In 2018, YouTube added the ability to use hashtags. Hashtags are a great discovery tool that can help get your videos in front of viewers that may not already be aware of your channel, and they also allow you to associate your content with more popular videos on YouTube that use the same hashtags.

While uploading a video or posting a Short onto YouTube, you can add hashtags directly into your title or description. YouTube recommends adding hashtags within your description, but the choice is up to the creator. Begin typing out your hashtag, and YouTube will start to autocomplete your tag showing you the number of videos and channels using certain ones.

Using the most popular hashtags won’t guarantee more exposure, and taking a more targeted approach with tags may lead to better results. For example, instead of #Rapper, it may be more beneficial to narrow it down to #ChicagoRapper. Tags used in fewer videos may lead to a greater chance of getting your video seen. It is essential to test out different hashtags and see what works best for your channel.

YouTube also has a few rules when it comes to hashtags, you can find them all here. Most importantly to note are the use of spaces and over-tagging. Hashtags can not include spaces, so if your tag contains multiply words, be sure to combine them like so “#TwoWords”. Over-tagging is also prohibited. If your video includes over 15 hashtags, YouTube will ignore them all and may remove your video from your uploads or search.

Hashtags have made it easy for users to find relevant content and for creators to get seen. For more information regarding this or any other YouTube-related features, feel free to contact us.