If you have a serious education business (courses, newsletter, website):

• Use Semrush Keyword Gap or Ahrefs Content Gap to compare your site/content ecosystem against competitors.
• Then translate those gaps into YouTube videos. vidiq.comwww.semrush.com

A good keyword-gap workflow

1. Pick 5–10 competing educational channels.
2. Export their:
   • top videos
   • recurring topics
   • titles
   • keywords
   • videos with unusually high views
3. Look for:
   • topics they cover repeatedly but poorly
   • beginner questions they skip
   • advanced topics with weak explanations
   • outdated videos you can improve
4. Create videos targeting:
   • high search intent
   • low competition
   • clear learning outcome

Example:

Competitors:

• “Python tutorials”
• “Data science courses”

Gap:

• They teach “Python basics”
• Nobody explains “Python for accountants with Excel background”

Your opportunity:

“Python for Accountants: Automate Your Monthly Reports in 30 Minutes”

That type of positioning usually beats competing head-on for broad keywords.

If you tell me your education niche (e.g., math, coding, language learning, finance, science, history) and 3–5 competitor channels, I can suggest a specific keyword-gap research process.

Yes. If you mean YouTube uploads, there are several tools that can suggest tags, keywords, titles, and descriptions while you’re uploading so you don’t have to do SEO research manually. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ

Good options:

• vidiq.com — Probably the closest match to what you described. Its browser extension adds tools inside YouTube Studio, including AI title ideas, keyword suggestions, tag suggestions, and upload optimization features. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ
• tubebuddy.com — Has “Insta-Suggest,” which provides tag ideas while you’re filling out YouTube video details. TubeBuddy
• youtio.com — A Chrome extension focused on AI-generated titles, descriptions, tags, and SEO suggestions that can be applied in YouTube Studio. Youtio
• studiopilot.ca — More of an upload automation tool: it analyzes videos and can generate titles, descriptions, tags, chapters, and thumbnails before publishing. Studio Pilot

A couple of notes:

• YouTube itself says tags are a relatively minor discovery factor compared with your title, thumbnail, and description, so the best tools are the ones that help with all metadata—not just tags. Google Help
• If your workflow is “upload file → AI watches video → suggests keywords → fills metadata”, look for transcript/video-analysis features rather than simple tag generators. Studio Pilot Youtio

If you tell me your platform (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels, Vimeo, WordPress, etc.) and whether you want a browser extension, desktop app, or API/plugin, I can narrow it down.

Yes — if you mean YouTube, there are browser extensions that do exactly this inside the upload screen.

Best fit: vidIQ

vidIQ browser extension

When you're uploading in YouTube Studio, vidIQ can suggest:

• Tags based on your video
• Keywords and keyword opportunities
• Titles
• Descriptions
• Optimization recommendations
• A one-click Magic Fill that can populate title, description, and tags with AI suggestions support.vidiq.comwww.tubebuddy.com

So your workflow can essentially be:

Upload video → vidIQ analyzes it → accept suggested keywords/tags → tweak → publish.

Another good option: TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy's Insta-Suggest gives keyword/tag suggestions as you're entering tags in YouTube Studio, while Keyword Explorer helps evaluate search volume and competition. Its SEO Studio also walks you through optimizing the title, description, and tags. www.tubebuddy.com

My pick for your specific goal: vidIQ, because its upload integration is more directly geared toward automatically generating the metadata rather than just helping you research keywords.

One caveat: YouTube says tags themselves have relatively little ranking impact; they're most useful for things like misspellings and clarifying what the video is about. Your title, thumbnail, description, and actual viewer engagement matter considerably more. support.vidiq.com

If you tell me what platform you're uploading to (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc.), I can find the best tool that automatically suggests the tags/keywords while you're uploading.

If you mean YouTube specifically, my pick for an indie music creator is vidiq.com.

It’s the best single platform because it combines channel-specific keyword research + competitor/outlier research + content ideation, rather than just giving you generic SEO keywords.

My ranking

1. vidiq.com — best overall

• Shows keyword search volume, competition, related terms, questions, and an overall score. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ
• More importantly for an indie artist, it can identify keywords and topics that are opportunities for your particular channel, rather than simply telling you what's popular globally. vidIQ Help Center
• Its content-idea tools look at emerging trends, viral/outlier videos, content gaps, audience questions, top search terms, and your own successful videos. vidIQ Help Center
• That's a particularly good combination for music because you can turn one musical asset into multiple searchable concepts.
• YouTube Studio — best free/native option

• YouTube's own Trends tab shows what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for, including top searches. Google Help
• The Inspiration tab can generate ideas, titles, thumbnails, and outlines based partly on your channel data. Google Help
• I'd actually use this alongside vidIQ rather than instead of it.
• Google Trends — best for validating whether a music topic has broader momentum

• Particularly useful for comparing things like indie rock, bedroom pop, an artist/reference artist, a genre, or a song-related topic over time.
• But it's not nearly as channel-specific as vidIQ.

For an indie artist, here's the important distinction

I wouldn't optimize primarily around keywords like "indie music" or "new music." They're broad, competitive, and don't necessarily reveal what a potential fan wants.

I'd use vidIQ to find searchable intersections between your music and a viewer's intent, for example:

• "songs like [artist]"
• "indie rock 2026"
• "bedroom pop production"
• "how I made [song]"
• "making an indie song from scratch"
• "guitar tone like [artist]"
• "indie songwriting"
• "live acoustic version"
• "behind the song"
• "how to write [genre] songs"

Then look for high-demand / realistically competitive long-tail terms, rather than chasing the largest possible keyword. vidIQ explicitly incorporates search volume and competition into its keyword scoring. vidIQ Help Center

The setup I'd actually recommend

vidIQ + YouTube Studio, with each doing a different job:

YouTube Studio → discover what your existing audience wants.
vidIQ → quantify the opportunity and find adjacent topics.
Google Trends → check whether the idea has momentum beyond YouTube.

For an indie music creator, that is much more useful than paying for a generic SEO platform.

If you tell me your genre + 2–3 artists you're sonically similar to + whether you're trying to grow mainly through Shorts, full songs, or music/creator content, I can also give you a specific keyword/content-research workflow and the types of searches I'd target first.

