INTRODUCTION
The world of search has evolved, and as a business owner and marketer, you can’t afford to stand still in a fast-changing field.
Search behaviours have changed with the new generation having quickly moved from traditional Google search to searching on AI Chatbots like Chatgpt and social media platforms like Instagram, IG and TikTok.
According to Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan, who runs Google’s Knowledge & Information organisation, they shared, in their studies,
“Something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, don’t go to Google Maps or Search,” he said, “They go to TikTok or Instagram.”
This was also exemplified by how the last time my spouse wanted to find a location for her birthday date, TikTok was her go-to!
All these indicate that seo for TikTok is a necessary social media marketing strategy and show why you can not afford to leave TikTok seo out as a brand looking to get discovered!
That’s why, in this article, we’ll attempt to discuss how to do seo for TikTok exhaustively!
What you’ll learn:
- How TikTok’s algorithm and the TikTok content recommendation systems work
- A step-by-step TikTok keyword research approach
- Common TikTok SEO mistakes and how to avoid them
- Key strategies for executing seo for TikTok videos
TikTok SEO Basics: How the TikTok Algorithm Works
Before we examine the execution of seo for TikTok, it is necessary to understand how the TikTok algorithm works.
TikTok, in an article shared on June 18, 2020, shared the factors their recommendation algorithm considers for curating the content you get served on your feed, or “For You” page.
For the sake of understanding, I’ll split the factors (or signals) into 3 major groups.
- Signals the algorithm uses to identify more of the content you want
- Signals the algorithm uses to identify the content you don’t want and,
- How the algorithm and recommendation system prevent homogeneity or avoid turning your TikTok feed into an echo chamber.
A. Signals the algorithm uses to identify more of the content you want
These include signals that reinforce content TikTok thinks you’ll enjoy based on your behaviour
1. User Interactions
Your video likes, shares, downloads, comments, follows, and replays all tell the algorithm and recommendation system, “I’m into this, show me more”
2. Your Watch Time & Completion Rate
Whenever you watch a video all the way through — or re-watch the video— TikTok assumes such content hit the mark, satisfied a curiosity or answered a question, meaning more content like it gets shown in your feed.
3. Video Information
The video’s hashtags, captions, and use of trending sounds help TikTok learn what types of content or formats resonate with specific viewers, based on what they’ve engaged with before.
4. Exploration Activity
When you actively search for hashtags or follow new creators, you’re signalling specific interest areas you’d like to see more of, and TikTok shares more content with similar characteristics
B. Signals the algorithm uses to identify the content you don’t want
Instead of simply focusing on serving more of what you want, TikTok also explained that the algorithm tries to use several signals to understand what to reduce or avoid in your feed.
Some of which include:
1. Negative Feedback Signals
Which includes actions like skipping quickly, tapping “Not Interested” on a video, or hiding videos or certain creators.
These all serve as the “no, thanks” indicators for TikTok’s algorithm.
2. Inferred Disinterest Signals (via watch behaviour)
Even without pressing any buttons, not finishing videos or skipping over similar themes repeatedly shows the TikTok algorithm what not to suggest to your feed.
While the two initial groups of indicators would have been enough for most social platforms, TikTok had a third set of signals that I categorized as the, signals the algorithm uses to prevent homegeneity.
C. Signals the algorithm uses to prevent homogeneity
To keep your “For You” feed interesting and varied, TikTok’s recommendation system works to intersperse diverse types of content along with those you already know you love, using two strategies:
1. Content Diversity Balancing
TikTok mixes in fresh or unfamiliar content, including lower-performing videos, to expand your perspective and prevent monotony.
Which means you can discover content within your feed that are outside of your interest range.
2. Device and Account Settings
While not powerful on their own, your language, location, and device type help TikTok sprinkle in some local or relevant, but different content that’s still contextually interesting.
SEO For TikTok Videos : How To Do It In 4 Steps
TikTok SEO might not seem very important for the average TikTok creator.
However, for marketers and businesses using TikTok to generate traffic and leads, getting your content discovered by your target audience makes selling easier.
Now that we understand how the TikTok algorithm works and its basic signals for ranking content or recommending it in the For You page, let’s discuss the nitty gritty for seo for TikTok videos.
Step 1. Keyword Research
If you already have some background in SEO, you probably already know about keyword research and the keyword research process.
Keyword research is the bedrock of SEO, and when it comes to seo for TikTok, it’s no different.
If you don’t know what keyword research is;
Keyword research is the process of identifying the words and phrases people (or your target audience) use when searching online to find information, products, or services.
When it comes to seo for TikTok, keyword research has a striking similarity between traditional SEO and Tiktok SEO
For Example
Imagine a TikTok user searches the keyword “bars in London city”
TikTok shows content from the profiles of several bars in London in its search results.
If you’re a local user, you might end up in that bar later that day or plan your next friend-group hangout at the bar due to your search results.
However, if you’re a business owner who wants your video to be seen at the top of this search result.
One of the key strategies you want to follow is to identify whether there are content gaps you can fill with your content
1a. Identifying Content Gaps
In reality, when you search for “bars in London City,” you get these results below
You can see the fifth video on the search result with the caption, “Join us every Sunday at Twnty…”
Upon further research, you’ll discover that specific result is not of a bar, but of a nightclub.
