A common question among YouTube creators is whether they can update their SEO keywords after a video has gone live. Does changing keywords help if your video isn’t performing well? What about older videos—should you update their keywords for better rankings? And where should you focus your keywords: in the title, description, or tags?
Let’s dive into the facts and clear up the myths surrounding YouTube SEO.
Keyword Research: Do It Before You Film
The best way to ensure your video ranks well is to do keyword research before you even hit record. The key is to find a specific, long-tail question and use that as your video title. When you build your content around answering that question, your video naturally includes all the right words and phrases, making it easier for YouTube to rank it.
But what if you’ve already uploaded a video and want to change the keywords? In my 11 years of experience with YouTube SEO, I’ve never seen this strategy work. Changing the title or adding new keywords to an existing video won’t magically improve its rankings.
For example, if I find a high-ranking keyword like “How to improve productivity in a dental office”, I can’t just take a general productivity video and slap that title on it. If the content doesn’t specifically address productivity in a dental office, it won’t rank for that keyword. The only way to do this properly is to create new videos based on strategically researched keywords.
What If Your Video Isn’t Performing Well?
If a video isn’t getting views, you can change anything you want—the title, tags, description—but it’s important to understand that this resets the video in YouTube’s algorithm.
Does this actually help? In my experience, no. I’ve never seen a video suddenly rank better in search just because the keywords were changed.
That being said, if your goal is to increase suggested traffic or go viral, tweaking your title to make it catchier or updating your thumbnail can help. But in terms of YouTube search rankings, adjusting keywords won’t make a difference.
Are SEO Services That Promise to Improve Rankings Worth It?
There are countless SEO services that claim they can improve your YouTube rankings. I regularly get messages from people saying, “Your video is great, but I can optimise it for better results.” The irony? Many of my videos are already ranking at the top of YouTube!
These services typically offer things like:
✅ Link building
✅ Changing your tags and description
✅ Tweaking your title
✅ Linking your video to social media
Not only do these tactics not help, but some of them—like linking to Facebook or Instagram—can actually hurt your video’s performance.
Should You Update Your YouTube Keywords?
The short answer: No. Once your video is uploaded, leave the keywords alone.
If you followed the right strategy—keyword research first, then creating content around it—your video will naturally build momentum and continue getting views for years. Changing keywords after the fact can disrupt this process and reset your video’s performance.
Where Are Keywords Most Important?
If you’re wondering whether keywords are more important in the title, description, or tags, here’s the truth:
✅ Title – This is the most important place for keywords. Your title must match what people are searching for.
✅ Description – Helpful, but not as critical for search rankings. It’s more for providing value to viewers.
✅ Tags – These used to matter more, but YouTube has downplayed their importance in recent years.
A video with a strong, keyword-optimised title will still rank well even if the description and tags are empty. However, it’s still a good idea to fill in the description with useful information for viewers.
Do Keyword Research Tools Like TubeBuddy & VidIQ Actually Work?
Many creators use tools like TubeBuddy and VidIQ to find better keywords for existing videos. But here’s the reality:
🚨 These tools do not improve rankings.
I’ve tested this countless times, and I challenge anyone to show me an example where updating old keywords using these tools led to better rankings. If you find one, I’ll take this video down!
The problem? These tools use outdated SEO strategies from website rankings, which don’t work the same way on YouTube.
How to Track Whether Your Keywords Are Working
The best way to measure the effectiveness of your YouTube SEO strategy is to track your rankings over time.
Here’s an example: I worked with Jason Schroeder, who runs a construction coaching business. We did proper keyword research before filming his videos, and when we first checked his rankings, he wasn’t appearing in search results for his target keywords.
But over time, as his videos gained traction, his rankings improved significantly. We tracked how many keywords he ranked for, and the number steadily increased month by month.
Instead of relying on an arbitrary SEO score, the real metric to watch is how many times your video appears in search results for your target keywords.
Final Thoughts: How to Rank on YouTube
If you want to dominate YouTube search, here’s what you need to do:
🔹 Do keyword research BEFORE filming.
🔹 Use a clear, search-friendly title.
🔹 Create content that directly answers the keyword’s question.
🔹 Don’t waste time changing keywords on old videos—it won’t help.
Want to see this strategy in action? I’ve created a detailed guide breaking down my 5-ingredient formula for ranking on YouTube. Check out my video: “What is Video Marketing – My Ultimate Easy Formula” to learn how to apply this method step by step.