If by “channel-level keyword research” you mean “I want a tool that understands my specific channel/audience and tells me what music-related topics I should make next,” my pick is vidIQ.

My ranking for an indie music creator

Why vidIQ: its current keyword system goes beyond generic keyword volume. It can surface “Keywords For You” based on your channel data, show the top search terms driving your channel's views/watch time, identify rising keywords, and generate related questions/terms. support.vidiq.com

That's particularly useful for an indie artist because you don't necessarily want “most searched music keywords.” You want things like:

• “bedroom pop production”
• “how to record vocals at home”
• “indie artist songwriting”
• “making an EP”
• “how I made this song”
• “live looping”
• “DIY music video”
• “songwriting challenge”
• “mixing vocals for indie rock”

…and, crucially, which of those have an opportunity for your channel.

vidIQ

But I wouldn't use vidIQ alone

For an indie music creator, I'd actually build a 3-tool stack:

1. vidIQ → YouTube strategy

Use it to identify:

• keywords your channel already gets discovered through
• rising searches
• low-competition topics
• questions people ask
• competitor/outlier videos
• clusters of related content ideas

vidIQ explicitly provides channel-level “Top Search Terms” showing which searches contribute to your views and watch time. support.vidiq.com

2. TikTok Creator Search Insights → short-form ideas

This is surprisingly valuable for musicians. TikTok's own Creator Search Insights surfaces personalized information about what people are searching for and can identify topics where there may be high search demand but insufficient content. support.tiktok.com

That's potentially fantastic for ideas like:

“Songs that sound like ___”
“How to get ___ guitar tone”
“Why does this chord progression sound sad?”
“Indie artists you should know”
“I turned this random lyric into a song”

3. TikTok Creative Center → what's breaking right now

Creative Center lets you investigate trending hashtags, songs, creators and videos by region/industry, while its trend analytics provide trendlines, related videos, audience insights and related hashtags. ads.tiktok.com

TikTok Creative Center

vidIQ vs TubeBuddy

I'd choose vidIQ if your primary problem is:

“What should I make?”

I'd choose TubeBuddy if your primary problem is:

“I already know what I'm making; how do I optimize and manage a bunch of YouTube videos?”

That's also broadly how the two currently differentiate themselves: vidIQ emphasizes research, ideas, competitors and discovery, whereas TubeBuddy emphasizes channel management, testing and optimization. vidiq.com

TubeBuddy

One important caveat for musicians

Don't optimize your strategy around keyword volume alone.

For an indie artist, I'd use keyword research to find audience problems/interests, then turn those into artist-led content. For example:

Keyword: “how to write indie songs”
→ boring: “How to Write an Indie Song”
→ better: “I Tried Writing an Indie Song Using Only 3 Chords”

Keyword: “bedroom pop production”
→ boring: “Bedroom Pop Production Tutorial”
→ better: “I Made My Bedroom Recording Sound Like a $50k Studio”

Keyword: “sad guitar chords”
→ better: “5 Chords That Instantly Make a Song Sound Heartbroken”

That's where I think the biggest opportunity is: use SEO/search data to choose the subject, but use your identity as an artist to package it.

If you're serious about growing as an indie artist

I'd start with vidIQ + TikTok Creator Search Insights + YouTube Studio, rather than paying for five different SEO platforms.

YouTube Studio is your actual first-party feedback loop; vidIQ is the discovery/research layer; TikTok Search Insights gives you another source of emerging audience demand.

If you tell me what kind of indie music you make + what platforms you're prioritizing (YouTube/TikTok/Instagram) + roughly how big your current audience is, I can recommend the exact research workflow and show you how I'd generate 30–50 content ideas from your niche without resorting to generic “post more consistently” advice.

If your fitness videos are on YouTube, I’d use a combination of YouTube Studio + a dedicated rank tracker.

• YouTube Studio — essential and free. Its Reach analytics shows impressions, impressions CTR, and the actual YouTube search terms that led viewers to your videos. This is the best source for understanding what is actually happening with your channel. Google Help

studio.youtube.com

• TubeBuddy — best if your priority is tracking rankings over time. Its Rank Tracker lets you specify keywords and monitor where your videos appear for those searches, including ranking changes over time. It also has keyword research and competition data. TubeBuddy TubeBuddy

tubebuddy.com

• vidIQ — best if you also want keyword discovery. It provides YouTube search-volume estimates, competition, trends, related keywords, and paid plans with keyword tracking over time. vidIQ

vidiq.com

What I'd choose for fitness

YouTube Studio + TubeBuddy is probably the strongest setup if your goal is:

"I want to know whether my videos are moving up for keywords like 10 minute ab workout, beginner strength workout, home workout for women, etc., and whether that is translating into impressions and views."

I'd track a spreadsheet/dashboard with keyword → current rank → rank 30 days ago → YouTube impressions → CTR → views from search → video.

One important distinction: YouTube Studio tells you which searches actually generated impressions/traffic; rank trackers tell you where you appear for keywords you're deliberately monitoring. You want both rather than relying on either metric alone. Google Help TubeBuddy

If you tell me roughly how many fitness videos you have and whether they're Shorts, long-form, or both, I can recommend the cheapest setup and exactly which metrics I'd track.

If you mean fitness videos on YouTube, you’ll want a tool that combines keyword rank tracking (where your videos appear in search) with impressions/search analytics (how often YouTube shows your videos). A few good options:

For a fitness channel, I’d usually pair:

1. YouTube Studio → see which videos are actually getting impressions from searches like “30 minute dumbbell workout,” “fat loss workout,” “mobility routine,” etc.
2. vidIQ or TubeBuddy → track target keywords weekly/monthly and see whether videos are moving up or down in search. vidIQ TubeBuddy
3. A spreadsheet/dashboard → track: - Target keyword
4. Video ranking position
5. Impressions
6. CTR
7. Views from YouTube Search
8. Average view duration
9. Subscribers gained

A simple fitness-video keyword tracking setup might look like:

• “beginner kettlebell workout” → rank #18 → improve title/thumbnail → monitor movement
• “10 minute ab workout” → rank #5 → create related videos and playlists
• “home workout no equipment” → high impressions but low CTR → test thumbnail/title

One important distinction: rankings tell you visibility; impressions tell you whether YouTube is actually distributing your video. A video can rank well but get few impressions if the keyword has low demand.

