TikTok SEO: Optimising Your TikTok Videos for better search rankings.

Creating content in 2024 is easier than ever.

But the trick is creating content that cuts through and engages people.

Scrolling through endless TikTok and Instagram feeds is now a habit, and the trend is growing. You see people everywhere with their heads down, looking at these feeds. It’s how people entertain themselves and will, over time, become more popular than Netflix. 

So, how do you grab a person’s attention legally online on these apps? How do you optimise these videos to rank higher on TikTok, Instagram and even Google?

In the app revolution, one AppApp has catapulted to the front of the queue, and its name is TikTok. Move over Instagram, say goodbye to Google, and if you’re a business owner, you better wake up and take notice of this mega-popular AppApp. The meteoric rise of TikTok means that it has been inundated with content from around the globe, with people flooding the AppApp with content. Some businesses have thrived in this environment and become mega-millionaires by cutting through the noise and getting enough followers to sell their products. I’m talking millions of people. It can be done, and it’s possible, but you have to create the content to get the followers, and the actual product almost becomes secondary. I mean, it’s about the engagement and content about the product and not the product itself, which is kind of weird. People have cottoned onto this phenomenon and are now posting videos left, right and centre – it’s seriously chaotic in TikTok land.

But here at SEO Sydney Experts, we’ll demystify the hype around TikTik and give you tips on creating videos that rank – and if you are lucky, it will get on Google. How good is that?

TikTok SEO – an overview

In a nutshell, TikTok SEO is ensuring all your video content is fully optimised, such as descriptions and profiles, so it’s easily searchable by TikTok and Google. Having fully optimised content will make it easily found while driving lots of extra traffic to your site. Extra traffic means more potential customers and, ultimately, sales or revenue.

Why TikTok is Important for Your Business

The social media environment is in a state of constant change. One year, it’s Instagram or YouTube; the next, it’s TikTok. As a business owner, adapting to the social media public’s edd flow and appetite and skewing your content to attract a demographic is a full-time job. But, as a business owner, this is how it is nowadays, and you have to be in the social media game, or you’ll be missing out on an audience whose primary past time seems to be glued to these social media apps. Heads are always down, and they are feverishly searching for things. 

In fact, according to the NY Times for Gen Z, TikTok Is the New Search Engine. So, if you have a business, you better start embracing this phenomenon, or you will lose out to other competitors who are far more social media savvy. It doesn’t matter whether your business is travel, professional, retail, eCommerce or service. Whatever you do, TikTok is a social media app that’s screaming out for your business with very hungry users. And a point to note with TikTok is that creating content is easy. Get online, download the AppApp and see for yourself. And if you take my TikTok SEO advice, you’ll be well on your way to being a TikTok publishing guru in no time!

 How the TikTok Algorithm Works:

Firstly, as a business, you must open a TiktoK account; all you need is the paperwork from ASIC showing your business registration and ABN. Approval takes about 48 hours, and they will let you know if anything else is needed. Once the account is created, TikTok will send you content based on their information about you and the people/business you are following. As you scroll through the content, the algorithm will see which videos you watch, how long you stay on the video and if you respond. Over time, TikTok will send you content that’s precisely what you want and enjoy. It’s a powerful algorithm, and as SEO marketers, we need to be able to provide information crafted for your user and customer base.

TikTok Ranking Signals

TikTok uses various ranking signals to determine who to serve a video to at what time and during what situation. There are three primary categories.

 User Interactions

Nearly all user behaviour is monitored by TikTok to work out how popular it is and if the video is worth displaying. Variables include a like, favourite, or leaving a comment, and sometimes more complex signals such as watching a video to the end or clicking on a TikTok video share link all relate to the popularity of a video. So, if you intend to create content, it has to be engaging. A big mistake many businesses make on the TikTok platform is creating a traditional style of video, which is OK for platforms like YouTube or on their website, but something else is needed for TikTok. It would be best to have the human element with a dose of humour or fun. Make it fun, natural and genuine. Sticking to traditional formats is OK, but to get an idea of what people are uploading on TikTok, have a look for yourself, and you’ll get the style of TikTok.

Account Information and Settings

TikTok will see the settings you created, such as language and your country and serve information based on these variables.

 How TikTok SEO is different to Google SEO

The ranking signals

Google and TikTok will rank content very differently. For example, Google will look at the trust of a website and authority as well as the relevance of the content, while TikTok will look at the user’s interaction with a video. That said, Google will also look at how long people stay on a website and measure bounce rates as part of their ranking algorithm. Because there is a big difference between the two algorithms, we must take a different approach to our SEO strategy to get your website or videos ranking.

 Optimising video for TikTok

TikTok is a video-sharing platform, so with TikTok, you have to look (as previously stated) at making the videos engaging and fun with highly visual content.

 Using Hashtags as well as Keywords

One of the significant differences between TikTok and Google is finding the videos using the hashtag system. On TikTok, videos are categorised and sorted with hashtags and are used to help users find specific video content. For example, if you sell children’s toys, a hashtag would be # childrentoys, #funkidstoys, etc. Finding what’s trending on TikTok will also help implement your TikTok hashtag.

Top Tips for TikTok SEO

Know your customers 

Look at what your competition is doing and see what audiences are interacting with them. Knowing what your audience watches is critical for creating the correct type of video. If you are in the eCommerce space selling surfboards, for example, your videos need to be all about the beach, waves and perhaps some travel. There is no point in doing a cooking video, as your audience won’t interact with this.

What’s trending on audio, hashtags, and keywords – within your business niche

I like to look at what’s happening within my niche or my customer’s niche, see what’s trending and which videos are prominent and then customise video content on what is popular and what the customers are searching and watching. See what your competition is up to on TikTok and replicate their videos, obviously doing it better!

Start creating excellent content. 

Don’t overthink it! Just get going on the video creation. See what the rest of your competition is doing, and begin today. See what videos get the most likes and shares, and go for it. Simple as that. It might be a trial-and-error process till you get it right, but at least you have made the first step. You must review your video stats and adjust your content strategy to get more likes and shares. TikTok offers an analytics page on your account so you can easily track the performance of your video. But make sure you have a TikTok business account for this option, which is easy to do. All you need is a bit of paperwork, and they will approve it. Plus, you get a link to your website, a bonus for SEO.

 SEO Sydney Experts – Key Takeaways

Start TikTok today – don’t waste too much time thinking about it, as it’s the hottest platform right now! It is abundantly clear that TikTok is the month’s flavour and has taken a massive chunk of the Instagram market share.

For more information on TikTok, or if you’re wondering how to get more traffic to your website, reach out to us here at SEO Sydney Experts.