TikTok SEO: new SEO strategy

Social referencing is nothing new.

Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, social networks as search engines.

La Generation Z and the Millennials, are always the first to adopt new ways of using technology and are influencing other generations to follow suit. As a result, many consumers are using these channels more to search for information, content, ideas, and products.

And not every marketer should Don't ignore where consumers spend their time.

Above all, where they spend their time looking.

And it is indeed TikTok that has taken an important place in the use of its search engine.

Until being baptized as the “New Google.”

According to internal Google data, nearly 40% of users of the Generation Z prefer to use TikTok and Instagram instead of Google search. However, at first glance, the social network is presented as an entertainment platform and not as a search engine, but that does not prevent users from using it as such.

So what does that mean for your brand?

The platform is renowned for the functioning of its TikTok algorithm, which adapts quickly and shows relevant videos to its users. But it has also grown around its search functionality, which is used to find videos around a specific topic.

With this possibility, TikTok becomes a space for discovery and active research, a way for your prospects to find your brand. Provided that you ensure that the TikTok referencing of your brand is solid and well optimized.

Don't worry, we'll explain to you below how to use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on TikTok.

Why is TikTok SEO important?

What does TikTok SEO consist of?

To put it simply, the TikTok SEO consists in optimizing your videos so that they are easily found by users who search on the platform. The same logics as those of traditional referencing apply. If you've already worked on your SEO strategy on Google, it won't be very difficult for you to do the same on TikTok.

The main driver of TikTok's evolution towards search is TikTok's ability to provide users with high value-added content and who is socially validated by the platform community.

For Generation Z, TikTok is a discovery platform, and the way they use it is more like a search engine.

But it doesn't work exactly the same as Google or Bing because the app provides a different type of response to their searches. When you make a query on TikTok, your intention is to find the content that will meet your request - so you'll be typing keywords into the search bar to get information.

On TikTok, his information will be based on real experience content and socially validated by the platform community, rather than on paid ads.

TikTok SEO for my brand

The TikTok SEO came into place quite naturally, with more than 732 million active users worldwide, and many are turning to TikTok instead of Google for research. Not to mention that the social media platform relies on the authenticity and spontaneity of its creators. And that's why Your brand needs to turn to TikTok as a way to connect with an audience in a more direct and candid way. The TikTok SEO gives an opportunity to be known by an audience that is particularly interested in your sector of activity, since they will search for it themselves.

This involves Understand search intent of your target and to use relevant and high-volume keywords.

Indeed, the more your video will perform, the higher it will be in the search results for the keyword you are looking for. The social network works like word of mouth: creators recommend products they like more than they promote them. TikTok is built around this logic of spontaneous and authentic video, so the trust that users will have in content creators is important.

Download our ebook and keep a clear understanding of How does TikTok SEO work, as well as effective methods to improve your visibility.

How do you reference your TikTok videos?

Let's break down the 4 marketing steps together to optimize your video content for TikTok SEO:

Step 1 - Understand your audience and the research they could do

For all content marketing strategy, it is essential to ask yourself who you want to talk to first of all. This is all the more true when you want optimize your SEO strategy on your TikTok videos. Understanding your audience and how your brand fits into their lives is the first step in understanding the search intent of your ideal audience. What is his search intention that you could bring to him, and under what keywords you could reference him in order to optimize your content.

Step 2 - Choosing the right keywords on TikTok

Understanding your target audience and their search intent makes the next step in the process easier: select the right keywords to use in your video.

There are 3 things to take into account when choosing your keywords:

• The search volume : How many people are looking for content using this keyword? The idea is that the more the keyword is searched for, the more relevant it is to use in general.
• Relevance : is your content really relevant to the keyword you are looking for? If you don't deliver what your keyword suggests in the content, SEO won't be effective.
• The difficulty : how difficult is it to rank your content for this keyword? If it is a keyword that is already saturated, you will have more difficulty getting visibility under it.

There is no magic formula in the absolute, and sometimes these three characteristics contradict each other. Logically, if the keyword volume is high you will run into difficulties, as other brands and creators have probably already created an abundance of content to answer this topic. Likewise, low keyword difficulty may coincide with low relevance. So you actually have to adapt on a case-by-case basis according to your marketing objective.

Here it is two TikTok SEO SEO strategy templates different for specific situations, depending on the size of the brand:

To reach a niche community as a small business, you will instead focus on:

1. Low to medium volume
2. High relevance
3. Low keyword difficulty

For create more relevant or better content among those existing, you will rather rely on:

1. High search volume
2. High relevance
3. Low keyword difficulty

For increase your reputation, with a typical audience, you will rather rely on:

1. High search volume
2. Average relevance
3. Low keyword difficulty

Step 3 - Incorporate keywords

For incorporate keywords In the videos there are 4 possible ways:

• Text inserts (typically in hook)
• The speech
• Subtitles (manual or automated)
• The hashtags

The idea is to maximize embeds to ensure that your video is optimized from an SEO perspective, and ranked higher on the search page for that keyword.

Do not forget to mention your keyword in the insert written during the first 3 seconds of the video so that it appears as a thumbnail of your content.

Step 4 - Choose your hashtags

TikTok hashtags are also very important in your TikTok SEO strategy, but simply putting in the maximum amount is not necessarily the best method to optimize your videos.

The idea is to play on their extent and depth. You can play with longer and specific keywords, and high-volume keywords.

Long and specific keywords will bring you potentially more qualified users, who will surely do more than just watch the optimized video. In particular, they could become subscribers, or leave a comment, which will boost the performance of the video. Conversely, high-volume keywords will instead allow you to be seen by a maximum number of people, a larger audience with a lower conversion rate.

In some cases, like when you're planning to launch a video series, it might also make sense to use a hashtag with your business name followed by the show name.

Beyond that, we strongly encourage you to A/B test the hashtags you can use, for example by re-testing those chosen under a video that has excelled, to try to be as effective as possible in your hashtag choices in the future and therefore have the best possible SEO.

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The future of SEO on TikTok

Although we are not talking about TikTok SEO that recently, it's undeniably promising. Generation Z has reflexes of consumption of information and their different research. This is another way of reaching your audience that should not be overlooked.

According to a Cloudflare report, TikTok ended Google's 15-year reign as the most visited web domain in the world in 2021.

What this highlights is that consumers are no longer just looking for information from trusted and established sources, but especially in visually appealing and socially validated formats ; video is in particular a much more fun option. And TikTok's short formats ensure that the information will be synthetic and effective.