If you tell me whether your videos are on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Google search, and roughly how many videos/subscribers you have, I can suggest a more specific stack.

For a DIY YouTube channel, I’d recommend tubebuddy.com as the best all-around option.

Why it fits your use case:

• Competitor analysis: its tools can show you the SEO strategies and tags used by competing videos/channels. TubeBuddy TubeBuddy
• Keyword research: Keyword Explorer provides search-volume estimates, competition scores, related keywords, and the top-ranking videos for a search term. TubeBuddy
• Tag extraction: its browser extension can expose the tags on public competitor videos so you can see recurring patterns. TubeBuddy
• YouTube integration: it works directly within YouTube, so you can research a competitor video while viewing it. TubeBuddy

A cheaper/free alternative

tubelyst.com is interesting if your main goal is extracting competitor data rather than getting a full SEO suite. It offers free tools for extracting video tags, channel keywords, and identifying the most frequently reused tags across a channel. Tubelyst

Another strong option

vidiq.com is particularly good if you want competitor research combined with keyword discovery and trend spotting. Its extension provides competitor/keyword overlays and AI recommendations for titles, descriptions, and tags. vidIQ

My pick for you: Start with TubeBuddy, especially if you want to analyze several successful DIY channels and turn their recurring keywords/tags into your own content strategy. Don't simply copy their tags—look for repeated topic clusters such as DIY storage, budget makeover, woodworking, home improvement, etc., and then find lower-competition variations you can realistically rank for.

If you give me 2–5 DIY competitor channel URLs, I can also analyze them and identify the keyword/topic patterns worth targeting.

For a DIY YouTube channel, I’d start with vidIQ. It’s one of the better fits for what you described because it combines competitor channel tracking + keyword discovery + tag research. Its Competitors tool can compare channels, surface top-performing videos, and export competitor keywords, while its keyword tools provide search demand, competition, and related terms. vidiq.com

Other good options:

For a DIY niche, I’d use this workflow:

1. Pick 5–10 competitor channels (similar size and slightly larger).
2. Use vidIQ or TubeBuddy to collect:
   • recurring keywords in titles
   • tags on high-performing videos
   • phrases appearing in descriptions
   • videos with unusually high views compared with subscriber count
3. Build keyword clusters such as:
   • project type (“DIY floating shelves”)
   • skill level (“beginner woodworking projects”)
   • problem solved (“small bathroom storage ideas”)
   • material/tool (“pallet wood DIY ideas”)
4. Make videos around gaps competitors miss rather than copying their exact topics.

For a smaller DIY channel, I’d prioritize vidIQ + manual competitor review because DIY often wins through searchable problems and project ideas more than tags alone. vidiq.com

If you tell me your DIY sub-niche (woodworking, home decor, crafts, electronics, repairs, gardening, etc.), I can suggest the best competitor-analysis setup and keyword strategy for it.

For validating parenting video ideas by estimated search demand, you’ll usually want a mix of YouTube-specific keyword tools and trend validation tools. No tool has perfect YouTube search volume (YouTube does not publish exact keyword counts), so treat numbers as estimates and combine them with competition and trend signals. Reddit

Best tools for parenting content research

A good workflow for a parenting channel

1. Start with broad parenting problems:

• “newborn sleep”
• “toddler tantrums”
• “baby food ideas”
• “screen time limits”
• “positive discipline”
• Check demand:

• Search the phrase in vidIQ or TubeBuddy.
• Look for related questions people actually type.
• Check competition:

• Are the top videos from huge channels only?
• Are smaller parenting creators getting strong views?
• Check trends:

• Is interest rising or declining?
• Is it seasonal?
• Turn keywords into specific video angles:

• Weak: “Toddler sleep tips”
• Stronger: “3 mistakes keeping your toddler awake past bedtime”
• Stronger: “How I fixed my 2-year-old’s bedtime battles in 7 days”

For parenting specifically, I’d prioritize:

• vidIQ for quick idea scoring
• Google Trends for spotting timing opportunities
• CreatorKeyword or OutlierKit for finding less competitive angles

A useful test is: “Is this a problem parents actively search for, and can I answer it better or more specifically than existing videos?” That tends to outperform chasing only the biggest keywords.

If your goal is “I have a parenting video idea—how much demand is there, and is it worth making?”, I’d prioritize YouTube-specific keyword tools rather than general SEO software.

Best options

My pick for parenting content: vidIQ

For example, suppose you're considering:

• “how to stop toddler tantrums”
• “gentle parenting mistakes”
• “3 year old won't listen”
• “how to get kids to sleep”
• “screen time for toddlers”

vidIQ lets you enter the topic and see estimated YouTube search volume, competition, related keywords and an overall keyword score. Its current documentation says the search-volume estimate is based on a rolling 30-day period. support.vidiq.comsupport.google.comvidiq.com

That's particularly useful because “parenting” is too broad to validate a video idea. You want to discover the specific language parents use.

The workflow I'd use

1. Brainstorm 20–50 parenting ideas.

2. Put each into vidIQ.

Look for combinations of:

High demand + relatively low competition + strong parent intent

For example, “toddler tantrums” may have huge demand but enormous competition, while something like “3 year old screaming at bedtime” could have considerably less competition and still represent a very specific problem a parent urgently wants solved.

3. Put your finalists into Google Trends.

Google Trends is excellent for determining whether interest is growing, seasonal, or fading, and lets you compare multiple topics and examine related searches. support.google.comvidiq.com

This is especially valuable for parenting because demand is highly seasonal. Topics such as potty training, back-to-school anxiety, summer activities, baby sleep, Christmas activities, etc. can behave very differently throughout the year.

4. Finally, search the topic directly on YouTube.

Look at the first page and ask:

• Are the top videos old?
• Are relatively small channels getting substantial views?
• Are there obvious unanswered questions?
• Are the thumbnails/titles weak?
• Are parents asking more specific versions of the question in comments?

That's often more informative than search volume alone.

One important caveat

Don't treat any tool's “monthly searches” number as an exact measurement. YouTube doesn't publicly expose a perfect keyword-volume database, so these figures are estimates/modelled data. Even vidIQ describes its volume as an estimate. support.vidiq.com

For parenting, I'd therefore score ideas on four dimensions:

Demand × trend × competition × problem urgency

A topic with 10,000 estimated searches and intense competition may be a worse opportunity than a very specific parenting problem with 2,000 searches and almost no good videos.