This probably can be a gap you want to fill, for example, as a bar brand that’s open 24 hours a day, whereas a nightclub is only available at night.
Some TikTok SEO Keyword Research Tools
To get an idea of what your target audience (or customers) is searching on TikTok, several tools are at your disposal, such as;
1. The TikTok search bar or “People Also Ask”
This is a free seo tool that provides some insight into what is being searched for on TikTok.
- Simply click on the search bar on TikTok,
- Type brand-related keywords, topics or FAQs into the TikTok search bar,
And TikTok will provide a few suggestions based on people’s past searches around the keyword or topic on the platform.
Here is an example below.
Alt text: TikTok search results
These results will provide ideas for keywords you should be creating content around and attempting to have videos rank for
2. TikTok Creator Search Insights Tool
Another tool TikTok provided to succeed at seo for TikTok is the creator search insights tool.
The creator search insights tool provides insight into trending keywords on TikTok, their quantifiable search data and figures to help you estimate how frequently a keyword is being searched on the platform.
At the moment of this writing, the TikTok creator search insights tool is not available on TikTok desktop.
Alt text: TikTok Creator Search Insights
To access the TikTok creator search insights tool.
Open the search bar on TikTok
Type in “creator search insights”
Another great reason to take TikTok SEO seriously is that TikTok content can now appear on Google search result pages.
This means, even when people search for topics on traditional search engines like going, if your tiktok video is seo optimized, Google presents your content as part of the results seen on the search engine results page.
What’s more?
Google has also created a specific section meant to display “short video” results, where your seo-optimized tiktok videos may also get discovered.
What does that mean if you’re doing seo for TikTok?
This means if you optimise your TikTok videos even for Google search engine (using google seo tools), your content also has a higher likelihood of discovery
With that said, let’s discuss a few seo tools you can use for finding keywords on Google to incorporate into your TikTok videos.
3. Google Trends
Google provided this tool to help you understand what users are searching for and has an upward trend on the platform.
Google Trends also shows how searchers interests have changed over time.
Other tools have proven helpful for TikTok keyword research, like Google Keyword Planner, AnswerThePublic, Ubersuggest, ExplodingTopics, etc.
Once keyword research is done, curate a content timetable for the keywords you have identified.
Step 2. Optimization Of Post Captions, Descriptions and Voice-Overs
The optimisation is not limited to the text in captions; but also boils down to the content of the video and the voiceover (if there is one).
To fully optimize your video content when doing seo for tiktok, it’s essential to incorporate your keywords naturally within your content
This means, you should add the keywords you are targeting naturally in your video description or video caption,
And, you should incorporate keywords within your audio and voice-overs as well.
Step 3: Hashtag strategy
As I mentioned earlier, it is essential to understand that hashtags help with categorization, and how the algorithm relates your content to others on the platform
In a nutshell,
Use your targeted keywords in the hashtags.
Other kinds of hashtags you can prioritize are niche hashtags and branded hashtags.
Step 4: Engagement strategy
It’s safe to say, as far as SEO is concerned, several metrics are required to rank a piece of content over another when they’re targeting the same topic.
Just as how Google (and other search engines) measures metrics like page views, average time on page, comments, page shares and the likes to estimate how well the content on a page serves a user/visitor, and rank it to do seo for TikTok correctly, you must also attempt to create engaging content.
Content that satisfies signals like: more watch time, content shares, likes, comments etc are seen as more engaging and would rank higher compared to video content that don’t.
TikTok flies on relatable content, which means you must craft strategic means that fit that bill. You can also jump on trends, as there will always be one at every point in time on TikTok.
Don’t forget, you are dealing with a young generation.
So, your engagement strategy must be something that works for them.
Doing SEO For TikTok With The “Creator Search Insights” Tool
Some Common TikTok SEO Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
There are mistakes you can make with TikTok SEO, and they include:
- Overloading captions with hashtags
Say you overload your description to rank highly on the TikTok results.
This will harm your brand more than good in the long run.
- Not optimising for local searchers
A lot of people in Nigeria use TikTok for finding local products like rental apartments, tools and services and shops.
Not geotagging your videos – within the content, using TikTok’s location tool and in captions- can result in missed opportunities for local searchers.
- Ignoring engagement signals
Never ignore engagement signals like comments, shares, saves, etc. These are pointers to how much people enjoy and love your content. You should target engagement more.
- Using irrelevant keywords
Using irrelevant keywords will only bring your content to the wrong audience, which results in reduced engagement and ultimately, lower-ranked content.
I am sure you do not want that to occur with your marketing content
Conclusion & Next Steps
SEO for TikTok is here to stay, and you must embrace it early enough in your marketing strategies to get the best you can from it.
Whether you’re optimizing for local search or trying to show up in front of your ideal clients on TikTok, following the guide above is a great starting point.
As search behaviours become more fragmented across various platforms, you don’t want to leave any money on the table as a business owner
This is why you should download this TikTok SEO checklist or template(coming soon) to help you with your TikTok SEO marketing.
