Like many YouTube helpers, VidIQ is a platform that helps YouTube creators manage and improve their content through analytics, planning, and other tools. There are multiple options out there, so we looked into what makes VidIQ stand out among the competition.
VidIQ has many great resources for new and experienced YouTube creators alike. Whether it’s used for analytics, competitor analysis, planning posts, channel audit, video scorecard, or the many other features included, VidIQ has something for everyone and can prove to be a great helper.
So, to look at why you may want to invest in VidIQ, here are the different things to consider that VidIQ does or doesn’t do well.
Audience for VidIQ
Like other YouTube helpers out there (see our review of TubeBuddy), VidIQ is most helpful to both beginners and large channels. For beginners, VidIQ is a great introduction to how to understand the different analytics and numbers that are collected as you create and share content. It acts as a great place to start for those who don’t know how to manage their channel yet.
For large channels, VidIQ can be a great resource to help lessen the load of planning everything out. By automatically scheduling posts, copying tags, replicating end screens, and so forth, channels that have large amounts of videos going out daily or weekly can save a lot of time and energy through utilizing VidIQ.
Strengths
The thing that makes VidIQ stand out among competitors is the quality of features they offer. While other YouTube helpers have a variety of random features that may be fun, but not necessarily effective, VidIQ makes sure that what they provide is useful and to the point. With such features as real-time stats, channel audit, tagging, competitor analysis, and more, VidIQ makes sure that you get your money’s worth and that the most important information for your channel is sitting right in front of you.
Nate from Channel Maker talks about how he also appreciates how good VidIQ’s customer service is. They’re quick to respond to any questions or concerns you may have, as well as being very up-front about what to expect when investing in VidIQ. The platform is simple to use, with a more updated and cleaner appearance than other options out there. (Source)
Weaknesses
One of the biggest weaknesses VidIQ possesses is the price of their packages. They offer a free version, thankfully, but if you really want to get the full effect of VidIQ, you will want to purchase one of their packages (what’s included in each package is listed below).
The cheapest package you could get is the Pro Package, which is $7.50 a month, followed by the Boost Package, which is $39 per month. Finally, the Boost+ Package is a whopping $415 a month, but it’s mainly that expensive because you get one-on-one coaching included, which for a beginner who’s wanting to up their brand and is willing to pay a lot for that opportunity, that could be a great option.
Another weakness is the potential ineffectiveness of the daily video ideas feature, which is basically just a random collection of words that aren’t effective. It’s better to get ideas for videos from your own research, see what your “competitors” are using, or search in the tags to see what’s trending.
Pricing
If you want to learn more about what is included in each package, all the features for each are listed below.
| Free Package | Pro ($7.50 per month) | Boost ($39 per month) | Boost+ ($415 per month) | |
| Accessibility | 3 daily ideas 1 Trend alert (limited) | 10 daily ideas 1 trend alert | 50 daily ideas 5, 10, or 15 trend alerts | 50 daily ideas 15 trend alerts |
| Chrome and Firefox Extensions | Video Scorecard Live Stats Bar | Video Scorecard Live Stats Bar Bulk YouTube Descriptions Keyword Research Tool Most Viewed Videos Top Tweets for Videos Top Trending Videos | Video Scorecard Live Stats Bar Bulk YouTube Descriptions Keyword Research Tool Most Viewed Videos Top Tweets for Videos Top Trending Videos SEO Title and Description Recommendations Inline Tag Recommendations Thumbnail Preview Compare Views | Video Scorecard Live Stats Bar Bulk YouTube Descriptions Keyword Research Tool Most Viewed Videos Top Tweets for Videos Top Trending Videos SEO Title and Description Recommendations Inline Tag Recommendations Thumbnail Preview Compare Views |
| Web Suite | Basic Video Analytics | Basic Video Analytics Keyword Research Tool Best Time of Day | Basic Video Analytics Keyword Research Tool Best Time of Day Dedicated SEO Analytics Channel Wide Tags | Basic Video Analytics Keyword Research Tool Best Time of Day Dedicated SEO Analytics Channel Wide Tags |
| Plus | N/A | N/A | N/A | Monthly Coaching Call Analytics Deep Dive Personalized Tips and Tricks |
Features of VidIQ
While there are so many great features that VidIQ has to offer, here are just the top few that Nate from Channel Makers highlights in his video with Rob Wilson, the host of the VidIQ channel.
Real-Time Stats
This feature sits at the top of your YouTube page, regardless of what channel or video you’re visiting. It just briefly highlights a few analytics you may be interested in keeping an eye on, like how many views per hour you get. Once you hover over this box, it will show you more depending on what you’re most interested in seeing.
While this is a smaller aspect of VidIQ, it’s just as important to view and understand, as it will help keep you in the know about trends and patterns you may see on your channel.
Channel Audit
The channel audit feature is almost like the parent to the real-time stats feature. It includes a number of helpful tools in analyzing your channel and how to best adjust it for engagement and views. Specifically, Nate from Channel Makers appreciates the channel audit feature, which gathers analytics for a channel all in one place. Channel audit also makes it easy to show what trends and patterns are most important to follow.
Not only can you look at the analytics and trends, but the channel audit will also point out mistakes that some of your videos may have—for example, videos that don’t have end screens. This is a great feature that helps you keep track of what you do or don’t do for a video, and how to improve videos for the future.
Tagging and Keyword Research
While the act of tagging is diminishing in importance on YouTube, there is still a good use for it. Instead of using it for its initial tool that’s similar to the hashtag on Twitter or Instagram, looking up tags on YouTube can be a great tool for SEO (search engine optimization). By searching up tags of topics you hope to cover, you can see what other people have said about the same field and see what could be added or adjusted for the conversation.
Similarly, this can act as a way to generate adjacent ideas, what’s trending, and what you will want to cover in order to fit in the same field as your competitors.
In fact, Rob Wilson even showed how to copy tags from competitors through using the keyword research tool and pasting them into your own video, adjusting as you may need. This is a great time-saver, as well as a way to make sure you hit the right audience.
Competitor Analysis
Although competitor analysis is a common practice that many use, Rob Wilson prefers to call it “passive collaboration.” This implies more that you aren’t in competition with the other channels, but rather are passively working with them to create content in the same field so you can all build off of each other and help each other.
By observing your “competitor’s” tags, thumbnails, topics, and more, you can get a better understanding of what’s popular and in what direction you should take your content. In fact, there’s even a “thumbnail preview tool,” where VidIQ will show how your video looks, hypothetically, next to other videos in the same category. You can make sure that your video fits with the others—while still standing out—before it’s even published.
Overview
Out of some other options for YouTube helpers, Nate from Channel Makers would suggest utilizing VidIQ for its many great features and updated design. The only real downside would be the high cost for VidIQ, and while that is an issue, you could at least get started with the free package to test the waters and see if VidIQ is a good fit for you.
Whether VidIQ is appealing to you for its real-time stats, channel audit, tagging, competitor analysis, the overall gathering of analytics, or more, there is so much to benefit from with this YouTube helper that can take your channel to the next step, or make managing your channel that much easier by taking care of the smaller, more tedious aspects for you.
If after this you’re still not convinced, don’t worry. There are other great options for you to consider that might just be a better fit for what you’re looking for. While Nate from Channel Makers prefers VidIQ over TubeBuddy, not everyone may share his sentiment. Learn more about TubeBuddy’s on our review of it here. (link to TubeBuddy article)