If you're building a parenting YouTube channel, I'd start with vidIQ + Google Trends rather than paying for Ahrefs/Semrush. vidIQ gives you the YouTube-specific demand/competition signal, while Trends tells you whether the underlying interest is actually moving. support.google.comvidiq.com

If you tell me what kind of parenting content you're considering (toddlers, newborns, discipline, sleep, homeschooling, activities, dad content, etc.), I can also show you a concrete topic-validation framework with example keywords and what numbers I'd consider promising.

If you’re planning 100 videos for an ecommerce product channel, I’d optimize for bulk topic discovery + keyword scoring + competitor research + reusable tag/metadata workflows, rather than just a “tag generator.”

My top pick: vidiq.com

For your use case, vidIQ is probably the best overall choice.

Why:

• Keyword research: gives search-volume estimates, competition, related keywords, matching terms, and question-based searches. vidIQ Help Center
• Opportunity scoring: useful for finding keywords where demand and competition make sense for a smaller/newer channel.
• Bulk-ish research workflow: you can export keyword research to CSV, which is particularly useful when building a 100-video content database. vidIQ Help Center
• Competitor research: its extension lets you inspect videos and channels while researching.
• Tags: it can generate recommended tags, reuse tag templates, and copy tags between videos. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ Help Center
• Content planning: it also has AI content ideas, titles, descriptions, etc. vidIQ

vidiq.com

Runner-up: tubebuddy.com

I'd consider TubeBuddy if your main problem is managing and optimizing a large number of videos after you've already chosen the topics.

It has keyword research, Tag Explorer, suggested tags, tag rankings, topic planning, and tag-list management. Google Play TubeBuddy

A recent comparison specifically rates vidIQ stronger for keyword research and TubeBuddy stronger for bulk metadata optimization. TubeAnalytics

What I'd actually use for 100 ecommerce videos

I wouldn't make “tags” the center of the research.

I'd build a spreadsheet with 100 rows, something like:

Then use vidIQ to research each product/topic cluster, rather than researching 100 completely unrelated keywords.

For example, if you sell a coffee product, you might create clusters:

• [product] review
• best [product category]
• [product] vs [competitor]
• how to use [product]
• [product] problems
• [product] setup
• [product] accessories
• [product] for beginners
• [product] worth it
• [product] alternatives
• [product] comparison
• [product] tutorial

That can turn 10–20 seed topics into hundreds of keyword possibilities, from which you select your 100 videos.

One important point about tags

Don't spend hours trying to find the “perfect” tags.

YouTube itself gives tags relatively little importance compared with the actual content, title, thumbnail, viewer satisfaction, and engagement. Even vidIQ notes that tags mainly help with things like misspellings and additional context. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ Help Center

For an ecommerce channel, I'd spend your research time roughly like this:

40% → video topics/search demand
25% → competitor/video research
20% → titles + search intent
10% → product/commercial intent
5% → tags

That's much more likely to produce 100 videos that actually have a purpose.

If you're serious about doing all 100 at once

I'd actually recommend a vidIQ + spreadsheet/AI workflow, rather than trying to find one magic piece of software that automatically researches everything.

You can give me:

1. Your product(s)
2. Your website/product category
3. Your target customer
4. Whether these are long-form, Shorts, or both
5. Your approximate channel size/current subscribers

…and I can lay out a 100-video keyword research system, including the spreadsheet columns, keyword scoring formula, video categories, commercial-intent scoring, and a process for turning your products into 100 prioritized YouTube topics.

For an ecommerce channel, I'd spend your research time roughly like this:

For 100 planned ecommerce YouTube videos, I’d prioritize tools that let you research many topics quickly, identify realistic search opportunities, and turn each topic into a keyword/tag package—not just tools that generate tags.

My ranking

🥇 For your specific use case: vidIQ

I'd start with vidIQ.

It currently combines keyword research, competition/search-volume information, related keywords, questions, tag generation, competitor research, and content ideation. Its newer research tools also allow comparing multiple keywords and looking at trend momentum. vidIQ vidIQ

vidiq.com

The important thing for your 100-video project is that you don't want to research each video from scratch.

I'd build a spreadsheet like:

| Product | Video concept | Primary keyword | Secondary keywords | Search demand | Competition | Search intent | Tags | Title

--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
1 | Product A | How to use X | how to use X | X tutorial, X setup... | High | Low | Tutorial | ... | ...
2 | Product A | X vs Y | X vs Y | X comparison... | Med | Med | Comparison | ... | ...
3 | Product A | Best X for... | best X | X for beginners... | High | Med | Commercial | ... | ...

That lets you research 100 videos as a content portfolio, rather than 100 isolated keywords.

🥈 TubeBuddy is particularly interesting for 100 videos

TubeBuddy is worth considering if your emphasis is managing and optimizing a large number of videos, rather than purely discovering keywords.

Its ecosystem includes Tag Explorer, suggested tags, tag-list management, topic planning, and other YouTube optimization functions. TubeBuddy TubeBuddy

tubebuddy.com

For a channel with 100 planned uploads, I could see a vidIQ + TubeBuddy workflow making sense, although I'd avoid paying for both initially.

🥉 Add Semrush if these are ecommerce products

This is where I'd make your setup different from a normal YouTube creator.

If you're selling products, your keyword research shouldn't be limited to YouTube.

You want to know things like:

• "best [product]"
• "[product] review"
• "[product] alternatives"
• "[product] vs [competitor]"
• "how to use [product]"
• "[product] for beginners"
• "[product] problems"
• "[product] worth it"
• "[product] comparison"
• "[product] accessories"

Google search demand can reveal commercial intent that YouTube-specific tools may not capture as well.

So I'd use a YouTube tool for YouTube opportunity and Semrush/Ahrefs for overall search/commercial opportunity.

One important thing about "tags"

Don't over-invest in tags.

YouTube tags are useful for helping clarify a video's topic, but your primary keyword, title, thumbnail, viewer satisfaction/retention, and overall topic fit are much more important.

For each of your 100 videos, I'd generate:

1 primary keyword
→ The exact search intent you're targeting.

3–8 secondary keywords
→ Closely related searches/questions.

