TikTok has quickly become one of the most influential platforms for content discovery, with the TikTok search bar playing a central role in how 1.04 billion monthly active users search for videos, trends, creators, and find related content. This has resulted in 41% of consumers having used tiktok as a search engine. Not bad for what started off as a dance app right? But, did you know optimising your content for TikTok search (also referred to as TikTok SEO) can significantly boost your visibility and engagement? Understanding how to implement TikTok SEO is essential, whether you’re a brand or content creator.
In this article, we will explore what TikTok SEO is, why it matters, best practices, and how to use TikTok search to your advantage.
What is TikTok SEO and why does it matter?
TikTok SEO refers to the strategies used to improve your content’s reach. Like traditional SEO on Google (other search engines are available), TikTok SEO means optimising your content for TikTok search results so that it becomes easily discoverable by users on the platform. The TikTok algorithm considers several factors when ranking videos, like keyword usage and user interactions. Optimising your content on Tiktok will help it rank higher when users search for specific keywords, hashtags, or trends on the TikTok search bar. It’s all about making sure that your videos show up when users search for content related to your niche.
Why does it matter? With 23.56 million videos being uploaded to TikTok every day, standing out can be difficult. Including TikTok SEO into your strategy will help ensure that your videos are discoverable beyond your followers, and that they land on the For You Page (FYP) of wider audiences. TikTok’s algorithms tend to prioritise content that relates and resonates with users, so mastering TikTok SEO is crucial for gaining traction.
With TikTok search overtaking Google search, implementing TikTok SEO is critical. People are now going to TikTok search to find things such as outfit inspiration, London hotspots, the hottest holiday destinations in the winter, and to find authentic reviews. 64% of Gen Z have used TikTok search as a search engine, and this will only increase. Well optimised TikTok content is now even showing up on Google’s search engine results page (SERP). Going forward, TikTok search is going to play a major role in how users find the information they’re looking for, so learning all you can about it now is essential.
How to search on TikTok
Using TikTok search is a simple but powerful way to discover content. To start, tap on the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner of your screen to open the TikTok search bar. On the TikTok search bar, you can type in keywords, hashtags, usernames, or even song titles. The TikTok search results will show a mix of popular videos, trending hashtags, and accounts. You can also filter your search to find specific types of content, such as videos from a different region.
For brands and creators, using the TikTok search bar can be a valuable tool for discovering trends, popular challenges, and finding inspiration for your own content. By searching for relevant hashtags and keywords, brands can see what kind of content resonates with their audience and create content that aligns with that. TikTok search is also a great way to find gaps in existing content and monitor competition to see how they’re approaching a topic. Additionally, TikTok search helps users find related content by suggesting similar videos based on what’s trending or what they’ve previously engaged with.
Mastering TikTok search and the TikTok search bar
Mastering TikTok search and the ever evolving TikTok search bar is important for brands and creators looking to capitalise on the platform’s growing role as a search engine. TikTok has now started to show signs of applying SERP features below their search bar. The app started with just its TikTok search bar, then it moved on to paid ads within its search results, and now it’s even showing featured snippets and suggested search terms when a user reviews a video’s comments section, offering real time insights into what users are actively looking for. For brands and creators, these suggestions provide invaluable opportunities to align their content with trending topics.
Even Google has started to show TikTok videos in their SERP’s for trending topics, meaning your optimised content could gain attention beyond the app itself. With visibility set to increase further due to short-form content becoming more popular, this is a golden opportunity to expand reach. Using TikTok SEO and TikTok search features, brands can stay ahead, making sure their content is not only discoverable on TikTok, but also on search engines like Google, where the potential audience is even larger.
How to check SEO on TikTok
Understanding how well your TikTok content is optimised for TikTok search is useful for improving reach when creating future content. Whilst TikTok doesn’t offer a dedicated TikTok SEO tool, you can assess and improve your content and its performance by focusing on key metrics. To view a video’s analytics, go to one of your videos, click ‘more insights’ at the bottom, and you will be able to view:
- Video views: This metric shows you how many times your video has been watched, A higher view count suggests better visibility and interest.
