TikTok SEO: How to optimise your business account?

Many businesses are using marketing strategies with TikTok SEO to promote their brand, products, and services. TikTok recently introduced a search ads feature to give marketers an opportunity to get in front of their target audience with high purchase intent based on intent through search queries rather than user behaviour. Here is how you can do SEO for your TikTok account 

Create TikTok business account

You can do SEO for your personal as well as business account but for branding and marketing, it is better to switch over to a business account. With this account, you can access Business Suite tools like auto messaging and advertising. 

Create an account using a phone number or email address and switch it to a Business Account. Choose a category that best describes your brand and that's it.

Create TikTok content strategy

You might be a pro at Facebook or Instagram, but TikTok has its own specific game plan which you can understand with an effective content strategy. Here is what you need to do to create a winning strategy.

Get to know the platform

Learn about the inside and outside of the platform by spending some time there. Browse the For You Page, and play around with filters, effects, and editing features to get to know about TikTok.

Understand the special vocabulary of TikTok where a skull emoji may refer to a laughing emoji. Get familiar with tropes and common phrases used on this platform.

Understand the Tiktok algorithm

Though the algorithm never remains the same as it keeps on evolving, you should start understanding it. It is a proprietary formula that finds out which TikTok video to recommend to each user.

Identify your target audience

You should be aware of your target audience, before you start making your first video. As TikTok is popular among teenagers and Gen Z, different demographics also watch it on a daily basis.

Just go through the videos your audience is watching and the hashtags they are using to get insightful ideas.

Outperform your competitors

There might be similar businesses like yours already on TikTok. Get a sneak peek of their accounts to discover what is working for them and what's not. Create your own strategy and be creative in your journey to perform better than your competitors.

Set up goals and objectives

Plan some goals and objectives to finalise your strategy to achieve success on the platform. Use the SMART framework to ensure your objectives are special, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.

Plan out a content calendar

Sometimes you get inspirational ideas in a spur of the moment but it is good to plot out content in advance to avoid any trouble. Create a social media content calendar and add dates and tasks in an organised way.

Optimise your TikTok profile

Now start optimising your TikTok profile with the best SEO strategies as it will be your digital storefront.

Keyword research 

Do extensive keyword research for search engine optimization. Look for phrases or words that can target your audience. You can use SEO tools for this purpose. But most of these tools scrape data from Google, not TikTok. 

So, instead of waiting for a TikTok SEO tool, use the platform, open a search bar, and enter keywords you have taken from TikTok keyword research. You will get a list of related searches to get more keywords for your content.

Set up your profile by using a name, adding a bio, and a profile picture. You can insert your business URL in the bio, so make sure to choose one that best suits your business.

Get verified

With a verified profile you will gain more exposure as it serves as a stamp of approval from the TikTok overlords. This gives your brand authority and confirms its authenticity.

Create high quality content

Create high-quality and shareable content consistently. TikTok recommends publishing videos 1 to 4 times a day especially when you are testing out your target audience.

Here are some tips you should consider for creating great videos.

• Keep the video around 21 to 34 seconds

• Edit video through TikTok editing features

• Use trending sound clips 

• Determine a subculture your brand and content fit into

• Try experimenting with different types of content

Jump on trends

Following the trends and creating videos on them can make your content go viral. TikTok was built on trends and brands are often rewarded if they stay on top of the trend. As these trends move fast, it becomes a race for marketers to stay consistent with relevant and innovative content.

However, a brand shouldn't follow every trend blindly but identify which one is right for its audience. It will be of no use to join a makeup trend if your audience doesn't care about makeup.

Include keywords and hashtags

Use relevant keywords with good search volumes and also incorporate hashtags in the description. Usually, hashtags with more views mean you will have to face more competition. If you want to use them, try making a mixture of niche-specific hashtags and use them in broader terms.

TikTok has its own Keyword Insights tool to track popularity changes and CTR.

Go live

You can go live on TikTok like other social media platforms to connect in real time with your audience. You can also engage with your followers by asking questions or asking them to share their feedback.

You can share a live tutorial, start an interview, or broadcast a conversation during a live broadcast.

Collaborate with other influencers

You can increase the visibility of your account after collaborating with other tiktokers. This is a way to bank their follower's engagement and get discovered on the “Following” page.

You can collaborate with other accounts by showing up in a brand video of another account, promoting their product in your video, sponsoring your product to another brand to feature in their video, and joining duets.

Track progress with analytics

Once you have achieved a certain target number of followers and views, you must check how everything is going, considering your business objectives. Analytics can help you check your reach and engagement metrics.

TikTok SEO also features an analytics tool to find out if the strategy you have planned is working. You can also find out about the areas of improvement.

Note: Track the progress of your business account and your competitors to better understand what is working best in terms of TikTok SEO.