TikTok SEO: The Complete Guide
TikTok, the social media platform known for silly dances, has grown into one of the most widely used platforms on the web.
One particularly interesting trend is that the platform is being used as a search engine.
That presents an opportunity to use SEO to help our content get in front of more people on TikTok.
So, in this post, we’ll explain what TikTok search engine optimization (SEO) is and how to use it to get more eyeballs on your content.
Let’s get into it.
What is TikTok SEO?
TikTok SEO is a marketing strategy that involves the topics you cover with your content and the way you optimize your content so that it appears on more of your audience’s For You pages, in TikTok’s search results as well as search results for search engines like Google and Bing.
It helps you increase your visibility on TikTok, both on and off of the platform.
There’s a lot you can do to optimize your video content for Tiktok’s search engine, including creating better content, creating content that targets specific keywords and including relevant hashtags in your captions.
How does TikTok search work?
TikTok’s user interface (UI) has a button in the top-left corner, which you can use to enter the app’s search functionality.
All you need to do is enter a topic you want to find content for into the search bar. TikTok arranges search results into the following tabs:
- Top: Most-liked and trending videos for the search query you entered.
- Videos: Videos that target the search query.
- Users: Profiles that use the search query in their usernames.
- Sounds: Sounds named after the search query.
- Shop: Products named after the search query.
- LIVE: Current livestreams about the search query.
- Placess: Tagged locations named after or are related to the search query.
- Hashtags: Hashtags that use the search query.
The Top tab has different filters users can switch between to view all top videos for a specific search query, videos they haven’t watched, videos they have watched and videos that are new.
There are additional search filters that cover all eight tabs that allow TikTok users to sort results by relevance, number of likes and date posted, choose to only show videos they liked or were uploaded by creators they follow, and choose to only show videos that were posted in the “past 24 hours,” “this week,” “this month,” in the “last 3 months,” and in the “last 6 months.”
The platform’s algorithm does its best to sort results by relevance above all else, but other than that, like Google, it’s hard to determine exactly what TikTok’s ranking factors are.
Is TikTok SEO worth it?
The short answer is yes, TikTok SEO is worth it.
You might be wondering why since TikTok users don’t discover most content by searching for it. They scroll the For You page (fyp) to see what kind of content the app recommends to them.
Content here is a mixture of popular videos, new videos, livestreams, sponsored posts and ads.
The content here is dependent on user interactions, so it’s different for every user.
For example, if you like a few tiktoks related to Taylor Swift, TikTok will show more videos related to Taylor Swift on your For You page, whether they were uploaded by Taylor Swift’s official TikTok profile or not.
Users also discover content by browsing TikTok sounds. You can use music uploaded to TikTok and audio clips from other users’ videos as the audio for your own video.
TikTok allows you to browse all videos that use a particular sound because of this.
So, if users don’t discover TikTok content by searching for it, and the For You page is randomized, is a TikTok SEO strategy even worth it?
Yes. As long as the TikTok algorithm uses context to place content in front of the right audience, and as long as TikTok videos appear on Google Search, TikTok SEO is worth it.
TikTok SEO tips
- Understand TikTok ranking factors. Fill out video information correctly to improve your chances of appearing on the For You page.
- Create better content. If users don’t want to view your content, TikTok isn’t going to want to promote it.
- Perform keyword research. Use TikTok’s search feature and Keyword Insights tool to find keywords to target.
- Perform traditional keyword research. Use keyword research tools to discover niche-specific keywords your audience is entering on Google.
- Use hashtags effectively. Insert the right hashtags into your TikTok captions.
- Improve your captions by providing context within them or inserting quips and funny anecdotes.
1. Understand TikTok SEO ranking factors
TikTok has three primary ranking factors:
- Video information
- Video engagement
- User data
And when we say “ranking,” we primarily mean whether or not your videos show up on your audience’s For You page.
Video information
TikTok videos feature the following information:
- Visual content
- Audio content
- Text-based elements
- Caption
The platform’s algorithm uses each of these components to determine which users to recommend your videos to as well as which keywords to rank your videos for.
TikTok’s algorithm is pretty smart. For instance, it knows when a TikTok video mostly features a dog even when the caption doesn’t include the word “dog” or related terms.
This is why the visual aspect of your content should be related to your target keyword in some type of way. This includes video content, image carousels, CapCut-edited content and filters.
If your video only features subjects that aren’t related to your keyword, such as your face talking to the camera, your other video components will provide context to TikTok.
This includes the audio you use, especially the words you speak. Try to mention your target keyword in your video as well as related keywords.
If you use a TikTok sound instead, include those keywords in title overlays, captions and hashtags.
In short, the more video components you use to target your keyword with, the more likely it’ll be for your video to appear on your audience’s For You pages.
