Your Guide To TikTok SEO
October 9, 2024
TikTok as a Search Engine
Almost 40% of Gen Z are using TikTok as their preferred search engine, according to Google Senior Vice President, Prabhakar Raghavan. As the app’s search popularity continues to grow, Adobe conducted a recent study, surveying 808 consumers, to better understand the use for TikTok as a search engine. Of those surveyed, 41% have used TikTok as a search engine, and unsurprisingly Gen Z makes up the majority (64%), followed by Millennials (49%). When asked what they searched for most on the app, the top five topics were found to be; new recipes, new music, DIY tips, fashion advice and workout routines. So if you fall within one of those niches, it’s highly worth nailing your search optimisation.
What Is It Consumers Like About TikTok as a Search Engine?
- The short video format is more informative and digestible (44%)
- The storytelling aspect of TikTok videos (34%)
- The content is more personalised (31%)
- The information is more current (29%)
- The interactive and immersive experience (29%)
As attention spans are ever shortening, it checks out that users are turning to TikTok for quick and easy bite sized answers to their queries. The most preferred content when using TikTok as a search engine was found to be video tutorials (62%), followed by product or service reviews (39%). So, when researching a product or service on the app, it’s social proof that users are most likely after. These findings stack up against the survey conducted on small business owners, with 22% stating that video tutorials on TikTok outperform traditional SERPs and 18% attributing the same to product or service reviews.
With more people using the app as a search engine, TikTok has adapted by providing search suggestions under videos, however there are concerns around using the app as an information source. Whereas Google aims to direct users to sites on which it can verify information, such as a Wikipedia page, TikTok would not direct you off the app (ie. the information it points you towards may not be the best source), plus moderation on the app is less stringent, so you can’t always be sure just how trustworthy the information in the content you’re consuming is.
Understanding TikTok SEO
TikTok SEO encompasses the techniques used to optimise content to show up in search results, much like Google or any other search engine. Infact, TikTok videos now show up alongside Youtube videos in Google search results.
User discovery on the platform can be separated into Active Search and Content Discovery. Active Search is self explanatory in that it refers to when a user explicitly searches for content using the search bar. This is when optimised content stands a higher chance of competing with highly engaged content. In contrast, Content Discovery refers to content shown on a user’s For You Page (FYP), these aren’t videos that users actively seek out but consume for enjoyment. In this case, search optimization isn’t quite as important, as these videos will be shown to users based on their interests and the other types of content they engage most highly with. TikTok now reports on the traffic source of your videos, whether that be through the FYP or search, so you can glean a better understanding of whether you’re most found through Active Search or Content Discovery.
How TikTok Ranks Content
Video Information
TikTok will garner what your video is about from the information provided; this includes everything from the visual-creative formats, filters and photo carousels-to the description, hashtags and the audio used, such as a trending song or words spoken.
User Relevancy
TikTok’s goal is to keep users on the app for as long as possible, and that means showing users content they’ll be interested in. The algorithm assesses the relevance of content to an individual based on their behaviour on the platform, so content they have liked, shared, saved or commented on. However, this doesn’t just factor in positive interactions, but content users have flagged as ‘not interested’ in.
Engagement
TikTok values content that generates high levels of engagement, be it likes, comments, shares or downloads. Thus, if a piece of content is polarising and receives a strong audience response, it’s more likely to be promoted on the platform.
Video Value
If a user watches a piece of content from start to finish, this signals to the algorithm that the content of the video is of value, thus more likely to be shown on the FYP.
How To Nail TikTok SEO
Optimising Your TikTok Profile
TikTok SEO isn’t just about your content but about your profile, as an optimised profile will help the algorithm to better understand what your content is about, thus showing it to the right audience. Aside from potentially increasing your visibility on the platform, a well crafted profile helps to establish a clear brand identity and encourages users to explore more of your content.
The Key Elements –
Username: This should reflect your brand, niche or content focus.
Bio: This should include relevant keywords to increase your searchability.
Content Highlights: Pin your best performing videos to the top of your profile to keep your best content visible and accessible. You can also organise videos into playlists based on themes or series to help users find content relevant to their interests.
Keyword Research
As you would perform keyword research to rank on Google, the same applies for TikTok. A good starting point is TikTok’s search bar; if you type the beginning of your key phrase into the search bar, recommended searches will appear below, which can also help with content ideation for your niche.
You can also make use of the ‘other’s searched for’ feature on TikTok, similar to Google’s ‘people also ask’ which shows search terms similar to your query.
Optimising Your TikTok Captions
In September 2022 TikTok extended the character limit on post descriptions from 300 characters to 2,200, meaning more opportunity for more keywords. However, be sure to naturally integrate your keywords without making them look forced or spammy. The goal is for your caption to be both readable and engaging. Incorporating trending and relevant hashtags can also help to increase your visibility.
Encourage Engagement
User interaction is one of the key elements the algorithm considers when ranking content, thus the more you can encourage users to engage with your content, the more likely your content is to show up as content discovery on the FYP. Aside from creating quality content, this can be done by leveraging trends, asking a question, creating a challenge, dueting or stitching a video. Pinning a popular comment and replying to comments on your videos can help to generate even further engagement.
