YouTube SEO Tools: Scrape Autocomplete & Tags for Higher Rankings

The "Tag Stealing" Strategy

YouTube SEO is simple: if a video is ranking #1 for "how to bake bread," it's doing something right. Specifically, its Title, Description, and Tags are perfectly aligned with the algorithm.

You don't need expensive tools like TubeBuddy or VidIQ to find these tags. You can just ask the API.

In this guide, we'll build a Keyword Extractor that:

1. Searches for your target keyword.
2. Analyzes the top 10 results.
3. Extracts the hidden tags used by the winners.

The Tech Stack

We'll use the SociaVault API to fetch video metadata.

Prerequisites

• Node.js installed
• A SociaVault API Key
• axios for API requests

Step 1: Finding the Winners

First, let's find who is currently winning for your keyword.

const axios = require('axios');

const API_KEY = 'YOUR_SOCIAVAULT_API_KEY';
const BASE_URL = 'https://api.sociavault.com/v1/scrape/youtube';

async function getTopVideos(query) {
  try {
    console.log(`Searching for "${query}"...`);
    const response = await axios.get(`${BASE_URL}/search`, {
      params: { query, sortBy: 'relevance' },
      headers: { 'x-api-key': API_KEY }
    });

    return response.data.data.videos || [];
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error searching:', error.response?.data || error.message);
    return [];
  }
}

Step 2: Extracting the DNA

Now, let's get the details (including tags) for each video.

async function getVideoTags(videoUrl) {
  try {
    const response = await axios.get(`${BASE_URL}/video`, {
      params: { url: videoUrl },
      headers: { 'x-api-key': API_KEY }
    });

    // Note: The API returns 'keywords' or 'tags' in the details object
    return response.data.data.keywords || [];
  } catch (error) {
    return [];
  }
}

Step 3: The Aggregator

Let's combine them to find the most common tags.

async function generateKeywordStrategy(targetKeyword) {
  const videos = await getTopVideos(targetKeyword);
  const tagCounts = {};

  console.log(`\nAnalyzing top ${videos.length} videos...`);

  for (const video of videos) {
    // Construct URL from video ID
    const url = `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${video.videoId}`;
    const tags = await getVideoTags(url);
    
    tags.forEach(tag => {
      const normalized = tag.toLowerCase();
      tagCounts[normalized] = (tagCounts[normalized] || 0) + 1;
    });
  }

  // Sort by frequency
  const sortedTags = Object.entries(tagCounts)
    .sort(([,a], [,b]) => b - a)
    .slice(0, 20); // Top 20 tags

  console.log(`\n🔑 Best Tags for "${targetKeyword}"`);
  console.log(`----------------------------------------`);
  sortedTags.forEach(([tag, count]) => {
    console.log(`${tag} (used by ${count} videos)`);
  });
}

// Run the analysis
generateKeywordStrategy('iphone 16 review');

Why This Matters in 2025

YouTube's algorithm relies heavily on semantic relevance. By using the exact same tags as the top-ranking videos, you are telling the algorithm: "My video is about the same topic as these successful videos." This increases your chances of appearing in the Suggested Videos sidebar next to them.

Next Steps

Optimize your library.

Get Your API Key →