TikTok SEO on Top Trending with 5 Simple Steps

What is TikTok SEO?

The first thing we need to clarify is what TikTok SEO is? TikTok SEO is a method to help optimize your videos on the TikTok platform, helping videos rank higher in searches.

Although TikTok is a social network for sharing videos between people, it is not a search engine like Google. However, TikTok still owns a search bar, so doing SEO also plays an important role.

There is one point where TikTok is different from other platforms: TikTok does not add the number of followers to the SEO algorithm, so your videos still have a chance to be promoted like hot Tiktokers.

The TikTok algorithm prioritizes videos that users are interested in, based on factors such as Video interactions: liking videos, adding videos to favorites, etc., and videos that you don’t scroll through, watching until the last second. TikTok will collect data related to each user’s behavior and then decide which videos to distribute to them.

So if you know how to optimize your Video Content, your video will have the ability to trend, be pushed to the top of search results, and appear on the For You tab of many accounts. So let’s get started on learning the basic ways to optimize your video.

5-Step Process to Bring TikTok SEO to the Trend

Start creating video content that resonates with your audience

To start creating engaging content that attracts viewers, you first need to understand who your target audience is and what they are interested in.

Are you a Hair Care Brand looking to attract consumers who are looking for the best shampoo for their hair? Or are you a workwear brand that needs to reach office workers who want to define their style?

Understanding your audience and how your product satisfies the needs they are looking for is the first step to understanding your audience. You need to discover what information they are looking for, which will reflect the relevant content you can choose to create.

Creators should research and use language that is appropriate for viewers. In particular, don’t forget to add a title to the beginning of the video so viewers can understand the information quickly.

Also, use words they are familiar with and include text they notice appearing in the opening of the video.

If you don’t know what topics your audience is interested in, check out TikTok’s search bar. When doing keyword research, use TikTok and search for keywords on any topic you can think of, and TikTok will give you related keywords that your audience is interested in or searching for.

For example, when searching for the topic of outfit coordination, we will see related suggestions such as Korean style outfit coordination, chubby women outfit coordination… Can be used to build content for videos. TikTok will search for videos containing related keywords in the title or description of the video, as well as videos that include trending topics to suggest to users.

Once you understand what your target audience is interested in, you can move on to selecting the right keywords to appear in your videos. There are 3 criteria to consider when choosing keywords for your videos:

1. 1. Search volume: how many people are searching for that keyword
   2. Relevance: how relevant your video content is to the keywords being searched for
   3. Keyword Difficulty: assess how difficult it is for your content to rank for that keyword (a keyword with a high difficulty level means it’s hard to compete to rank for that keyword)

As a general rule, you will choose keywords that satisfy all three of the above factors.

1. 1. High search volume: This is the keyword that people are searching for.
   2. High Relevance: This keyword is directly related to your content.
   3. Low Keyword Difficulty: The keyword is not yet saturated, still has the ability to compete to the top

But there is also a point to note, there is no one-size-fits-all formula for choosing keywords. Sometimes in some situations, the three criteria above become contradictory.

For example, if you want to increase brand awareness and target high search volume, the difficulty level of the keyword will be high because many brands have built content with that keyword before or that keyword is receiving high attention but the relevance level is low, keywords with high search volume are not sure to be relevant to your brand.

Therefore, considering the criteria will depend on each case, depending on the brand’s development stage and depending on the communication goals you want to aim for.

For example, if you are a small brand, targeting a niche community, you can choose keywords with medium search volume, high relevance, and low keyword difficulty.

If you want to create content based on gaps in existing content in terms of relevance or quality, then you would choose keywords that have: high search volume, high relevance, low keyword difficulty.

If you’re targeting top-of-funnel visibility and awareness (focusing on increasing brand or product awareness), the keyword will satisfy: high search volume, medium relevance, low keyword difficulty.

After selecting keywords, we will incorporate keywords into the video in 5 ways:

1. 1. Text appears in video
   2. Audio in video
   3. Video description
   4. Hashtag
   5. Automatic closed captions

And if possible, we should combine all 5 of these forms in the video.

Use hashtags

Adding hashtags to your videos will make them easier for users to find. However, tapping into hashtags with high search volume on TikTok can be difficult due to saturation, so it is possible to leverage hashtags with lower search volume to build your traffic and use 3-6 hashtags per video. Then combine with general, popular hashtags to leverage traffic.

For example, when creating clips related to the topic of fashion and outfit coordination, you can take advantage of hashtags like #fashion_coordination #women’s_fashion_coordination combined with popular hashtags like #fashion_coordination

@jemianxo

@FashionNova casual days ❤️ #vestoutfit #casualoutfits #minimaliststyle

♬ long way 2 go remix – oriaology.🖤

Use Viral Sounds

Understand TikTok’s Community Standards

Community standards are rules set by Tiktok, we need to remember and follow them to avoid being warned and having interactions restricted by Tiktok. In addition to having attractive content that attracts viewers, videos also need to ensure that they do not violate content control standards to increase the possibility of appearing on top searches and trending on TikTok.

Learn from previous videos

The final step is a general tip that doesn’t apply to any specific video: always learn from previous videos to gain experience in optimizing future videos.

For example, use hashtags in successful videos, appear on top search, trending, take advantage of hot topics to create part 2, part 3… or review the comments section below the videos to better understand what customers are looking for.

Another way is to test other hashtags that are similar to your previous hashtags to see which ones are really effective and driving traffic to your content.

Now let’s check some typical videos to verify. First, search for keywords related to the need, here starting with the phrase “Fashion Coordination ”, we get the top videos as shown.

You can see that TikTok has bolded words related to the keyword being searched. Let’s try to choose the video with the highest number of views.

Let’s take a look at the steps TikToker took to optimize their videos:

1. 1. Include text related to the topic people are searching for in the first few seconds of the video and again use words related to the keyword in the video description.
   2. Combine with popular hashtags like #fyp #viral #trending…
   3. Using popular music: Baby One More Time with over 364k people choosing.

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