YouTube tags vs hashtags confuses people because both look like ‘keywords.’ They are different fields with different jobs. This page separates them so the YouTube Shorts hashtags guide can stay a hashtag list, and YouTube tags can stay a tags-field explainer.
Two fields, two jobs
| Hashtags | Tags field | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Title or description, with # |
Studio ‘Tags’ box, no # |
| Viewer sees it | Yes, as links | No |
| YouTube help stance | Connects videos that share a topic; up to 3 shown above the title | Useful for synonyms, misspellings, and extra context |
| Failure mode | Stuffing, unrelated tags, more than 60 | Keyword spam, repeating the title 12 times |
If you only do one, do hashtags plus a readable title. The tags field is a backup.
What to type in each
Title: a sentence.
Why my Shorts stopped using 12 tags
Hashtags (description): 3 to 5 labels.
#shorts #youtubetags #videoseo
Tags field: synonyms and misspellings, comma separated.
youtube tags, youtube hashtags, shorts seo, you tube tags
Do not put #shorts in the tags field. The # is not part of that field.
Shorts vs long-form
Shorts discovery leans on the opening, the title, and whether people continue watching. Long-form still uses search more heavily, so the tags field can matter slightly more there as synonym coverage.
That does not mean Shorts should skip hashtags. It means you should not rebuild a 2008 tag-stuffing ritual for a 20-second video.
If the question is ‘where do I put the #’, that is title vs description. If the question is ‘which hashtags’, that is the hashtags guide.
A default publish checklist
- Title states the promise in normal words
- Description has one sentence of context
- 3 to 5 hashtags that match the video
- Tags field: a handful of synonyms, not a paragraph
- Spoken words match the title topic
ContHunt can show public Shorts in a niche so you can see how other titles are written. It does not write your tags field, and it is not a YouTube SEO overlay like vidIQ. For overlay-style tools, see vidIQ alternatives.
Common mix-ups
- Pasting hashtags into tags. Harmless but pointless. Use words, not
#. - Pasting tags into the title. Makes the title unreadable.
- Using a tag generator for both. Generators invent volume. If a suggested tag is not in the video, skip it. See YouTube tag generator only as a brainstorm, not as a source of truth.
YouTube tags vs hashtags is settled this way: hashtags are the public labels; tags are the quiet synonyms; the title is still the thing people click.
Key data
- Hashtags
- Visible — Clickable from title or description; YouTube may show up to three above the title.
- Tags field
- Hidden — Studio field for extra keywords; viewers do not click them.
Sources
- Add tags to your YouTube videos · YouTube Help
- Find playlists and videos using hashtags · YouTube Help
