Reference
Top keywords
YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest are all used as search engines, and a title written for the query beats a clever one nearly every time. These are the phrases people type, grouped by the intent behind them — because “best” and “how to” are two different videos.
Only three platforms, on purpose: a keyword page is worth publishing only where search is a real discovery mechanism with a stable vocabulary. For tags rather than queries, see top hashtags.
Top YouTube Keywords by Category
YouTube is the second-largest search engine in use, and a title written for the query beats a clever one almost every time. These are the phrases people type, grouped by the intent behind them — because “best” and “how to” are two different videos, and the vocabulary that wins each is not interchangeable.
300 keywords10 categoriesReviewed 7 September 2026
Top TikTok Search Keywords by Category
TikTok is used as a search engine by a large share of its audience, and the app now surfaces suggested searches under videos. That makes the spoken and on-screen words in the first three seconds a ranking signal — so these phrases belong in the video itself, not only in the caption.
300 keywords10 categoriesReviewed 7 September 2026
Top Pinterest Keywords by Category
Pinterest is a planning engine, which is why its keywords behave unlike any other platform’s: demand for a term peaks six to eight weeks before the thing it describes. Publish into the run-up, not the event. These are the phrases, grouped by category, with that timing in mind.
300 keywords10 categoriesReviewed 7 September 2026
Every phrase listed is one searched in real volume; low-traffic variants are left out rather than used to pad a category. Phrases and volumes come from each platform’s own research surface — YouTube Studio, TikTok’s Creative Center, Pinterest Trends — and every page names the ones it used. Volumes are ranges rather than counts; treat them as relative, not exact.