#Trending on The Trend Machine
Lidia Infante wrote a beefy post for Moz and visited the Today in Digital podcast to share everything she learned about the algorithm du jour from digging through TikTok’s various docs.
2 principles behind the ranking factors:
- Surface content that’s interesting to you (the viewer) - give you more of what you like
- Burst filter bubbles - mix it up and show you something entirely different
3 processes used to rank content:
- Determine what the video is about and assign it to a topic
- Determine the quality of the video
- Determine your topic and interest profile
8 ranking factors:
- Engagement: Lidia thinks the algorithm is like Facebook’s old EdgeRank. Likes are the least valuable and everything builds from there based on how much effort the action requires, especially if that action spreads the content or gets you following more accounts. And, of course, did you actually watch it?
- Discover Tab: all the non-video engagements (searches, sounds, hashtag clicks, etc.) that help build those user interest profiles
- That sweet, sweet content. These are the questions the system tries to answer:
- What is in the video visually?
- What is the message (text and/or spoken word) of the video?
- What’s in the SEO fields (title and hashtags (these are getting spammy now so may be getting less emphasis))?
- What sound does it use?
- The language of that sweet, sweet content. Users provide their language preference, the algorithm only delivers content that matches.
- Device suitability: The Clock App knows basically everything about the current state of your device when you’re using the app (network quality and battery level included), this may influence what content you see.
- Location, location, location: The closer you physically are to the content creator, the higher the ranking score for that content.
- That stuff they don’t want: Run afoul of content moderation and obviously that video isn’t going viral. But there are some other factors that prevent For You Page placements: the person who made the vid is under 16, there’s a QR code, begging for engagement, presence of watermarks, amateur Jackass stunts, tobacco.
- Native content creation: Use TikTok’s tools, get TikTok’s love, adoration, and a rankings boost.
Speaking of hashtags, how many should you use? The official recommendation for advertisers is 3-4 hashtags
A few other TikTok tidbits:
The key to breaking out on TikTok is the For You Page. So, how do you get there? Rumor has it the keys are:
- Use hashtags, but only relevant ones (and don’t use any#foryoupage style ones)
- Keep it brief, 21-34 seconds is the sweet spot
- Make sure your sound selection is trending
It released its Discover List of the top 50 creators on the platform according to what it cares about and values. A good peek under the hood and, maybe, a list of potential partners for marketing efforts.
New: audience insights, that should be handy.