5–15 tags
→ Variations, product names, common misspellings, related terms, etc.

1–3 hashtags
→ Only genuinely relevant ones.

Then build the title around the search intent, rather than stuffing every keyword into it. TubeBuddy's own guidance similarly emphasizes putting the main keyword first and avoiding keyword stuffing. TubeBuddy

What I'd actually do with your 100 videos

If this were my ecommerce channel, I'd use:

vidIQ → primary YouTube research

Semrush/Ahrefs → commercial/Google research

Google Sheets/Excel → master 100-video database

YouTube Studio → validate against your actual audience once the channel has data

YouTube Studio's Research functionality can show searches across YouTube and searches from your own viewers, which becomes particularly valuable once your channel has enough audience data. vidIQ

Even better: don't start with 100 keywords

Start with your products + customer problems + buying stages.

For example, if you sell a hypothetical kitchen product, I'd build clusters such as:

• Problem: "how to stop X"
• Education: "how does X work"
• Comparison: "X vs Y"
• Review: "X review"
• Buying: "best X"
• Use case: "X for small kitchens"
• Beginner: "X for beginners"
• Troubleshooting: "X not working"
• Alternatives: "X alternatives"
• Commercial: "is X worth it"
• Product-specific: "[your product] review"
• Competitor: "[competitor] vs [your product]"

Then turn those clusters into your 100-video plan.

If you tell me what your ecommerce product/channel sells, I can also help you build a 100-video keyword research system—columns, scoring formula, keyword clusters, and a workflow for going from 10–20 seed terms to 100 prioritized videos.

For each of your 100 videos, I'd generate:

1 primary keyword
→ The exact search intent you're targeting.

3–8 secondary keywords
→ Closely related searches/questions.

5–15 tags
→ Variations, product names, common misspellings, related terms, etc.

1–3 hashtags
→ Only genuinely relevant ones.

Then build the title around the search intent, rather than stuffing every keyword into it. TubeBuddy's own guidance similarly emphasizes putting the main keyword first and avoiding keyword stuffing. TubeBuddy

What I'd actually do with your 100 videos

If this were my ecommerce channel, I'd use:

vidIQ → primary YouTube research

Semrush/Ahrefs → commercial/Google research

Google Sheets/Excel → master 100-video database

YouTube Studio → validate against your actual audience once the channel has data

YouTube Studio's Research functionality can show searches across YouTube and searches from your own viewers, which becomes particularly valuable once your channel has enough audience data.

Even better: don't start with 100 keywords

Start with your products + customer problems + buying stages.

For example, if you sell a hypothetical kitchen product, I'd build clusters such as:

If by “underserved keywords” you mean search terms with meaningful demand but relatively weak YouTube competition in each language/region, I’d use a stack rather than one platform.

My pick: vidIQ + Google Trends + YouTube Studio

• vidIQ — probably the best primary tool for your use case. Its YouTube workflow combines keyword ideas, estimated demand, competition, related queries, trends, and competitor/outlier research. Current 2026 comparisons specifically highlight its multilingual keyword capabilities. TubeAnalytics vidIQ

vidiq.com

• Google Trends — use this to determine whether the opportunity is actually localized. You can compare terms in different languages and filter by country/region. Importantly, Google Trends treats terms in their searched language rather than simply translating them. Google Help

trends.google.com

• YouTube Studio — this is your validation layer. Once you have enough uploads, look at the actual search terms generating impressions for your channel. That tells you which language-specific phrases YouTube is actually associating with your content, rather than relying entirely on modeled keyword volumes. TubeAnalytics TubeAnalytics

studio.youtube.com

For a bilingual channel, I'd do this

Don't translate an English keyword and assume the equivalent phrase is the opportunity.

For example, if your languages were English + Spanish, I'd research:

English seed → native Spanish seed → regional variants → YouTube autocomplete → competing videos → actual Studio impressions

Then look for keywords where:

Demand ↑ + competition ↓ + few strong videos answering the exact query = underserved opportunity

Google Trends is particularly useful here because you can compare the native terms across countries rather than treating “Spanish” as one homogeneous market. Google Help

Where Ahrefs fits

Ahrefs is better if your bilingual strategy also includes a website/Google SEO component. It has broader country-level keyword research, but vidIQ is the more natural choice when the primary objective is finding YouTube opportunities. vidIQ
ahrefs.com

Bottom line: For a bilingual YouTube channel, I'd start with vidIQ for discovery → Google Trends for regional/language validation → YouTube Studio for real-world validation. That's much more reliable than simply finding high-volume translated keywords.

If you tell me the two languages + your channel niche + target countries, I can identify the best platform/workflow for that specific market and show you how I'd hunt for underserved keywords.

If your goal is specifically to surface underserved keywords in the non-English side of a bilingual YouTube channel, I’d use a stack rather than one platform:

1. vidiq.com — best primary tool.

It is the strongest fit for YouTube-specific discovery because it provides estimated search volume, competition, related queries, questions, and trend information. It also supports multilingual keyword research. vidIQ vidIQ Help Center

2. trends.google.com — best for finding language/market gaps.

This is especially valuable for bilingual channels because you can compare the same concept in two languages and isolate countries/regions. Google explicitly supports comparing terms across languages and geography. Google Help Google News Initiative

3. YouTube Studio Trends — best validation layer.

YouTube's Trends tab shows what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for, although some insights are currently limited by country, language, and device. Google Help

The workflow I'd use

For example, if your channel is English + Spanish:

Google Trends → identify Spanish-market demand → vidIQ → measure YouTube competition → YouTube Studio → see whether your actual viewers are searching for it.

The key is not to translate your English keywords into Spanish and call that keyword research. Search behavior differs by language and region; e.g., Mexican Spanish, U.S. Spanish, and Spanish from Spain can produce very different opportunities.

So if you're asking “Which single platform should I pay for?”, I'd pick vidIQ.

If you're asking “Which combination is most likely to uncover genuinely underserved bilingual opportunities?”, I'd pick vidIQ + Google Trends + YouTube Studio.

If you tell me the two languages, your niche, and the countries you're targeting, I can also show you exactly how I'd hunt for the low-competition keywords.

Yes. If you mean a tool that can look at your actual YouTube channel and tell you which keywords/topics you should target next, there are a few good options.

