TikTok search optimisation

You can add your TikTok property to Google Search Console. This gives you data and analytics about how your channel performs across the Google search platform. From here you can see which videos are getting clicks, impressions and visits and where from. You might discover that certain videos that didn't perform well in TikTok's own internal platform, actually does well on the web for something people are searching for. You may discover a new channel for growth you had not thought about before. In the report it gives information around the queries people are typing in, the content they are seeing from your channel, the country the user came from and device they used which is useful information for producing future content.

Your TikTok videos don’t only live on TikTok. They can also appear in Google search, in the AI answers at the top, the traditional list of results, or the short video carousel.

So do classic Google keyword research before you film. Find the words and phrases your customers type into Google. Plenty of beginner guides explain how.

Once you have your list, work those keywords into every part of your video: the description, captions, on-screen text overlays and hashtags. One piece of research, two places to be found.

(97 words.) If you’ve got a Google keyword research guide on the blog already, the “plenty of beginner guides” line could link straight to it.

Creator Search Insights is TikTok’s free keyword tool. It shows what people are actively searching for on TikTok, with a popularity score for each term.

To find it, type “Creator Search Insights” into the TikTok search bar. Filter by category to see trending searches in your niche.

The most useful feature is content gaps: topics people search for often but few videos answer. Make a video on one and you’re competing with far fewer creators.

Save topics as you go, then use the exact search phrases in your captions, overlays and spoken intro.

TikTok works a lot like a search engine, and it relies heavily on keywords to understand what your video is about.

So before you film, pick one clear target keyword and focus on it. If you’re reviewing air fryers, your keyword might be “air fryer review”.

Then use it in three places: in the video description, as an on-screen caption, and as a hashtag.

This matters because, even now, TikTok’s systems can struggle to work out a video’s topic at scale from the footage alone. Spelling it out helps point them in the right direction, so your video reaches the people actually searching for it.

Creator Search Insights doesn’t just show what people search for. The topics it suggests to you reveal how TikTok has categorised your account, and which Toks it thinks you belong in.

Use that as a guide. Videos on topics TikTok already links to you are more likely to be shown to the right people and perform well. Topics outside that area will be harder to break into, at least at first.

If TikTok’s view doesn’t match your business, keep posting focused content on the topics you want to be known for.

Creator Search Insights includes a search demographics feature. Type in a keyword or phrase and it shows you the age and gender of the people searching for it. That tells you who your videos should be made for.

For example, a financial adviser searches “pension advice” expecting people nearing retirement, but finds most searchers are aged 25–34. So the videos should cover starting a pension early and what to do with a workplace pension, not how to retire comfortably.

Check your keywords before you film. The same topic can need a very different angle depending on who’s searching.

Search a keyword on TikTok and the AI Creation Insights panel shows two scores out of 100: popularity (how much people search for it) and content saturation (how many videos already cover it). High on both means plenty of demand, but a lot of competition.

Take “London things to do”. It scores 69 for popularity and 85 for saturation, so London travel Tok is packed and hard to break through on.

Set your expectations accordingly. Rather than taking on the crowded topic head-on, try a narrower angle, such as a specific area or occasion, where fewer creators are competing.

Pro tip, look for high popularity, low content saturation.

When people search on TikTok instead of Google, they’re looking for more than a wall of text or someone’s opinion. They want to see things for themselves.

Someone searching for holidays in Bali doesn’t want a review site they can’t fully trust. They want to watch a real person on holiday, showing the restaurants, beaches and festivals as they actually are.

The same goes for an air fryer review. Viewers want to see it in use, cooking real food from real recipes, not a summary copied from a website.

So show your experience first-hand. Seeing is believing, and that’s what wins on TikTok.

It’s tempting to save time by taking an Instagram Reel or YouTube Short and uploading it straight to TikTok. But if it still carries another platform’s logo, TikTok is far less likely to push it.

The same goes for uploading slightly cropped or edited copies of videos already on TikTok. The platform is good at spotting duplicates and favours original content.

You can absolutely reuse your ideas and footage across platforms. Just export a clean version without any watermarks, and tweak it to suit TikTok’s style.

You can have huge reach, thousands of followers and great engagement, but if your videos start looking blurry, grainy or pixelated, TikTok is far less likely to push them.

