Outline

1. Overview of the TikTok Algorithm
2. How Creators Are Promoting SEO
   1. Top Users
   2. Top Videos
3. Improving Our Page: Consistency
   1. TikTok Hashtags
   2. Video Formatting
4. Improving Our Page: Engagement
   1. TikTok Search Bar
   2. Targeted Hooks
   3. Step-by-Step Instructions
5. Summary

Overview of the TikTok Algorithm

The TikTok algorithm determines individual user interests using several core engagement signals:

1. Likes
2. Comments
3. Follows
4. Watch time

All of these contribute to a user’s personalized feed, influencing how other users with similar interests see content. What sets apart TikTok from other social media algorithms is that it takes into account watch time and retention rate. 

When it comes to content discovery, TikTok evaluates the following elements on a per-video basis: 

1. Relevant hashtags
2. Keywords
3. Common Search phrases

How users interact with videos that have certain hashtags or keywords determines how much a video will be promoted. 

https://buffer.com/resources/tiktok-algorithm/

How Creators Are Promoting SEO

This section analyzes how SEO-focused top-performing videos and users on TikTok utilize these features.

Top Users

When searching for SEO on TikTok, two popular creators are found: 

1. https://www.tiktok.com/@joshuamaraney

2. https://www.tiktok.com/@rankboostmedia

What both of these creators have in common is consistency: by looking at their pages, we can see that the thumbnails for each video the creators are consistently in the same position, wearing the same things, and have the titles for their videos in a consistent manner. Aesthetics is extremely important when developing a page, rather than just a video. 

Top Videos

The following videos on SEO have several thousands of views and explain base-level themes and tricks within SEO: 

• Cómo optimizar tus videos en TikTok usando SEO
• Optimizing Collections Pages for Improved SEO | TikTok
• SIMPLE SEO you can start TODAY with zero SEO skills. #seo #seotips #se… | Small Business | TikTok
• SEO Strategies for Ranking Higher on Google | TikTok
• How to SEO optimize your content. How to get TikTok to categorize your… | tiktok creativity beta program

These videos have several things in common: 

1. A targeted hook
2. Step-by-step instructions
3. Fast-paced consistency and engagement

These will be discussed further in the report.

TikTok Hashtags

This video dives in to the process of using the correct hashtags on TikTok and the strategies for them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J93TV772Jbo

The author describes several methods for maximizing potential with the hashtag feature on TikTok, including: 

• Using popular or trending hashtags
• Not using TikTok’s basic hashtags: such as #fyp
• Using hashtags relevant to the topic
• Creating a brand hashtag, like a slogan

Trending and relevant hashtags change continuously, but by using a simple slogan hashtag, such as #SEOwithKash, a brand can be established.

Video Formatting

Across all the videos looked at, many of these had several things in common: 

• Edited-in captions
• Fast-paced, highly edited content: without gaps in talking
• Thumbnail consistency
• Video length less than a minute
• Directing new viewers to follow/comment repeatedly

These techniques draw in and keep the attention of users on a highly-paced social media platform. 

Improving our Page: Engagement

TikTok Search Bar

The TikTok search bar can be highly utilized to determine trending topics and searches from users. Currently, the top things searched TikTok related to “SEO” are: 

1. seo optimization 2025
2. tiktok seo keywords
3. seo keywords
4. seo optimization on tiktok
5. seo for beginners 2025
6. seo for beginners
7. how to use seo on tiktok
8. tiktok seo optimization
9. seo keywords list
10. engine optimization for tiktok

By simply searching key SEO terms on TikTok, we can see what content users are looking for. Here’s some examples of keywords and phrases searched for and the results displayed on the “Others searched for” section: 

Targeted Hooks

In a lot of the most popular SEO videos, the creators draw in your attention by direct, targeted hooks. The first five seconds of the video proves to be most important: it’s how we can use the TikTok algorithm to promote our videos by improving retention rates. Some of these included: 

• “You’re not promoting your videos right”
• “Here’s one SEO hack that’s guaranteed to work for you”
• “Small business owners struggling to get views, this is for you”
• “I’m going to help you promote your business in 30 seconds”
• “I grew my business from this one trick”

These videos occasionally briefly explain what SEO is to the viewer before diving in to the main content. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

A lot of these videos make SEO simple and easy to understand by not promoting several alternatives; rather, just showing one step-by-step “trick” to promote SEO for your company. They record themselves personally visiting the websites, going through the process, and explain why it is effective simultaneously. 

This format adheres well to the fast-paced content consumption by dumbing-down the process, making it seem approachable and simplistic for beginners looking to promote their business or platform. By feeding a user one trick per video, a follow becomes more enticing to the user, bringing back viewers to the page. 

Even by recording a desktop screen with a phone, it appears accessible and informal. This video follows that format: SEO Strategies for Ranking Higher on Google | TikTok

Summary

Listed are all of the strategies to make our page more effective and promote long-term growth: 

• Hashtags
• Video Formatting & Editing tips
• Search bar utilization
• Targeted hooks
• Step-by-step instructions

More resources: 

• TikTok for business: How to grow your brand in 2025
• TikTok Business Account: TikTok for Business
• How TikTok’s Algorithm Figures You Out | WSJ

Author: Avery Spears