You reach the tags box and fill every spot you can: artist name, mood, BPM, genre, anything that feels related. We’ve all been told to fill the box for years. But a packed tag box isn’t a strong one. Weak tags take up room the good ones needed. What works is a smaller stack, in order, built from what people actually type.
Tags need an order
Not a pile. A ladder. Every rung has a different job:
- Your producer name
- One big keyword
- Several smaller, winnable keywords
- The artist’s city
- Useful words that aren’t already in your title
- “beat type” as well as “type beat”
Fewer tags. Better choices. In that order.
The search numbers below are the rough ones I’ve worked from. Your keyword tool will show different counts on different days; the ladder is what matters.
1. Your producer name first
Use the name, tag or spelling someone would type if they were looking for you specifically. Don’t bury it under broad genre phrases, and don’t leave it out because you think nobody searches you yet. It ties your uploads together and gives returning listeners a direct way back. Keep the spelling identical on every upload.
2. One big keyword
Next, one main “[artist] type beat” keyword, somewhere around 700K monthly searches. Medium competition is fine here. This is the top rung, where you eventually want to compete.
The mistake is treating it as your only chance and making every tag another huge phrase. Then the beat has nowhere realistic to start.
3. Smaller keywords you can actually win
This is where the stack starts working. “free [artist] type beat” tends to sit around 8K searches with low competition. That’s a real slot: enough searches to matter, little enough competition to give you an opening.
YouTube tests you on the winnable keywords first. Rank on an 8K term and hold people there, and you earn a shot at the big one. That’s why it’s a ladder, not a lottery.
It’s also why [FREE] belongs in your title. “free [artist] type beat” is winnable; the bare artist keyword usually isn’t, at the start. Give the title and the tags the same context.
Cut what’s too small
Not every easy phrase earns a spot:
- Under about 3K searches: skip it. Ranking for something nobody searches doesn’t help.
- Under 10K: only take it if competition is low.
Your smaller tags have to pass both checks: enough searches to justify the room, and low competition when the count is under 10K.
4. The artist’s city
Listeners search by regional sound. If the artist is from Atlanta, “atlanta type beat” sits around 38K searches at low competition. Broader than “free [artist] type beat”, still specific enough to tell YouTube who the beat is for.
Only use the city that’s honestly connected to the artist and the sound. If the beat doesn’t fit that regional sound, skip it.
5. Words your title doesn’t say
A lot of tag boxes are just the title again. Tags can carry useful words that aren’t in the title word for word. If the beat is hard but “hard” isn’t in your title, “hard type beat” can still go in the tags. More accurate context, without turning your title into a messy sentence.
Only add what someone would actually hear after they click.
6. “beat type” as well as “type beat”
“beat type” carries around 1.1M searches, because that’s the word order Spanish-speaking searchers type. It’s reach almost nobody claims.
If “[artist] type beat” is in your stack, check “[artist] beat type” too. Same beat, different search habit. To see the exact phrases people type around an artist, start typing the name into YouTube’s own search bar and read what autocomplete finishes it with. Those are real searches, in the order people type them.
Bad tags aren’t harmless
A weak tag doesn’t just sit there. It takes a spot a useful tag could have had.
“140 bpm” is the classic. It describes the beat, but nobody types it into YouTube to find one. A tag can be accurate and still useless for search. A box filled from a template looks productive; it’s busywork in a clean outfit. Judge every tag by whether it earns its spot, not by how full the box looks.
What to do tonight
- Open your latest upload and move your producer name to the first tag.
- Keep one main artist keyword, around 700K monthly searches.
- Add “free [artist] type beat” when it sits around 8K with low competition, and put
[FREE]in the title. - Remove phrases under about 3K searches, and anything under 10K that isn’t low competition.
- Add the artist’s city, useful words missing from the title, and the matching “beat type” phrase.
Then read the stack top to bottom. Does it move from your name, to the big target, to smaller openings? Does every phrase sound like something a listener would type? If filler snuck in because the box felt empty, cut it.
Your beat doesn’t need more tags. It needs better doors to walk through first.
From me to you.