Best options

• vidiq.com — probably the closest match to what you're describing. It combines keyword research, competition, trends, competitor research, content ideas, and channel/video optimization. Its keyword tools provide search-volume, competition, related-query, and trend information. vidIQ
• tubebuddy.com — stronger if you want to audit and optimize an existing library of videos. Its Keyword Explorer and SEO workflow can help identify keywords your channel has a realistic chance of ranking for. vidIQ
• YouTube Studio's native Trends tab — don't overlook this. YouTube now shows your audience's top searches, breakout videos, audience interest, and content gaps, which is particularly useful because the data is tied to your actual audience. Google Help

What I'd recommend

If your goal is channel growth rather than simply stuffing keywords into titles/tags, I'd use:

YouTube Studio Trends → vidIQ → your own Analytics

That lets you identify:

1. What your viewers are already searching for.
2. Which topics have demand but relatively weak competition.
3. Which keywords your existing videos are getting discovered for.
4. Which competitors are getting unusual/outlier performance.
5. Where there are content gaps you could exploit.
6. Which existing videos could be retitled/repackaged around stronger search intent.

You can also get much more sophisticated by pulling your channel's Analytics data through the YouTube Analytics API and analyzing it programmatically. Google's API supports retrieving channel/video viewing statistics and building custom reports. Google for Developers

And I can actually do the audit with you. If you give me your YouTube channel URL, I can research the channel, examine its niche/content positioning and competing channels, identify keyword/topic opportunities, and give you a prioritized "target these keywords / stop targeting these / make these videos next" strategy.

Yes. If you mean YouTube, there are tools that can audit your existing channel, identify the keywords/topics actually driving discovery, find keyword opportunities, and turn that into growth recommendations.

Best option: vidiq.com

vidIQ is probably the closest match to what you're describing. Its Channel Audit analyzes things like:

• Your top search terms and traffic sources
• Videos generating the most views, watch time, and subscribers
• Audience retention and engagement
• Underperforming videos
• Competitor/outlier content
• Titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, playlists, etc.
• Opportunities to "double down" on topics that are already working vidIQ Help Center vidIQ

Its keyword research also provides search volume, competition, related keywords, questions, and rising keywords, which is useful for building a keyword strategy rather than just optimizing individual videos. vidIQ Help Center

Don't overlook YouTube's own tool

studio.youtube.com now has a Trends section in Analytics. It can show what your audience is searching for, breakout videos, recent videos they're watching, and content gaps—particularly useful because it's based on YouTube's own audience/search data. Google Help Google Help

What I'd recommend

Rather than blindly optimizing every video for keywords, I'd use this workflow:

Your channel data → winning topics → search opportunities → competitor gaps → titles/thumbnails → content plan

That's more likely to produce growth than simply stuffing keywords into descriptions and tags.

If you give me your YouTube channel URL, I can also audit the public-facing strategy myself—looking at your recent videos, titles, topics, positioning, competitors, and keyword opportunities—and give you a prioritized "keep / change / stop / start" growth strategy.

For an art-focused YouTube channel, I’d narrow it to three tools:

• vidiq.com — best overall for competitor research + keywords. It can surface competitor patterns, outlier videos, keyword demand/competition, related queries, and rising keywords. Its research-oriented workflow is particularly useful for figuring out why similar art videos are getting attention and adapting the topic/title strategy. vidIQ vidIQ
• tubebuddy.com — best for thumbnail/title optimization. Its Keyword Explorer provides competition and search-related data, while its Thumbnail Analyzer can compare thumbnails and provide AI-based analysis. It also has A/B testing capabilities, which is valuable for actually learning which packaging works on your audience. TubeBuddy
• YouTube Studio — don't overlook the free option. YouTube's own Inspiration tools can suggest titles and thumbnails based on related content, while Analytics can show what videos your audience watches and what they're searching for. Google Help Google Help

What I'd choose for an art channel

If your main problem is “What are my competitors doing that I should learn from?” → vidIQ.

If your main problem is “How do I make my thumbnails/titles more clickable?” → TubeBuddy.

If you want the strongest workflow → use vidIQ + YouTube Studio, then use TubeBuddy if you want serious thumbnail/title testing.

One important caveat: don't simply copy competitors' keywords. For art, I'd look for patterns such as:

subject + emotion + transformation + curiosity

For example, instead of a generic title like “Watercolor Landscape Painting Tutorial”, research whether your competitors are succeeding with concepts such as “I Tried Painting a Storm in Watercolor”, “This One Watercolor Mistake Ruined Everything”, or “Can I Paint This Landscape in 30 Minutes?”

Then make the thumbnail communicate the visual payoff rather than repeating the title.

If you tell me what kind of art your channel makes (digital painting, watercolor, acrylic, drawing, AI art, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can recommend the best specific tool + workflow for analyzing 5–10 competing channels.

Yes. For an art channel, I’d focus less on generic SEO tools and more on tools that can identify outlier videos, title patterns, keywords, and thumbnail/packaging patterns among channels similar to yours.

My top picks

• vidiq.com — best all-around choice.

Strong for competitor tracking, keyword research, trends, outlier videos, and AI-assisted title/content ideas. It’s particularly useful if you want to study what competitors are doing and turn that into your own video ideas. vidIQ TubeAnalytics

• tubebuddy.com — best for optimization/testing.

Good for keyword research, metadata/SEO, title and thumbnail analysis, and testing different packaging. Its advantage is what happens after you've generated ideas: you can optimize and test them rather than just copying competitor patterns. vidIQ TubeSpanner

• outlierkit.com — interesting if competitor research is your main goal.

It emphasizes finding videos that dramatically outperform a channel's normal performance, which is much more useful than simply looking at a competitor's most-viewed videos. That can reveal unusual art topics, hooks, titles, and formats worth investigating. UTubeKit

• viewstats.com — good for seeing what's actually winning.

Particularly useful for competitor/outlier research and studying successful video trends and packaging. TubeAnalytics

What I'd use for an art channel

If your goal is:

“Show me what successful art channels are doing, find gaps, then tell me how to make my title + thumbnail more clickable.”

I'd start with vidIQ + YouTube Studio.