- Volume of mentions: Track how often your brand or content is mentioned across TikTok. Increased mentions can signal a growing awareness.
- Followers: Monitoring your follower count helps you understand what videos users are finding and following you from.
- Profile views: An increase in profile views may indicate that viewers are interested in exploring more of your content after watching one of your videos.
- Engagement rate: Assess the level of interaction (likes, comments and shares) your content receives. High engagement correlates with better TikTok SEO.
- Hashtag performance: Analyse which hashtags are driving the most views and engagement to optimise future content with TikTok SEO.
- Retention rate: Here you can see an average of how many people stayed to watch your video or at what point they lost interest.
- Traffic sources: This will show you where users viewed your content including the FYP, your personal profile, direct messages or through the sound used on the video.
How to SEO on Tiktok: Best practices for TikTok SEO in 2025
Knowing what the TikTok algorithm is looking for is one thing, knowing how to create content that will actually rank and create engagement is another. Here are the best practices for TikTok SEO when deciding what approach to use to show up in TikTok search results.
Conduct keyword research from SEO tools and TikTok search
Traditional SEO tools can be a great starting point when conducting keyword research for TikTok SEO. SEO tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs can help you get a basic idea of what your target audience is looking for on search engines like Google. You can also take advantage of TikTok’s keyword insight tool, which can help you find how well keywords are doing, view related videos/ads and discover keyword phrases you can use in your captions.
Another way to conduct keyword research is through the TikTok search bar. Let’s say you’re running a TikTok account for a fitness brand. Start by using the TikTok search bar to look up a broad term such as “workout tips”. As soon as you type it into the TikTok search bar, TikTok’s auto-populated results will display related searches such as “workout tips for beginners” or “workout tips for weight loss”. Each of these suggestions may spark ideas for creating targeted videos for your audience. If you want to dig deeper, refine your search by adding letters after your initial keyword e.g. “workout tips a”, “workout tips b”, and “workout tips c”.
Create high quality content
To increase your reach on TikTok, you need to create and upload consistently. TikTok recommends you post videos 1-4 times a day, especially when testing out new content to see what your audience resonates with most. The best time to post on TikTok varies depending on the industry you’re in.
Some tips to create TikTok content that will elevate your TikTok SEO results include keeping your videos around 30 seconds, using TikTok’s editing features, adding trending sounds or memes into your videos, finding a subculture to fit into, and experimenting with different types of videos.
Add keywords within captions and videos
Include keywords related to your video’s content in your caption, hashtags, and any on-screen text you add to your video. If you’re struggling to add a lot of keywords at once and don’t want to keyword stuff, you can also hide keywords at the side of your video when it comes to editing. This can help improve your chances of appearing in the TikTok search results. Also think about asking questions within your video or caption to get viewers to leave comments – you can also use the comment section to reply and leave a comment that includes more keywords.
Including 3-5 hashtags within your TikTok caption can also help increase results. At least one of those hashtags should include a keyword to help your video rank in TikTok search. To find relevant hashtags, look at competitor accounts or influencers in your niche. Also try the TikTok hashtags tool to generate some options.
Engage with the TikTok community
Engaging with the TikTok community and your audience makes your account look active and more legitimate. These kinds of TikTok accounts are more likely to rank in TikTok search compared to inactive accounts who only focus on promoting. Ways to interact with your audience include:
- Going live: Here you can showcase how things work behind the scenes, or you can hold Q&A’s and talks.
- Encourage followers to leave comments: TikTok comments can be used for inspiration for future content as you can create a video including the exact comment.
- Repost videos: Reposting videos related to your industry shows support and is also something your followers will notice.
- Collaborate: Collaborating with TikTok influencers or those within your industry can increase reach as their followers may take an interest in your content.
Just a dance app they said
Three views and a like from your mum can be enough..or you can let Milk & Tweed create a TikTok SEO strategy that will actually get your content seen by the right audience. If you want to react to TikTok trends and create better optimised content, get in touch with us today to see how we can help!
