TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform with over 1 billion active users. It has become a influential channel for marketers. It not only facilitates search demand but also drives it. In 2022, TikTok’s evolution into a search engine led Google. It includes TikTok videos in its search engine results pages (SERPs). This move addresses TikTok’s rise as a major search engine competitor. Users rely on TikTok for word-of-mouth recommendations. Over 40% of young people using it and Instagram for searches related to places or food. The “TikTok made me buy it” trend shows how users use peer recommendations for purchasing reviewed items. The integration of TikTok videos in Google’s SERPs provides an opportunity for increased discoverability. By employing Google and TikTok SEO strategies together, marketers can tap into this vast potential market, enhancing their reach and discoverability.
Ranking factors
First, it is important to mention the measures for success when it comes to SEO. A key feature is visibility. It is important to make sure the content is visible as much as possible for your audience. On TikTok visibility can impact engagement with videos (such as likes, comments, shares, etc.). On traditional search engines it is by appearing as high as possible on the SERPs.
In comparison, there are some common misconceptions about TikTok ranking factors. For example, number of views, follower count or native content creation are some of them. None of these can have an effect on rank of the videos on SERPs.
How do you optimise your TikTok videos?
The appearance of TikTok videos on the Google SERP is new. There are some tools available to assist with optimisation. Implementing SEO strategies is crucial to enhance organic reach on the platform and increase the visibility of TikTok videos on Google. Currently, the one of the most effective approaches is to combine Google SEO strategies with TikTok SEO ones. Also, to improve the likelihood of your videos shown on the Google results page. TikTok differs from traditional strategies employed by other search engines. This is essential for understanding of the key distinctions in TikTok SEO.
TikTok is emphasising video elements to be crucial for SEO. In fact, 88% of TikTokers consider audio essential to their app experience. To set your video up for success, it has to have the right balance of filters, captions, sound effects, and music.
Keywords strategy
Keywords play a crucial role in TikTok SEO, and utilising hashtags is an effective way to incorporate them. Instead of relying on an extensive caption, it’s recommended to use hashtags on the app. Hashtags help capture the algorithm’s attention, expand the video’s reach, and connect with the right audience. Used hashtags like “#FYP” don’t provide much help. Also, niche or exclusive hashtags can limit discoverability.
The best strategy is to research trending hashtags in your niche to ensure the terms relates to your target audience and to your video. There are several keyword research tools where you can find keywords. Foe example, Google Ads Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and keywordtool.io. These we can use for keyword research on Google. But TikTok’s relative novelty as a search engine limits available resources. For example, we can type the main keywords into the TikTok search bar and observe the auto-populated suggestions for related popular keywords.
TikTok SEO
Combination of popular and specific hashtags can ensure they represent your video’s content. You should avoid using misleading hashtags as they can impact your video’s performance. Such as causing viewers to swipe away and/or the algorithm to perceive it as a poor video.
Another tip is to include your main keyword somewhere in your profile, such as your username or description. This increases the likelihood of your TikTok being in searches. This is also relevant for getting your TikTok video on the Google results page. While views don’t contribute to Google rankings, Google considers relevance and source expertise. Having more people link to your video enhances your credibility and can impact its visibility on Google.
TikTok’s algorithm takes into account videos that cover trending topics, use popular effects, and contain relevant keywords. For instance, in-video text overlay contributes to SEO. TikTok recognises keywords within the video itself. Example on the picture on the right side. The first video lacks the keyword phrase “Best foundation” in the caption, but still appears. It is due to fact that we can recognise keyword within the video.
Another effective way is by using subtitles, titles or captioning the spoken keywords. This not only allows for natural inclusion of trigger words, but also helps you stay focused and on track while highlighting key points. Additionally, using viral keywords in your thumbnails can attract viewers to click on your video.
Conclusion
Last but not least, establishing a microblog for your TikTok videos can be beneficial for showcasing expertise and authority. It may not always be workable. Google considers relevancy, quality, and recency when evaluating search results. Running an updated microblog with your TikTok videos and more keywords can increase the chances of your content appearing on the SERP. The quality aspect can show expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, such as the presence of prominent website links or references to your content. That the weight of these factors, along with others like page usability, location, and settings, can vary. According to Google, the freshness of content plays a larger role in answering queries about current news topics compared to dictionary definitions.
Happy optimising!