The workflow would be:

1. Put 5–10 successful art competitors into vidIQ.
2. Find their outlier videos rather than simply their highest-viewed videos.
3. Look for recurring title structures: - “I Tried ___”
4. “I Painted ___ Every Day for 30 Days”
5. “Can I Paint ___?”
6. “The Problem With ___”
7. “I Turned ___ Into Art”
8. Research the keywords around those topics.
9. Study the thumbnails for recurring visual patterns: face/no face, finished artwork size, text/no text, color contrast, before/after, extreme close-up, etc.
10. Generate several distinct title + thumbnail concepts rather than one “optimized” version.
11. Test the strongest candidates on your own videos.

YouTube itself now supports testing up to three titles, thumbnails, or combinations of both on eligible long-form videos, with the winner determined by watch time. Google Help

One important caveat: competitor tools can tell you what correlates with success, but they can't reliably tell you that a particular thumbnail will perform better for your audience. Your own A/B tests are the final arbiter.

If you tell me what kind of art your channel makes (digital painting, traditional painting, drawing, AI art, watercolor, tutorials, speedpaints, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 tools and a competitor-analysis workflow specifically for your niche.

Yes. vidiq.com is probably the closest fit for what you're describing.

It combines:

• Keyword research: YouTube search volume estimates, competition, related keywords, trends, and keyword scoring. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ
• Tag/keyword analysis: It can inspect tags on videos, identify ranked tags, and recommend relevant tags. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ Help Center
• Competitor research: Its YouTube extension overlays keyword, SEO, tag, and competitor information while you're browsing videos. vidIQ
• Your channel's actual search terms: vidIQ can surface the search terms that are already bringing viewers to your videos, including their contribution to views and watch time. vidIQ Help Center
• Trend discovery: It has rising-keyword functionality, while YouTube Studio itself now has a Trends tab for searches relevant to your audience. vidIQ Help Center Google Support

The important caveat about CTR

For actual CTR, I'd still use YouTube Studio as the source of truth. YouTube reports impressions and impressions click-through rate in the Reach tab, along with the search terms that led viewers to your videos. Google Support

So the strongest setup for a tutorial channel is:

vidIQ → keyword opportunity + competitor/tag research
YouTube Studio → actual impressions + CTR + search terms + watch time

That lets you answer a much more useful question than simply "what keywords have high volume?"

For example:

Keyword: "Excel pivot tables tutorial"
Demand: high
Competition: medium
Your videos ranking: #4, #11
CTR: 7.8%
Watch time: strong
Conclusion: make another tutorial around the same search intent.

One other thing: don't overvalue tags. YouTube says tags play a minimal role in ranking and are primarily useful for things like misspellings and clarifying content. vidIQ Help Center

If you tell me what kind of tutorials you make (Excel, coding, Photoshop, woodworking, music, etc.), I can recommend the best tool stack specifically for that niche and explain what I'd track week-to-week.

Yes. For a tutorial channel, the closest all-in-one tools are YouTube creator SEO suites that combine keyword discovery, tag analysis, competitor data, and (to varying degrees) click-through-rate optimization. No third-party tool has access to all of YouTube’s internal CTR data, but some combine estimates with your connected YouTube Analytics data. vidIQ TubeBuddy

Here are the main options:

vidIQ TubeBuddy RankVidsFor a tutorial channel, I’d typically use this workflow:

1. Find topics

• Use vidIQ or TubeBuddy to find phrases with good demand but manageable competition.
• Example: instead of “Excel tutorial,” target “Excel pivot table for beginners 2026” if the data suggests it is easier to rank.
• Analyze winning videos

• Look at the tags, titles, and descriptions used by videos already ranking.
• Extract recurring keywords and viewer intent patterns. TubeBuddy
• Improve CTR

• Use your own YouTube Studio analytics for the real CTR number.
• Pair it with TubeBuddy’s thumbnail/title testing tools if you want controlled experiments. TubeBuddy
• Track results

• Monitor which keywords actually bring impressions, clicks, and watch time.
• Don’t optimize only for tags—YouTube relies heavily on viewer satisfaction signals like watch time and engagement too. TubeBuddy

If you tell me your tutorial niche (software, coding, cooking, DIY, education, etc.) and channel size, I can suggest the tool stack that fits better.

For monetized product review videos (affiliate links, Amazon Associates, brand deals, SaaS referrals, etc.), you want tools that find buyer-intent keywords, not just high-volume search terms. The best stack is usually a combination of YouTube SEO + competitor research + commercial-intent analysis.

Top choices

1. vidIQ — Best overall for finding profitable video opportunities

vidiq.com

Best for:

• Finding rising product searches
• Competitor analysis
• Discovering keywords before they become saturated
• Generating review angles

Strong keyword patterns to research:

• “best [product] for [use case]”
• “[product] review”
• “[product] vs [competitor]”
• “[product] worth it”
• “[product] problems”
• “[product] alternatives”

vidIQ focuses heavily on keyword ideas, trends, competitor insights, and content planning. vidIQ Semrush

Best for: creators who need to decide what products to review next.

2. TubeBuddy — Best for optimizing videos that already have commercial potential

tubebuddy.com

Best for:

• Keyword scoring
• Tags
• SEO optimization
• Title testing
• Upload workflow

Its Keyword Explorer helps evaluate competition, search interest, and related terms. TubeBuddy

Best for: turning a product review idea into a video more likely to rank.

3. Semrush — Best for finding buyer-intent keywords beyond YouTube

semrush.com

Best for:

• Google search demand
• Affiliate keyword research
• Finding commercial queries
• Comparing brands/products

Useful when your videos also rank in Google.

Example:

• “Dyson Airwrap review”
• “Dyson Airwrap alternatives”
• “best hair dryer for fine hair”

These terms often convert better than broad searches like “hair dryer.”

4. Ahrefs — Best for deep affiliate research

ahrefs.com

Best for:

• Finding low-competition money keywords
• Competitor analysis
• Content gaps

Useful if you are building a review channel as a business rather than casually uploading.

