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How to Find Hidden YouTube Keywords That Actually Get Views (Without Expensive Tools)

If you've ever tried to find keywords for your YouTube videos and felt totally overwhelmed—welcome to the club. Most keyword tools out there are built for websites, not YouTube, and they either cost too much or don’t give you what you actually need: real, untapped YouTube search terms your ideal audience is already typing.

This post is a breakdown of the exact keyword research method I used before creating Seralia—my free tool that will save you a ton of time by doing this entire process for you in seconds with our proprietary linguistic algorithms for precision.

But in the meantime, here’s the manual way to do it, step by step. You’ll uncover powerful phrases and search terms with traffic but not much competition...which is the gold :)

Let’s go mining. Start With Google Trends.

Step 1: Keyword ideas for YouTube videos often start with trends. Go to Google Trends and do the following:

• Set it to United States, past 30 days, and YouTube Search.

• Search something general like “skateboard review" (in this example)

• Look for breakout keywords like: electric skateboard, longboard, motorized skateboard

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• Download both the Top and Rising results (CSV files).

Why it matters: YouTube search trends show what people are actually looking for on the platform—not just on Google.

Step 2: Compare Keywords in YouTube Search

Now go to YouTube and search for one of your breakout terms, like electric skateboard. Look at:

• What keywords show up repeatedly in video titles?

• Are creators ignoring any terms (like “longboard”) even if it’s trending?

• Is there a less-used synonym you can slip in, like “motorized” instead of “electric”?

This is the gap you want to fill.

Step 3: Check Monthly Volume with Keyword Surfer

Next, open Google and use the Keyword Surfer Chrome plugin (it's free, and the most comprehensive and easy to use in my opinion). Type in your breakout keywords from earlier and note:

• Monthly search volume

• Variations like: skating board electric, motorized longboard, electric board with remote

Copy and paste these into a spreadsheet or note-taking app.

Pro Tip: Keywords that sound a little “off” (like “skating board electric”) are often underused in titles—but still get monthly traffic.

Step 4: Use Synonyms to Expand Your Reach

Use a site like WordHippo to find synonyms. Look up “electric” and you’ll get:

• motorized

• powered

• electric motor driven

Plug these back into Google Trends to check if they’re rising terms. You’re looking for keyword phrases with at least some breakout activity. Even something like one wheel motorized skateboard can work.

Step 5: Evaluate Competition with vidIQ

Now it’s time to measure keyword difficulty with vidIQ, a Chrome extension that’s free to start.

Search each keyword and check for:

• Search volume: You want high or medium

• Competition score: You want it to be low

(this is only free for a certain amount of time on VidIQ. Seralia will provide this for free with weekly credits...don't forget to sign up :))

Examples:

• Electric skateboard review – medium volume, low competition

• Motorized longboard – lower volume, but very low competition

This combo is where the gold lives: high volume + low competition = growth potential as the algoritm looks for videos to fulfill people's search terms.

Step 6: Build a Keyword-Rich Video Plan

Now combine everything:

• Choose a high-potential keyword like electric longboard review

• Create a YouTube title with the keyword at the front: “Electric Longboard Review: What Nobody Tells You” or “I Watched 20 Electric Skateboard Reviews—Here’s What Matters”

Sprinkle your keywords (like motorized board, skating board electric) throughout:

• Your script or outline

• Spoken dialogue (so it gets into captions)

• Video description

• Video chapters

Even if you don’t use a script, create a rough outline with keywords in mind so you don’t forget to mention them.

Why I Built Seralia (and How It Saves You All This Work)

Everything I just showed you is what I used to do manually. It works—but it takes forever.

That’s why I am building Seralia—to help creators like you:

• Get real YouTube search data (not just web search)

• Find keyword phrases others miss

• Spot breakout trends without guessing

• Create titles and tags optimized for discoverability

Seralia does the Google Trends digging, synonym hunting, and competition checks for you. You just enter your topic, and it shows you what will actually help you rank—no spreadsheet madness required.

Next Up: How to Use YouTube Chapters for SEO

If your video is more than 5 minutes, chapters help with both SEO and viewer retention. Don't miss out on the extra search traffic!

Until then, go dig up some keyword gold—and if you’re tired of spreadsheets, sign up for updates on Seralia. It’s free. Built by a creator. For creators.

Cheers,

Marcie