TikTok Algorithm: How To Get on the For You Page (2024)

When you’ve used TikTok, you’ve likely had the uncanny feeling that it knows exactly what you wish. A potato salad recipe appears in your For You page the identical day you tell your best friend you’ve been craving potato salad. Otherwise you Google “how one can install a sink faucet,” only to see a TikTok video explaining the method hours later.

It might feel like magic, however the algorithm isn’t as much of a mystery as you’d think. Using a set of indicators—from watch time to likes and comments—the algorithm develops an understanding of the content that the majority appeals to you. Consequently of all this data crunching, your feed can feel as unique to you as your individual fingerprint.

For brands, this also signifies that with a bit work, content can find its solution to potential customers. Find out how the TikTok algorithm works so you may get your content in front of the correct users, whether you’re selling industrial grade glycine or dropshipping hats.

What’s the TikTok algorithm?

The TikTok algorithm is a set of instructions dictating which videos get surfaced based on user preferences. As an alternative of only showing users content from accounts they follow (as is commonly the case with some social media platforms), TikTok’s algorithm mixes in content from accounts they’ve yet to find. TikTok takes into consideration several data points—from user interaction metrics to account settings—to deliver highly personalized, relevant content to their user base. Often, that features content users would have never thought to search out.

Whereas most social media firms have tended to reward conformity and broadly appealing content, TikTok has gained a popularity for connecting area of interest content with area of interest audiences. Brands with highly specialized services and products have flocked to the platform because of this.

How does the TikTok algorithm work?

TikTok’s algorithm relies on several rating aspects to attach you with content you could enjoy. TikTok’s algorithm works by analyzing key elements.

• User interactions: This category includes the likes, shares, and comments you permit; the videos you save; the time you spend watching certain videos; and the accounts and hashtags you follow or seek for.

• Video information: This category accounts for the content itself, including details like captions, sounds, filters, and hashtags that help the algorithm determine what the video, photo, or slideshow is about.

• Device and account settings: The language preference, country setting, and device type you select while you arrange your TikTok account all help the algorithm determine what to point out you—albeit to a lesser degree than other aspects.

What the TikTok algorithm doesn’t show

To comply with the app’s community guidelines and ensure your content will be featured on TikTok users’ For You pages, avoid posting:

• Hate speech. This includes stereotypes that demean others based on characteristics including race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, family status, and medical or genetic condition.

• Promotion of disordered eating habits. Details about calorie-restrictive diets, dangerous complement use, exercises for rapid weight reduction, and opinions on ideal body types are all prohibited.

• Dangerous challenges. TikTok warns against encouraging activities that might cause physical harm.

• Nudity. This includes semi-nudity, substantial cleavage, and partially nude infants and toddlers.

• Sexually suggestive content. This includes displays of intimate kissing, sexualized behavior, or products related to sex.

• Graphic content. Avoid showing blood, physical fighting, graphic bodily functions, or otherwise distressing footage.

• Misinformation. Avoid spreading conspiracy theories, misrepresented events, and unproven treatments.

• Unverified election claims. This includes misrepresentations of ballot counts, bills, and other civic information.

• Fake engagement tactics. Offering false incentives or spammy ploys to spice up engagement (equivalent to like-for-like campaigns) will get your content flagged.

• Unoriginal content. TikTok doesn’t show content with visible watermarks, extremely short clips, or exclusively GIF-based videos.

• Gambling footage. Content that glamorizes gambling can be prohibited.

• Promotion or use of regulated substances. This includes alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other regulated drugs.

• Undisclosed paid promotions. You should disclose when an organization has paid you to advertise a bit of content.

In response to TikTok’s community guidelines, minor violations get a warning strike, and severe violations can lead to a direct ban of your account.

Suggestions for working with the TikTok algorithm

Let the next few suggestions be your guide as you craft your TikTok content strategy:

Lead along with your interests

For the sake of you and your audience, make content about topics that pique your interest or curiosity. Centering your passions will enable you to avoid burnout and lead with authenticity—something your viewers will appreciate.

That approach worked for Mimi Ikonn, cofounder of the brands Luxy Hair, a hair extension company, and Intelligent Change, a line of gratitude journals and productivity tools. When Mimi began making video content, she focused on sharing her journey within the hairstyling and hair accessories world, because that’s what she was most concerned with. “It’s about having fun with what you’re doing, because that can resonate with the audience,” Mimi tells the Shopify Masters podcast.

Likewise, if the content feels tedious to you, there’s an excellent probability it’ll feel tedious to your audience too.

Optimize the primary few seconds

Knowing that watch time is one of the vital rating signals for TikTok’s algorithm, you desire to grab users’ attention immediately and keep them watching. To try this, make the primary few seconds of your videos as compelling as possible. Get right to the purpose of the video, use a text overlay to display a brief, snappy headline, insert a trending audio clip, and begin with an intriguing image to grab your audience’s attention. 

Maximize the captions

Captions offer a terrific opportunity to inform audiences—and the TikTok algorithm—what your video is about. Put relevant keywords within the captions of all your TikTok videos so users could have a better time finding your video after they seek for related topics. That is the space to incorporate relevant hashtags.

It might sound counterintuitive, but for the sake of content visibility, worry less about gaming the system with trending hashtags that don’t have anything to do along with your content. As an alternative, be descriptive and let the TikTok algorithm work at delivering your area of interest videos to the correct area of interest audiences.

Be consistent

It’s difficult to know what works and what doesn’t without repeatedly attempting to achieve your target market. Consistently create content in your area of interest—not less than a couple of videos every week for several months—before expecting to see results. Give it some thought like buying raffle tickets; the more tickets you purchase, the more probabilities you’ve got to win.

It’s as much about having enough material to achieve latest audiences because it is about staying top of mind along with your engaged audiences. “When you’re making one video or two videos a month, and if it’s sporadic, people won’t know whether after they come back there will likely be a brand new piece of content,” Mimi says. “Constructing that trust along with your audience is amazingly vital.”

Prioritize quality

Contrary to popular belief, gaining traction on TikTok has less to do with publishing 4 videos a day or posting at the correct time. The only neatest thing you may do is offer something tangible to users each time, whether it’s education, entertainment, or food for thought.

When Mimi sold Luxy Hair and launched Intelligent Change, the majority of her existing community stuck along with her because they’d come to understand her commitment to quality. “That’s the gorgeous thing about content creation,” Mimi says. “Once you create content, no matter what you speak about, you construct trust. So then when you decide to abruptly sell tea or workout gear, people will support whatever it’s that you simply’re doing because they support you and so they trust you.”

Put your individual spin on trends

On TikTok, it’s possible for a similar dance routine or challenge to achieve momentum and create viral content for multiple people—even when their videos look nearly equivalent. It could be tempting to recreate every trend within the pursuit of views, but your brand will likely be higher off in the long term when you engage with trends thoughtfully.

“It’s just looking forward to those trends that resonate with people after which doing it in the best way that resonates along with your values and the content that you desire to put out,” Mimi says. For instance, let’s say you run a small-batch coffee bean company. To draw relevant users, you would possibly answer the trending query, “What’s the one item you’d take to a deserted island?” Coffee, after all. But skip out on trends that don’t have anything to do along with your area of interest.

Learn from your individual data

When you’ve spent a couple of months consistently creating content, head to your TikTok analytics dashboard to review what formats and topics users interact with essentially the most. Is there a selected video that got hundreds of more views than the remaining? Does your audience seem to have interaction more with longer or shorter videos? Which had the bottom video completion rate?

In the identical way that the TikTok algorithm learns from when users engage and lose interest, you may observe your individual data to optimize performance.