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Aug 18, 2022
From the point of view of a social media newbie, hashtags are just a bunch of meaningless words added to posts on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. But people who know about social media know that they are much more than that.
They’re important on platforms where you don’t even notice them!
For instance, YouTube’s use of hashtags caught marketers’ attention because the platform uses hashtags differently than other social media sites. If you understand the differences, they can be a vital tool for helping people find your channel.
In this article, our Miami SEO services team will look at how to add hashtags to YouTube to get more people to watch videos. Let's start with the essentials.
Hashtags first became popular on YouTube in July of 2018, as a way of making it easier to find videos and put them in separate categories. They are added to the title or description of a video and give a general idea of what it is about using the "#" symbol.
For example, one episode of America's Got Talent uses three hashtags: "#AGT," "#AmericasGotTalent," and "#Auditions."
These hashtags are shown in blue so that they are easy to see. Viewers can find other videos on the same topic when they click on them. If a viewer clicks on "#AmericasGotTalent," for example, they will be taken to a screen with search results containing more videos about the same topic.
Hashtags on YouTube aid in categorizing videos. Rather than jumping to the most recent reply in a conversation, as on Twitter, clicking on YouTube hashtags takes you to a page of the most recent videos uploaded with that hashtag.
It also completely ignores any relevant conversation happening in the comments section of any video page.
Typically, social media platforms use hashtags to help you find ongoing conversations about a subject. As you can see, this isn’t the real purpose of YouTube hashtags.
Now that we understand this essential difference, let's look at how these hashtags can help you get more views.
Viewers may prefer to click on a hashtag they found while looking through a YouTube channel instead of manually searching for trending and related content. If you used a hashtag and your video came up high in a YouTube search, the viewer might find it.
In addition, users can also manually search for a hashtag to find videos about current events or other hot topics.
Because YouTube's algorithm treats "#DigitalResource" differently than "Digital Resource," using a hashtag gives your video a second chance to appear in search results.
Since hashtags are clickable, they can lead people away from your videos to watch other content that is related. This means you would lose a viewer who could have spent more time on your channel.
This loss of audience retention can't be avoided since hashtags are easy to see and can invite clicks. But if you share your videos, they should become "discoverable."
However, it's unclear if the people you gain by using hashtags are more important than the ones you lose.
It's not exactly a complicated process to add hashtags to your videos on YouTube. In fact, all you have to do is to place a hash mark (#) in front of your word or phrase, without any spaces or dashes in between.
Take a look at our YouTube video below, which was created to appeal to our audience of small business owners. As you can see, the following hashtags were used:
YouTube hashtags can be added in two places: the video title and/or the video description.
Here's what hashtags in the video title look like:
And here's how hashtags appear in the video description:
Even if you include multiple hashtags in your video description, only the first three will be displayed above the title of your video.
Remember that if a viewer clicks on a hashtag in your video's title, description, or above the title, they will be directed to a search page containing videos that use the same hashtags.
So, where should you put hashtags in your videos?
When you add hashtags directly to your YouTube titles, you lose valuable space that could have been used to make your titles more convincing. Some people also believe it looks unprofessional.
However, using hashtags in YouTube descriptions allows you to have the best of both worlds. Use all the characters in the title to be creative and make it worth clicking on.
Nevertheless, your video may appear in hashtag searches for the hashtags you include in the description.
If you use the YouTube mobile app to add your location to your videos, YouTube will ignore any hashtags you've used in the description. If you use geotagging this way, your location will appear next to your YouTube title.
YouTube hashtags make it easy for people to find videos that go together with just one click. They're also a great way for content creators to organize their work and get more people to watch it.
Our Miami SEO services team explained how to use hashtags on YouTube and what you can't do with them. Now it's your turn to use hashtags to tell YouTube more about your videos and give them more context. But don't go too far. It's crucial that you stay on the right side of YouTube.
If you don't know how to start, ask for help. At Digital Resource, we can do wonders for your business.
Contact us today to learn how we've helped other people grow their YouTube channels and how we can do the same for you.
Think you've got what it takes to hang with the pros at Digital Resource? Check out our Careers page to browse current job openings!
