In leveraging YouTube SEO, keywords are among the most important factors to consider. Once you understand the terms and phrases that searchers use to find videos in your niche, you can focus on optimizing those keywords, thereby increasing the visibility of your videos on the YouTube home page and search results.

If a keyword has high traffic volume, it means many channels may be targeting it. If the channels are large and have already established a reputation on YouTube, it can be challenging to outrank them, leaving your videos lost in the vast sea of content. This is why it is essential to focus on low competition keywords, especially if you are a new channel on YouTube. This article will guide you on finding those low-competition keywords.

Why Target Low Competition Keywords on YouTube?

Here are the benefits of targeting low competition YouTube keywords:

Easier to Rank For

If you are a new creator on YouTube, you may not have the muscles to compete for high-traffic keywords, as these are what the big channels target. Low-competition keywords are usually easier to rank for, as few YouTube channels target them, especially when combined with AI competitor analysis. In most cases, they have a lower search volume, making them unattractive for large channels. This means you are more likely to appear on the YouTube home page and in search results when targeting low-competition keywords.

Diverse Audience Range

Because of their low search volumes and low competition, low-competition keywords are most effective when multiple keywords are targeted. When you target several low competition keywords in one piece, you can increase the chances of generating more traffic than when using one high competition keyword.

Higher Conversion

When people use long-tail keywords to search for a video, they already have a clear idea of what they want. If your video addresses their specific query, they will watch it through and engage with it. This will signal to the algorithm that your video adds value to its target audience.

More Topical Authority

Consistently creating high-quality videos across multiple topics helps YouTube understand your channel's niche. This is key to building topical relevance and increasing your chances of your videos appearing in the suggested videos section.

Relevance

When you search for low competition and low volume keywords, the more relevant the keywords are likely to be. This is because, in most cases, low-competition keywords are also long-tail keywords, consisting of multiple words. That means people searching for such keywords are specific about precisely what they want.

For instance, when someone searches for a keyword like "workouts," it is highly competitive. The person could also be searching for tips, equipment, workout motivation, and more. Therefore, when your video appears for such a keyword, it can be hard to pin if it's relevant to them. However, when someone searches for a long-tail keyword like "workout shoes for women," they are clear on exactly what they are looking for, and your videos are likely to be more relevant to them if you target that keyword.

Tips for Finding Low Competition YouTube keywords

Now that you understand the importance of low competition keywords, let us look at how to find them:

Use a Keyword Research Tool

There are different keyword research tools you can use to find low competition keywords, such as Tube Buddy and VideoIQ. These two tools are designed explicitly for YouTube keywords, making them more effective. However, you can still use other keyword tools, such as Semrush and Ahrefs.

When using these tools, simply enter a keyword, and they will generate clusters for different topics. The tool will also provide you with other metrics of the keyword, such as its difficulty level. You can, therefore, select one with a low or at least a medium difficulty. This means that this method is the most effective for finding low-competition keywords, as it shows you the difficulty level. However, it's important to note that the difficulty level isn't perfect, but it will provide you with a good hint of how easy it will be to rank for the keyword.

YouTube Autocomplete

We noted earlier that most low-competition keywords are long-tail. This means when searching for these keywords, you should focus on them. One way to find long-tail keywords is by using the YouTube autocomplete feature. When doing so, simply start typing a keyword and check the suggestions YouTube gives.

For instance, if your channel offers fitness tips, you can start typing "beginner fitness" and see the suggestions you get. You will see YouTube suggest keywords such as "beginner fitness exercises to try at home," “beginner workout plan,” and more. This method is effective because YouTube will often suggest keywords that people are already searching for. That means these keywords already have a considerable search volume.

Find Emerging Keywords

One of the most effective yet often overlooked ways to find long-tail keywords is to search for emerging topics. This strategy works well because these topics lack sufficient competition and have no established players in the niche. Examples of such issues are space travel and AI.

While there is a lot of content being created in these fields, there are other emerging details about these topics that you can cover. The only challenge you are likely to face is that you will struggle to find relevant data on these topics. Your goal is to focus on emerging issues rather than the exact keywords to use in the content.

Forum and Niche Communities

Platforms such as Quora, X, and Reddit can provide topics and keyword ideas to cover. For instance, if you are in the running niche, you can find subreddits such as r/firstmarathon or r/running. You can then browse the subreddits to find the relevant topics and keywords you can cover. Use filters such as “new” or “hot” to find trending tips you can write now to be featured on Discover or Google News.

You can also enter the ideas you get into your favorite keyword research tool to find more details, such as the monthly search volume and keyword difficulty. At times, you will not see the relevant data in these keyword tools. That shouldn't discourage you, as it means the competition level is low.

In Conclusion

One of the key factors that determines the performance of your YouTube video is the keyword you target. If you want your videos to appear in the YouTube Home, Suggested videos, or Search results, it is a good idea to target low-competition keywords. This is especially important if you are a small channel or are a beginner on YouTube. 

Fortunately, the tips outlined in this guide will help you identify low-competition keywords to target for your YouTube channel. You can read our guide on how AI is revolutionizing keyword research.