Introduction
If you’re starting with TikTok, you might be wondering how you can get your page to be popular. From what videos you like, your geographical location, hashtag choices, what videos you see, and even what music to use ––they can all influence the TikTok algorithm in certain ways. As such, it’s extremely important to know exactly how TikTok’s algorithm works as it is what determines how shown your content is. So without further ado, let’s get into it! increase TikTok likes
TikTok’s For You Page
Once you open your TikTok application, you will be brought to your For You page. The For You page is any creator’s dream – landing on this page usually means that your content is liked and being promoted to other users. However, that does not mean that everyone’s For You page is the same. Instead, everyone’s page is different as the videos you see on your For You page are all specially curated for you, based on the TikTok algorithm. According to TikTok, several factors are considered when recommending content to users – user interactions (i.e., the kind of videos and accounts that you like, share, comment, and follow, as well as the kind of content you post), video information (i.e., details such as video captions, sounds, and hashtags) and your personal device and account settings (i.e., language preferences, country setting, and device type).
To further curate your For You page, TikTok also weighs the user’s level of interest in videos. If both creator and viewer are in the same country, TikTok grades that as a weak indicator of interest. On the other hand, if a user finishes watching a video from beginning to end, TikTok grades that as a strong indicator of interest. Gathering all these indicators of interest together, TikTok ranks videos for the user’s For You page.
Factors That Influence The TikTok Algorithm
If you’re looking to build your TikTok account and increase TikTok likes, you’d probably be interested in knowing how to influence the TikTok algorithm. So here’s a list of various factors and how you can best use them to boost your account!
Hashtags
Using Hashtags in your captions is a great way to boost your content. Hashtags are great for signaling what your content is about, which allows TikTok to promote it to the right audience. Alternatively, hashtags could help in allowing users to find your content through TikTok’s search feature. Some of the most common hashtags used by creators include #ForYou, #ForYouPage, and #FYP, in hopes of bringing their content to the desired For You Page.
However, this may not always work in your favor. One alternative is to ride on the popular and relevant hashtags, as compared to using #ForYou in every TikTok you post. You’re able to find this through TikTok’s Discover Tab to see which hashtags are trending and how many views such hashtags are getting. If you find a hashtag that is relevant to your content, don’t be afraid to use it for yourself!
Captions
As TikTok is primarily a video-sharing platform, it is best to keep your captions short with relevant hashtags. If you desire to engage more with your audience, you can have short questions or jokes. This is especially as such captions could help build engagement within your comments section!
Trending Songs and Sounds
Another way to make your content more discoverable is to use the trending music and sounds on TikTok. If you use a song when it’s trending, this can mean a boost in your views and likes! There are a few ways to find out which sounds are top favorites –– if you’re an avid scroller, you’ve probably seen one or two repeated on your For You page. From there, you’re able to easily tap on songs on other videos and save them to your favorites for later use. If you aren’t active on TikTok, you can always look at what sounds are listed as trending and popular in your Video Editor. Additionally, if you have a TikTok Pro account, you could always use your Analytics Tab to know which sounds your audience has been liking the most.
Audience Activity
Knowing when your audience is most active is important as that would allow you to post at the right time. If you post too late or too early, you’re probably going to get fewer views and be bumped down by the algorithm. If you have a Pro account, you can use your Analytics tab to see what time your follower activity is at the highest. If you don’t, you’ll simply have to use a little bit of trial and error to find out.
Video Content and Editing
TikTok rides on viral videos, which means that your video’s content and editing quality plays a big part in whether or not it’s boosted. Think about which videos you’d tend to watch throughout –– what makes them so entertaining? Is it the filter they’re using, or the way their camera is angled? Or, think about what makes you click away from videos. Are they too stagnant? Apply these concepts to your own videos and you’d probably be boosted by the algorithm.
Location
Lastly, TikTok looks at your location and boosts your content to other users in the same location. This is most beneficial for small businesses as you’d want your products to be shown to those located near you.
How To Beat The Algorithm
Now that you know how the algorithm is, let’s talk about how you can beat it and boost your account’s popularity.
Post Content Consistently
Posting content consistently is the one rule for growth across most social media platforms. The more you post, the more likely your content will be shared. According to most users, it is best to post around one to two times a day. If you’re just starting with posting, feel free to experiment and post various types of content. This will help you to find what’s your account’s niche!
Experiment with TikTok Duets
Duets are videos that feature two side-by-side posts – one post is by the original creator and the other is by another TikTok user. Duets are a great opportunity for you to engage with others as you’re able to get other users to respond to your story, question, or challenge. If your post gets a great number of duets, your TikTok would have a greater level of engagement.
Use New Features
Compared to other social media platforms, TikTok creates way more features for users to play with. And because they’re still a growing platform, TikTok would want to promote these new functions as much as possible. This means that accounts that frequently use these filters or features will have a higher chance of being promoted. Let your heart out and go crazy with the editing –– you could be one of the first few accounts that starts a trend!
Post Content that has a Higher Completion Rate
Lastly, TikTok is more likely to boost videos that other users have watched fully. This is because TikTok’s algorithm would read this as that users have enjoyed watching your videos. Therefore, we suggest keeping your content short (around ten to fifteen seconds long), so that you’re able to achieve higher completion rates.
Conclusion
With your newfound knowledge about TikTok’s algorithm, we hope that you have a better idea of how you can get your content to go viral on TikTok! Remember, always utilize the tools that TikTok has provided you with –– they’re there for a reason. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next TikTok star!
Caroline is doing her graduation in IT from the University of South California but keens to work as a freelance blogger. She loves to write on the latest information about IoT, technology, and business. She has innovative ideas and shares her experience with her readers.