My recommended stack for a product review channel

Beginner / under 10k subscribers

1. vidIQ → find products and topics
2. TubeBuddy → optimize titles, tags, descriptions
3. YouTube autocomplete → validate real search behavior

Growing affiliate channel

1. vidIQ → topic discovery
2. Semrush → commercial keyword validation
3. TubeBuddy → publishing optimization
4. YouTube Studio → measure actual conversions

Serious revenue-focused channel

1. Ahrefs/Semrush → find profitable niches
2. vidIQ → YouTube opportunity discovery
3. TubeBuddy → SEO/testing workflow
4. Spreadsheet tracking: - keyword
5. product price
6. commission rate
7. estimated monthly searches
8. competitor video age/views

High-conversion keyword formulas for product reviews

These usually outperform generic tags:

Purchase-ready

• “[product] review 2026”
• “should I buy [product]”
• “[product] honest review”
• “[product] worth it”
• “[product] after 30 days”

Comparison

• “[A] vs [B]”
• “[A] vs [B] which is better”
• “[A] alternative”
• “best alternative to [product]”

Problem-solving

• “best [product] for [specific person/problem]”
• “best [product] under $___”
• “best [product] for beginners”
• “best [product] for professionals”

Trust-building

• “things I wish I knew before buying [product]”
• “[product] hidden problems”
• “[product] pros and cons”

If the goal is affiliate revenue, I would prioritize vidIQ + Semrush + TubeBuddy rather than chasing viral keywords. High-intent searches from people already close to buying usually produce fewer views but much higher earnings. vidIQ Semrush

If your goal is high-conversion product-review videos, I’d prioritize tools that find buyer-intent keywords, not just high-volume keywords.

My picks

1. vidiq.com — best overall

• Strong YouTube-native keyword scoring, search-demand estimates, competition analysis, related keywords, and competitor research.
• Good for finding phrases such as “[product] review,” “[product] vs [competitor],” “best [product] under $X,” and “is [product] worth it?”
• Particularly useful when you want one tool for research + ideation + optimization. TubeAnalytics YTGrowth
• outlierkit.com — best for finding less-obvious opportunities

• Especially interesting for product-review channels because it focuses on low-competition keywords and outlier videos—videos that substantially outperform a channel's normal performance.
• Its niche research also includes RPM/competition information, which is more relevant to monetized channels than keyword volume alone. OutlierKit Market Correct
• tubebuddy.com — best for tags + optimization

• Particularly useful once you've chosen your topic: keyword exploration, metadata optimization, tag management, and bulk channel optimization.
• I'd choose it over vidIQ if metadata/tag workflow is your primary concern. Ahrefs LensPOV
• tubeanalytics.net — most interesting for an already-monetized channel

• The differentiator is connecting keyword performance with actual revenue, RPM, CTR, retention, and channel performance.
• That's valuable because the keyword with the most views isn't necessarily the keyword producing the most money. TubeAnalytics TubeAnalytics
• ahrefs.com — best if you also do website/Google SEO

• Excellent broader SEO platform with a YouTube keyword tool, but I'd consider it overkill if you're doing YouTube exclusively. Ahrefs 1of10

For product reviews, I'd use this stack

If you're starting out:
vidIQ + YouTube Studio

If you're serious about finding underserved products/topics:
OutlierKit + vidIQ

If you're already making meaningful affiliate/ad revenue:
OutlierKit + vidIQ + TubeAnalytics

The important distinction is that tags shouldn't be your main SEO strategy. Your biggest opportunity is finding a keyword with commercial intent + sufficient demand + competition you can realistically beat. Tags can reinforce the topic, but title/topic/thumbnail and viewer response matter much more.

For example, I'd rank these types of keywords roughly like this:

• “[Product] review” → high buyer intent
• “[Product] vs [Competitor]” → very high comparison intent
• “[Product] worth it?” → extremely strong purchase intent
• “best [product category] under $100” → strong commercial intent
• “[Product] long-term review” → strong intent, often less saturated
• “[Product] unboxing” → moderate intent
• “[Product]” → huge potential volume, but often weakly targeted and highly competitive

For a monetized review channel, I'd actually optimize for revenue per 1,000 views, not merely views. A 10,000-view comparison between two $500 products can be substantially more valuable than a 100,000-view video about a $15 gadget.

If you tell me your product niche (tech, Amazon products, appliances, software/SaaS, beauty, tools, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers the channel has, I can recommend the specific tool + keyword filters + buyer-intent keyword formulas I'd use for that channel.

For a travel channel, I’d look for a tool that doesn’t just translate keywords but finds the phrases people actually search in each country (for example, “best hidden gems in Japan” might be searched very differently in Japanese than a literal translation suggests). BeTranslated Wander Women Strategies

My top recommendations:

1. semrush.com — Best all-rounder for growing an international channel

• Good for researching keywords by country and language.
• Helps find competitor keywords, search volume, and content gaps.
• Useful if you’re expanding a travel blog alongside YouTube.
• Best for: creators building a long-term international SEO strategy. Crisol Translation Services

2. ahrefs.com — Best for competitor-led expansion

• Find what travel creators and websites rank for in different markets.
• Useful for discovering local travel topics you may not have considered.
• Best for: “What are Spanish/German/Japanese travel audiences already watching and searching?” research. Global KW Finder

3. vidiq.com — Best if your main focus is YouTube

• Built around YouTube discovery rather than general web SEO.
• Helps with keyword ideas, titles, and optimization for multiple languages.
• Good workflow: research a topic → check local keyword interest → create localized titles/descriptions. TubeAnalytics

4. trends.google.com + ads.google.com — Best free starting setup

• Compare travel interests by country.
• Spot seasonal demand (“Italy summer itinerary”, “Northern Lights tour”, etc.).
• Pair with a translation/localization tool because raw translations can miss how locals search. Crisol Translation Services

5. sextaris.com — Best niche option for travel destinations

• Focuses on tourism search demand by country and language.
• Useful for identifying which markets are actively searching for a destination. Sextaris

My suggested stack for a travel creator

• YouTube growth: vidIQ + YouTube Studio analytics
• International SEO: Ahrefs or Semrush
• Localization decisions: Google Trends + native-language review
• Destination targeting: Sextaris

One important tip: avoid simply translating your English titles. A title like “10 Hidden Gems in Portugal” might become a different phrase in German, Japanese, or Korean because travelers in those markets often search with different wording and intent. Wander Women Strategies

If you tell me your target languages (e.g., Spanish, Japanese, German) and whether your channel is mainly YouTube Shorts, long-form YouTube, or a travel blog, I can suggest a more specific workflow.