YouTube Tags vs Hashtags: What's the Difference?

1. What Are YouTube Tags?

YouTube Tags (also known as meta tags) are descriptive keywords or phrases added to the backend of your video during the upload process in YouTube Studio. They are invisible to the viewer (unless someone digs into the page's HTML code).

Historically, tags were a primary way YouTube understood video context. Today, YouTube relies more heavily on titles, descriptions, and video content (machine learning analyzing speech and images) to understand context. However, tags remain useful.

2. What Are YouTube Hashtags?

YouTube Hashtags are visible, clickable links containing a pound sign (#) followed by a word or phrase with no spaces (e.g., #CookingTips). You add these directly into your video's title or description.

When a viewer clicks a hashtag, they are taken to a hashtag search results page showing other videos that use that exact same hashtag. They function similarly to hashtags on Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok.

3. Key Differences Between Tags and Hashtags

Feature	Tags	Hashtags
Visibility	Hidden in backend	Visible to viewers
Placement	Specific 'Tags' box in Studio	Inside Title or Description text
Clickable?	No	Yes (links to hashtag page)
Spaces?	Yes (e.g., "Apple pie recipe")	No (e.g., #ApplePieRecipe)

4. How Tags Affect YouTube SEO

YouTube explicitly states: "Tags can be useful if the content of your video is commonly misspelled. Otherwise, tags play a minimal role in your video's discovery."

If you upload a video about the "Chevrolet Camaro," you might add tags like "Chevy Camero" or "Chevrolette" to capture traffic from people who can't spell it correctly. Tags also help clarify context for ambiguous words (e.g., distinguishing between "Apple" the fruit and "Apple" the tech company).

5. How Hashtags Work on YouTube

Hashtags create interconnected communities of content. They are excellent for participating in trends, challenges, or broad categories.

If you use #Shorts on a vertical video, you are signaling to YouTube that this video belongs in the Shorts shelf. If you use #DogTraining, your video could surface if someone clicks that hashtag on another dog trainer's video.

6. How Many Tags Should You Use?

YouTube allows up to 500 characters in the tag box. The ideal number is usually between 5 and 15 highly relevant tags.

Do not spam tags. Using 50 tags to hit the character limit often dilutes the context of your video, confusing the algorithm. Using irrelevant tags (like tagging a gaming video with "Justin Bieber") is a violation of YouTube's spam policies and can get your video demonetized or removed.

7. How Many Hashtags Should You Use?

YouTube allows up to 15 hashtags in a video description. However, 3 to 5 hashtags is the recommended best practice.

If you use more than 15 hashtags in a single video, YouTube will ignore ALL of them, viewing it as spam. Less is more when it comes to hashtags.

8. Where Do Hashtags Appear?

Hashtags can be placed in your video title or anywhere in your video description.

If you don't place any hashtags in the title, YouTube will automatically take the first three hashtags from your description and display them prominently above your video title on desktop and mobile.

9. Can I Use Both?

Yes, absolutely! They serve different purposes, so you should use both for maximum optimization.

Use meta tags to capture misspellings, synonyms, and long-tail search phrases. Use hashtags to categorize your video into broad communities and trends.

10. Best Practices for Tags

• First tag matters most: Make your first tag the exact keyword you want to rank for.
• Use long-tail tags: Don't just use "fitness". Use "home fitness routine for beginners".
• Include your channel name: Add your channel name as a tag to help YouTube suggest your own videos in the "Up Next" column.

11. Best Practices for Hashtags

• Don't use spaces: Use CamelCase for readability (e.g., #NewYorkCity instead of #newyorkcity).
• Put them at the bottom: Place hashtags at the very bottom of your description so they don't distract from your main copy or links.
• Always use #Shorts: If you are uploading a short-form vertical video, always include this hashtag to trigger the Shorts algorithm.

12. Free Tools

Stop guessing which tags to use. Use our free tools to generate optimized lists based on YouTube search data:

• YouTube Tag Generator: Type in your main topic to get a list of the most relevant tags.
• YouTube SEO Score Checker: Verify that you haven't over-optimized or missed critical keywords.

13. Frequently Asked Questions

Will using popular hashtags get me more views?

Not necessarily. Using a massive hashtag like #Gaming means you are competing against millions of other videos. Niche hashtags like #IndieGameDev are often better for targeted discoverability.

Can I hide hashtags in my video?

No, hashtags in the description are always visible. Do not try to hide them by matching the text color to the background; this violates YouTube's policies.

Does capitalisation matter in hashtags?

No, #fitness and #Fitness go to the exact same results page. Capitalizing the first letter of each word (CamelCase) is highly recommended purely for human readability.

Can I use competitors' channel names in my tags?

While technically possible, it rarely provides a meaningful boost and borders on spam policy violation if overdone. It's better to tag the topic rather than the competitor.

What happens if I use more than 15 hashtags?

If your description contains more than 15 hashtags, YouTube will completely ignore all of them, rendering them useless.