Engagement
While you will find videos that have little to no views on your For You page at times, for the most part, the majority of videos that end up on your fyp will have thousands of views and likes, sometimes millions.
This is why a good TikTok SEO strategy to use is doing your best to generate as many engagements as possible.
There are four buttons on the right-hand side of every tiktok:
- Like – Add the video to your likes.
- Comment – View the comment section, and/or add your own comment.
- Favorite – Add the video to your Favorites list or one of your collections.
- Share – Share the video link to friends and family.
Each of these buttons count toward the total number of engagements you receive for a video.
The more you have of each, the more TikTok will promote your video.
To receive more engagements, create content viewers want to comment on, favorite to view later and share with their friends.
This includes content that’s entertaining, controversial and helpful.
User data
TikTok uses key user data to determine what content to recommend to users.
Users who like videos featuring clips from The Office will receive more clips from that show in their For You pages.
Similarly, users who have their device and account settings set to English are more likely to receive content from English-speaking creators on their fyps.
Finally, users from a specific state or territory are more likely to receive content from creators who are also from that state or territory.
This is why it’s important for you to find your community on TikTok and stick with it. Find a specific audience to target, and focus on creating content for them.
2. Create better TikToks
When it comes down to it, a good TikTok SEO strategy may simply need better TikTok content.
Check out your competitors on TikTok, and use TikTok naturally.
After a few hours researching each, you’ll understand what kind of content your target audience is looking for as well as how to create content that resonates with the users of this platform.
Start by trying to find your community on TikTok. This could be users who are interested in a specific niche, an entire sub community within TikTok, such as “booktok” for users who love to read, a specific demographic, or a combination of all of these.
Discover what kind of content gets the most engagements in this community, and try to create content that’s similar and/or better.
As for TikTok itself, the platform is quite unique.
First, you can use other users’ audio as the audio for your video. Second, you can “duet” other people’s content or “stitch” it to react or add to it.
This allows for a lot of creativity that’s not possible on other video platforms, but it can take a bit of time to learn.
You should also use the platform as a regular user on a continuous basis so you stay up to date on the latest trends, which tend to die out as fast as they come on.
3. Perform TikTok keyword research
There are no dedicated TikTok SEO tools, but if you’re unsure of which keywords to target or what topics to cover, fire up TikTok’s search feature, and start typing out a keyword related to your niche.
The search box will list suggestions of other search terms users entered.
You can even hit enter, scroll over to the Hashtags tab, and see which niche hashtags come up as well as which ones are least competitive.
You can also use TikTok’s Keyword Insights tool for advertisers.
The data it lists for each keyword is only relevant for advertisements, but it can still be useful to know which keywords advertisers are targeting in your niche and which keywords the tool thinks are similar to your seed keyword.
4. Perform traditional keyword research
Traditional SEO holds a lot of value for search engine optimization on video platforms, including TikTok.
This is because most search engines include video web pages in their results. Some even have dedicated sections for videos.
Find a keyword research tool to use if you don’t already have one.
We recommend SE Ranking, Morningscore and KWFinder from Mangools for beginners. They’re affordable, easy to use, and offer free trials.
Just type a broad seed keyword into one of these tools to reveal several keyword suggestions you can target with your content.
You can even enter your target keyword to include relevant keywords to include in your video, caption and hashtags.
Performing keyword research in this way will help you create relevant content for your niche.
5. Use hashtags effectively
Hashtags are meant to create collections of content about very specific topics on a particular platform.
To help your audience find your videos, choose relevant hashtags for your niche as well as relevant hashtags for your video.
Use TikTok’s search feature to find them. It’ll let you know how many posts have been published underneath each hashtag.
Choose ones that are relevant and don’t have as many posts. These are less competitive hashtags, which means your videos have a higher likelihood of being seen.
Try to stick to using a maximum of three to five hashtags per video to avoid being labeled as spam.
You should also avoid using unrelated but popular hashtags for the same reason. Many creators use this tactic to try and get noticed, but it may cause TikTok to derank your content due to irrelevancy.
You can also create branded hashtags, especially if you want your audience to create content about your brand.
6. Improve your captions
Finally, write better captions for your videos.
If your video is meant to be entertaining, create a short but funny caption.
If your video is meant to be informative, provide a few more details in your caption.
If your video depicts something surprising or controversial, provide more context for what’s being seen in your caption.
Above all else, try and include your target keyword in your caption as well as related keywords.
Just make sure you do it naturally to avoid keyword stuffing or appearing spammy.
Final thoughts
Love it or hate it, TikTok is a platform with a lot of potential and shouldn’t be overlooked.
It’s a competitive platform but its algorithm tends to be more forgiving, particularly for new accounts, than the likes of Facebook and Instagram.
And search engines like Google are beginning to show TikTok videos in search results. So, there’s even more reason to jump on board with TikTok.
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