This isn’t about production values. You don’t need professional lighting, fancy editing or a film crew. Plenty of top-performing videos are shot casually on a phone.

It’s about technical quality. Is the picture sharp and in focus? Is it filmed in a decent resolution? Is it lit well enough to see clearly? Can people hear you properly?

Most modern smartphones handle this easily. Just check each video before you publish and make sure it doesn’t look like it was filmed on an old flip phone.

If you’re serious about video, it’s worth investing in a proper camera at some point. But on a tighter budget, most modern smartphones are more than good enough.

Don’t just take a video made for YouTube, upload it to TikTok and expect it to rank. What works on one platform often falls flat on another.

TikTok viewers expect vertical, fast-paced videos that feel natural to the app. A landscape clip with a slow intro, a long outro and “don’t forget to subscribe” at the end stands out for all the wrong reasons. People scroll straight past it, and TikTok takes note.

Film with TikTok in mind from the start. Shoot vertically, get to the point quickly and use the app’s own text, sounds and trends. If it looks like it belongs there, people will watch.

Likes are nice, but they’re easy to give and TikTok knows it. Saves and shares are much stronger signals that your video is genuinely useful or entertaining.

A save means someone wants to come back to your video later. A share means they think it’s worth sending to a friend. Both tell TikTok to show it to more people.

So create content with lasting value. Quick tutorials, handy checklists, insider tips and “things I wish I’d known” videos all give viewers a reason to hit save or send it on.

Long pauses and slow moments give viewers an excuse to swipe away. The longer people watch, the more TikTok shows your video to others.

Cut out silences, umms and dead air when editing. Keep things visually fresh every few seconds by changing the on-screen text, switching camera angles or adding close-up shots of what you’re talking about.

A neat bonus trick is to make your ending flow naturally back into your opening line. Viewers often end up watching again without realising, which tells TikTok your video is worth watching more than once.

It’s tempting to delete a video that didn’t take off, but resist the urge. A video that didn’t go viral can still perform well later.

Videos that have sat quiet for months or even years can suddenly gain views when their topic starts trending, when people start searching for it, or when TikTok updates its algorithm. Delete it and you lose that chance for good.

Instead, leave it up and give it a refresh: add a location tag, or tweak the caption with better keywords. Every video you keep is another way for people to find you.

If you want TikTok search traffic, every part of your content needs to point to the same topic. That means your on-screen text, video description, script and spoken dialogue, subtitles, hashtags and your profile itself. Keep it natural, though: say your keywords the way a real person would, rather than cramming them in everywhere.

Say you sell air fryers. Your username, bio and profile should make that obvious, and your videos should stick to it: air fryer recipes, cleaning tips, model comparisons and “can you air fry this?” tests.

The more consistent you are, the more confident TikTok becomes about what your account is for, and the more likely it is to show you when someone searches for air fryers.

A misleading opening might get people to stop scrolling, but if your video doesn’t deliver what it promised, they’ll leave straight away. TikTok notices when lots of people drop off early, and it can hurt how your whole account performs, not just that one video.

Clickbait also damages trust. Viewers who feel tricked are unlikely to follow you or buy from you.

Make your hook bold and attention-grabbing, but make sure your video actually delivers on it. Honest hooks build an audience that sticks around.

Every time you post a video, add a location tag. It’s quick to do and helps you get more views, because TikTok uses it to show your video to people nearby.

It also keeps working long after you post. TikTok can show your video months or even years later to people in that area, or to visitors planning a trip there.

Don’t forget your older videos. You can go back and add a location to those too, giving content you’ve already made a second chance to be found.

TikTok doesn’t just read your captions and hashtags. It also listens to what you say in your videos and turns your speech into text, which helps it work out what your video is about.

So if your target keyword is “air fryer recipes”, say those exact words early in the video. It sounds simple, but many people talk around their topic without ever naming it clearly.

Combine this with your keyword in the description, on-screen caption and hashtag, and you give TikTok every chance to show your video to the people searching for it.

If you’re struggling to break through in a big city like London, go smaller. TikTok searches get very specific, and people search for individual areas like Shoreditch, Camden or Battersea, where the competition is usually thinner.

