In the fast-paced world of social media, TikTok has captured the attention of millions worldwide with short-form, engaging videos, and become a powerhouse platform for content creators and brands alike. To succeed on TikTok, it is essential to maximize content visibility and reach. In this article, we will delve into the importance of leveraging trending hashtags and music/songs and crafting compelling video descriptions to enhance your TikTok content's visibility and engagement, and how to align these efforts to your traditional SEO strategy to drive synergies between your different digital marketing initiatives.
Increasing the visibility of your content
In general, three factors determine if a TikTok video is shown to a user:
- Device and Account Settings: Device type, Country Setting, Language Preference.
- User Interactions: Likes and Shares, Follows, Content User Creates, Comments User Posts, Videos User Adds to Favorites, Creators User Hides, Videos User Flags as Not Interested
- Video Information: Video Descriptions, Hashtags, Trending Music/Audios.
While you cannot change account settings or user interactions, you can change video information to drive visibility of your content. TikTok’s Creative Center is a powerful source of research, that combined with what we think of as traditional SEO best practices, can help yield the results you want.
Crafting Compelling Video Descriptions: Video descriptions play a vital role in providing context and additional information about your content, but they are also vital in determining if your content is shown to a user or not. A well-crafted video description can have a significant impact on audience engagement and content visibility. Here is what to consider when crafting video descriptions:
1. Keywords Matter: Video descriptions help viewers understand the purpose or message behind your video. Providing context enhances relatability and shareability and should increase engagement rates. Including trending keywords in your descriptions will also enhance your videos visibility, as it will increase the possibility of your videos to be recommended to the users who frequently consume media related to the keywords. By leveraging your SEO-focused keywords to find trending keywords, you can tap into opportunities to indirectly benefit your website SEO. You can discover which keywords are trending in TikTok’s Creative Center Keywords Insights.
- Call-to-Action (CTA): Including a clear CTA in your video description encourages users to act. Whether it's asking viewers to like, comment, share, or follow your account, a CTA prompts engagement.
- Humor and Emotion: Crafting a descriptive, humorous, or emotionally engaging video description draws users in, making them more likely to interact with your content.
2. Propelling Visibility of Content through Trending Music/Songs: Viral music trends are at the heart of TikTok's content ecosystem. The platform's vast library of sounds allows creators to add catchy tunes to their videos, enhancing their appeal to viewers. Here's why trending music is crucial for TikTok content success:
- Algorithmic Favoritism: TikTok's algorithm often favors videos that use trending sounds. By incorporating popular songs into your content, you increase the chances of your videos appearing on the coveted "For You" page, which can dramatically boost visibility and reach.
- Emotional Connection: Trending music and songs are already familiar to users, evoking emotions, and memories. When viewers hear a song they love, they are more likely to engage with your content, resulting in higher likes, comments, and shares.
- Virality Potential: Leveraging trending music puts your content in sync with popular trends, increasing the chances of your videos going viral. This aligns your brand with the latest cultural phenomena, further enhancing your online presence.
3. Harnessing the Power Trending Hashtags: Hashtags are the lifeblood of TikTok content visibility and discovery. They categorize content, making it easier for users to find videos related to their interests. Utilizing trending hashtags strategically can significantly impact your content's visibility and reach. Here's why hashtags matter and where to get insights on trending hashtags:
- Boosting Discoverability: Including relevant and trending hashtags in your video captions increases the chances of your content appearing in search results and being featured on the "Discover" page. When users explore specific hashtags, they encounter content tailored to their preferences, allowing your videos to reach a targeted audience.
- Staying Updated with Trending Hashtags: To discover trending hashtags, explore the "Trend Discovery" section in TikTok’s Creative Center. Pay attention to the hashtags being used in the most viewed videos, while also looking for hashtags with fewer posts. After identifying these hashtags, which are the holy grail of trending hashtags, you can click on “See Analytics” to deep dive in it, where you’ll find a weekly breakdown of interest over time and a estimation of when the hashtag is likely to trend. Here you could also dive into Audience Insights to see which demographics are posting and interacting with the hashtag across which categories, to guarantee that you are using a hashtag that is aligned with your brand’s target and positioning, while also checking if the hashtag is safe for brands.
Indirect Impact on SEO
While TikTok content doesn't directly impact traditional SEO, its influence on your brand's online presence is undeniable:
- Engagement Signals: When users engage with your TikTok content, it signals to the algorithm that your content is relevant and engaging. This can indirectly impact future content promotion to a broader audience.
- Cross-Platform Promotion: Leveraging TikTok's trending content and engaging descriptions can lead to cross-platform promotion. When users enjoy your TikTok content, they may follow your other social media channels or visit your website, contributing to overall brand visibility.
In the ever-evolving landscape of social media marketing, TikTok has emerged as a powerful platform for content creators and brands. By leveraging trending hashtags and music while also crafting compelling video descriptions, you can enhance your TikTok content's visibility, reach, and engagement. While these elements may not directly impact traditional SEO, their influence on brand awareness and online presence is significant. To succeed on TikTok, its key to understand what’s trending beyond videos, to prepare your content for max exposure, elevating your brand's presence.
If you are interested in creating connected experiences across your digital channels and evolving your brand performance through TikTok, let’s talk.