YouTube Video Ideas: Find Topics People Already Search For

If you're struggling to come up with YouTube video ideas, this is for you. I walk you through how I find mine: not just any ideas, but topics people are already searching for.

I've published over 300 videos and just passed 700,000 views, so I have a good sense of what people want and engage with. The process is simpler than you might think: ask your audience, look at what's working for others, then ask YouTube itself.

Key Takeaways

• Your comments, students and clients are a goldmine of video ideas, so don't create content in a vacuum.
• Popular videos from others in your niche, and their comments, show you what's already working and what's still unanswered.
• YouTube's autocomplete plus a search volume tool tells you which topics people are actually searching for, so you can plan months of content.

1. Ask Your Audience for YouTube Video Ideas

The first place I look is my own community. In YouTube Studio, open the Community tab and clear the filters, and all your comments appear in one place.

This is a goldmine. People are engaging with your content and asking you questions. Pay attention to the language they use and the challenges they mention. If a video didn't quite answer someone's question, they'll tell you in the comments, and that's your next video.

No Comments Yet? Ask Offline

If you're just starting out, you may not have comments yet. If you teach or deliver your content offline, ask your students or clients about their biggest challenges, survey them, or look back through your notes to see where they struggle. That's the content to create. Don't guess what people want. Ask them.

2. See What's Working on YouTube

Next, search YouTube for keywords in your niche. I searched "how to build a business on YouTube" and found a video by Ali Abdaal, who makes a lot of content on productivity and YouTube.

1. Click through to a creator's channel in your niche.
2. Go to their Videos tab and sort by Popular.
3. Note any videos on your topic. One of his was about what he'd do if he started a YouTube channel in 2026, which could be a good idea for me too.
4. Go a level deeper: read the comments on those videos. That one had over 4,000. Look for the same language your audience uses, and questions people are still asking.

3. Ask YouTube What People Search For

The third step is asking YouTube itself. Start typing your main keywords into the YouTube search bar and it will autocomplete with what people commonly search.

I use a browser extension called Keywords Everywhere, which shows search volumes alongside those suggestions. Take the numbers with a pinch of salt, because they're based on Google data and only YouTube has the exact figures, but they're a good guide to demand.

What I saw when I typed "YouTube":

• YouTube algorithm: 8,100 monthly searches.
• YouTube Shorts: 1.2 million monthly searches.
• YouTube video ideas: 9,900 monthly searches, which is why I made this video.

Type in your main keywords and the questions you've collected. If they have good search volume, that's a strong sign to create the content. Keep adding words, like "for beginners", and YouTube will keep suggesting ways to finish the phrase. I go deeper on this in my post on YouTube keyword research, and on another tool in how I use AnswerThePublic.

Turn a Keyword Into a Video Title With AI

Once you've picked a keyword, use AI as a sparring partner for titles. I dictated into Claude using Wispr Flow: "I'm targeting this keyword. Give me some title examples that would be a good fit."

In about 20 seconds it gave me two sets: titles that match the search exactly, and titles with an angle for my audience, such as "YouTube video ideas: how I never run out" and a simple system version. Treat them as a starting point, not the finished title.

Plan Your YouTube Content With a Spreadsheet

To plan a month, a quarter or a year of content, I put my keyword research into Google Sheets.

1. List your keywords with their search volumes from Keywords Everywhere.
2. Freeze the top row and sort the volume column from Z to A, highest first.
3. Highlight the topics that fit you, and mark them for this month, next month or the month after.

I've done the same for Kajabi, with keywords like Kajabi pricing, Kajabi app and Kajabi community. It shows you how big your niche is. Kajabi is niche, with its most popular phrases at around 1,000 to 5,000 monthly searches, while "YouTube thumbnails" alone gets 110,000. Once your videos are live, your own analytics become another source of ideas. See turning your YouTube analytics into your next video.

Conclusion

Finding YouTube video ideas comes down to three questions: what is your audience asking, what's working for others in your niche, and what are people typing into YouTube?

Collect the answers, check the search volume, and plan them into a spreadsheet so you never run out of ideas. For another take on the same question, see my earlier post on how to know what content to create.