Let’s Comprehend TikTok Algorithm & Ranking Factors

This content can be really useful for you if you are looking to get more users to watch your brand’s content on TikTok. So, read till the end.

Well, it goes with mentioning that TikTok has become a wild sensation across the world. From the general denizens to celebrities, everybody loves to spend hours scrolling through the videos playing one after another. The more they explore, the more the app invites their attention and engagement. However, SEO companies and marketers believe that TikTok’s success truly lies in its algorithm, and only by leveraging it, a brand can get people to watch its content.

Let’s understand this in detail. 

7 Ranking Factors In The TikTok Algorithm

Being a top SEO company, we profoundly understand that displaying the right content to the user at the right time is what forms the basis of a brand’s success on a search engine. Although TikTok is not a search engine, surely is moving into the search engine space and providing users with engaging and valuable content.

Due to this very reason and of course the unmoved authenticity of the platform, more and more brands are turning to it to connect better with their audience. Hence, they need to understand what works with TikTok’s algorithm and what ranking factors can help TikTok show their users the right content. 

1. Engagement Through Videos

Engagement on TikTok is measured based on the video and not the account. It consists of watch time, likes, comments, replays, profile visits, follows, and more. A TikTok video with a high level of engagement conveys that people spend time watching, replaying, bookmarking, and even tagging the video as ‘Not Interested’. Among these interactions, comments, and shares create stronger engagement than likes.

Although, the number of followers or the past performance of the profile does not directly impact the rankings of the videos. But they can definitely help videos perform better due to a higher following count watching them, hence helping brands reach more audiences. 

2. Video Content

To be able to recommend videos to users based on their interests, the TikTok app needs to comprehend what are those videos about. It makes use of the following elements that a user usually sees within the uploaded videos:

• Video’s Visuals

TikTok can understand the contents of videos by recognizing the objects shown in them. This detection and collection helps the app moderate content and enhance its recommendation algorithm.

• Audio

By processing the text of the words said in the video, TikTok understands what is it about.

• Text on Videos

The text written over the videos also helps the app comprehend the content.

• Video Title & Hashtags

It is among the most useful ways to detect the contents of a video. Titles and hashtags not only help TikTok with this but also boost the discovery and engagement of videos, hence influencing their rankings.

• TikTok Sounds

TikTok sounds are great indicators of the video’s content, especially if they are trending, the video will attract more engagement and a boost in ranking. 

It is based on these elements that the TikTok app comprehends what topic or emotional voice that video features. When brands choose SEO companies for TikTok SEO, the experts assist them in improving these elements and much more for success.

3. Content Language

The TikTok app offers users to set preferences for app language, preferred language, and translation language. While you can only select one app language and translation language, you can select many preferred languages. 

4. Discover Tab

The Discover tab also helps TikTok to comprehend the potential interest of the user. It analyzes their interactions with content other than the video. This includes clicking on specific hashtags, exploring trending topics, or even watching videos with specific sounds.

5. Device Type & Information

TikTok also takes into account the type of device, model, OS, time zone settings, screen resolution, and other device settings to determine what the user gets to see. Although how it does that is not yet precisely explained in the documentation. 

6. Location Of The Creator & Viewer

The location of the video creator as well as the viewer is also a good ranking factor, as per TikTok. This goes without mentioning that the app tracks the user’s location through its IP address, SIM card information, and GPS. Hence, although not mentioned clearly in the documentation, TikTok does use location as a ranking factor and recommends users with engaging content. 

7. Ineligible Content

TikTok uses two ways to moderate the content. One, by removing it, and two, by declining its eligibility to rank. A video has to face the above actions when it is suspected of violence, abusive language, nudity, and similar reasons.

There is a small list of content that are ineligible to show on the ‘For You page. These include:

• Content posted by users under 16.

• Content that shows a QR code

• Life-threatening stunts that are not performed by professionals. 

• Content that asks users to engage with the video or other users.

• Duplicated content from TikTok or other websites, without any creative edits.

• Any content that features tobacco consumption. 

Summing Up

So these were the seven significant ranking factors that help TikTok to understand the preferences of users and suggest content they might be interested to watch. This popular app analyzes the user’s engagement with the videos and comprehends the content shown in them. Moreover, it takes into account the user’s language preferences, the device he uses, and also what else he likes to discover besides the video. The location of the video creator and viewer is also a considerable criterion for TikTok when recommending videos.

Understanding the TikTok SEO strategies can be a bit difficult in the absence of a professional SEO expert. 10SEOS is a leading SEO company that can help your brand exercise the right TikTok SEO strategies and rank for TikTok search results. Connect with us today to start the SEO journey and step up in your domain. Visit 10SEOS.com for details.