If you run a restaurant, don’t make videos about the best restaurants in the UK. Make them about your neighbourhood: “best brunch in Battersea” or “where to eat in Camden”.

TikTok also knows where users are and recommends local videos, so locally focused content reaches nearby customers. Don’t try to take on the world. There are plenty of long-term opportunities closer to home.

Let TikTok tell you what to make

TikTok’s search bar draws on a huge database of what people actually search for. Type in your main keyword, then try it with question words like “what”, “how” and “when”, and TikTok will suggest the real searches people are making.

Say you sell air fryers. Within seconds you’ll find searches like “air fryer breakfast recipes”, “how to air fry an egg” and “air fryer dinner ideas”. Each one is a video waiting to be made, and the list goes on and on.

Make videos that answer those searches directly. Don’t guess what people want. Use the data.

TikTok sorts people into communities called “Toks”, based on what they watch and search for: plan a London trip and you’ll see London Tok, love football and you’re in Football Tok, get a dog and Dog Tok will find you. Your customers are in these Toks too, so work out which ones and make videos using the topics, phrases and hashtags those communities use, and TikTok will show you to people already interested in what you sell.

Trying to cover every topic under the sun suggests you’re not really an expert in any of them. People follow you for your speciality and your skill, not because you can do a bit of everything. Nobody can do everything.

Say you love gardening. You post gardening tips and review gardening tools. Your audience knows exactly what to expect, and so does TikTok.

Then you start reviewing kitchen gadgets. That’s already off topic. Add a few videos about crypto and your followers will be confused, and the content will feel irrelevant to the people who came for your gardening.

Pick your lane and stay in it. Being known for one thing makes you easier to find, easier to trust and easier to recommend.

On TikTok, people follow stories, not sales pitches. If your brand has nothing interesting to say, it’ll be a hard sell, however good your products are.

The good news is that most businesses have more of a story than they think. How did you get started? What went wrong along the way? What happens behind the scenes on a busy day? Who are the people making it all happen?

A bakery showing the 4am start, or a small shop sharing how it nearly closed and bounced back, gives people something to care about.

Find your story and tell it well. People buy from brands they feel connected to.

This one’s a bit controversial, so take it with a pinch of salt.

I’m not going to tell you to avoid AI-generated video altogether. Some of the most viral content out there is made with AI, and it clearly has its place.

But if your content relies on trust, think carefully. Reviewing a product, or giving advice on serious topics like money or health? People want to know a real person is behind it.

That means a real human giving the advice, filming the video and taking the photos. Viewers can usually tell, and when it comes to trust, authenticity wins every time.

Your profile is often the first thing people check after watching one of your videos. If it’s vague or empty, they’re unlikely to follow.

Use your bio to say clearly who you are, what you do and why people should follow you. Include a keyword or two that describes your business, so TikTok and viewers instantly understand your niche.

Then add one clear call to action, such as “Follow for weekly gardening tips” or “Shop our range below”. Keep it short, keep it specific, and make every word count.

TikTok rewards people who show up regularly. Set yourself a minimum number of posts each week and stick to it. You won’t see results overnight, but consistency builds momentum over time.

Posting is only half the job, though. Reply to comments, respond to messages and join the conversation around your videos. It shows there’s a real person behind the account and gives people a reason to come back.

Keep an eye out for misinformation too. If someone gets something wrong about your business or products, correct it politely and quickly. Leave it unchallenged and others may believe it.

TikTok gives you plenty of data on every video you post. The key numbers to watch are watch time, likes, comments and shares, both within TikTok and out to other apps like WhatsApp or Instagram.

Watch time shows whether people stuck around. Comments and shares show whether your video sparked a reaction strong enough to pass on.

Go back through what you’ve already posted. Which videos did best? Look at what they have in common, whether that’s the format, the topic, the hook or the length.

Then do more of it. If something worked once, there’s a good chance it’ll work again.

Your click-through rate (CTR) is how often people tap your video when they see it. On TikTok, your thumbnail, or cover image, makes a huge difference to it.

Videos aren’t only autoplayed in the feed. They also appear as thumbnails in search results and on your profile, so strong covers keep people tapping and watching more of your videos.

Always add a short caption to your thumbnail so people know what the video is about. Study what competitors and top creators in your niche do. Each time you try a new format, check whether your search impressions go up or down.