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SEO on TikTok? Yes! Here’s How To Turn the Tables on the Internet

And Why Partnering with a PR Agency Helps With SEO Efforts on Social Media

TikTok has dominated the world in so many unexpected ways. In this country alone, Tiktok has over 62.3 million Filipino users. 

And TikTok Ads aren’t any less powerful here:

  • TikTok ad reach increased by 27% across the country (reaching 13.3 million more Filipinos) between 2024 and 2025
  • Tiktok ads reach 80.1% of Filipino adult users across the internet in 2025
  • TikTok ads cover for around 64% of local internet use

TikTok is so influential that the platform has become one of the most powerful search engines for food, lifestyle, skincare, product reviews, and tutorials. And now more than ever, it’s become a go-to directory for discovering local businesses.

Yes: TikTok is now a search platform, like Google. Is it concerning? Controversial? Maybe. 

But this also opens an opportunity: businesses must treat their TikTok presence with the same care and strategy as their websites and blogs. 

This goes for all other social media platforms, but let’s focus on TikTok–and TikTok SEO: the latest in the spectrum of SEO. 

Let’s dig into it (with screenshots)!

What Is TikTok SEO?

Obviously, TikTok isn’t a search engine. So…how would SEO work on TikTok?

TikTok SEO is optimizing your videos to be easier to discover through TikTok’s algorithm (in this case, it’s TikTok’s For You Page, or FYP). If you’re familiar with Google SEO, you’d find TikTok SEO easier to understand.

Like other forms of SEO, TikTok SEO involves:

  • Using the right keywords in your captions, voice-over, and on-screen text 
  • Structuring videos (keeping them at 90 seconds or 1 minute max) to encourage more people to watch and engage
  • Targeting audience search intent (ex: “Where to eat in Maginhawa?”)
  • Leveraging trends to boost organic visibility

Why TikTok SEO Matters for Filipino Businesses

So many Filipinos on the internet now treat TikTok like Google for:

  • Reviews and product recommendations (E.g. “What moisturizer do I try?” “Where do I eat?”)
  • Health and beauty routines
  • Finding small businesses
  • Lifestyle inspiration

If your brand’s TikToks aren’t optimized, you’re missing out on valuable organic reach. 

You don’t have to be viral, but it helps to cast a wider net and reach the right people.

But if you want to go viral, TikTok SEO is a MUST! A brand with 500 followers can still go viral if it understands how TikTok’s search algorithm works.

Tips to Optimize TikTok with SEO

  1. SEARCH for the Right Keywords 

Google Analytics is for Google. TikTok is a different story.

To get all of TikTok’s analytics features, we recommend making a TikTok for Business account for your brand. Either way, the platform has a few built-in analytics features for SEO.

I admit: I found TikTok’s analytics features tricky at first. But then I realized how straightforward TikTok was. Just play around for a bit! Here were a few things I found that helped:

  1. Pretend You Use TikTok as Somebody Looking for Your Product/Service
  2. This is straightforward enough. Using TikTok’s search bar, look for your brand. Look for competitors. TikTok’s auto-complete search comes up with the top results people look for. 

For the new and uninitiated on SEO, search engines focus on keywords (like ‘best moisturizer for acne and oily’, this phrase is considered as one keyword) to boost content further.

TikTok works like this, too. 

  1. Creator Search Insight
  2. Use TikTok’s search bar and type ‘Creator Search Insights. ’ It will take you to this:
  1. Click (or tap) on VIEW the Creator’s Search Insight, and you’ll find ideas. These are your keywords. 

For an easier workflow, you can also install a shortcut for it on your phone. TikTok is pretty intuitive, so the app won’t make adding the shortcut hard for you.

C. Creative Center

Because of TikTok’s rapid growth, the platform developed its own search engine for TikTok marketing needs! To brands particular about AI, TikTok’s Creative Center is AI-powered.

  1. Type in, or copy and paste “https://ads.tiktok.com/business/creativecenter/pc/en” into your browser. Log in to your TikTok account (business or personal).

I highly recommend playing around here and getting familiar.

  1. On the top tab, click “Inspiration”, then “Keyword Insights”
  1. You can also try messing around with a string of words in the search bar in the middle. 

2. USE Keyword-Rich Captions and Hashtags

Hashtags are important, but TikTok’s algorithm now focuses on quality copies: captions, on-screen text, etc. 

Instead of relying on branded hashtags, use the keywords or phrases you find from the search bar, Creative Search Insights, and/or Creative Center.

  1. Make Good Copies

Better yet, invest in it! 

No matter how awkward the phrasing these SEO keywords have (such as “best moisturizer teens”), if these words or phrases are what come up on the auto-search bar, Creative Search Insights, or Creative Center, you have to find a way to incorporate them into your copy. 

You can’t reword them, or edit them, or chop them up. To TikTok, they’re what customers look for. So you have to be what TikTok thinks your customers are looking for.

And they have to sound authentic, too. SEO is getting smarter; if the words don’t flow well, the algorithm will see your brand’s content as scams, or low quality. 

The creativity around this is tricky. That’s why content writers, PR experts, and integrated marketing communication (IMC) experts are important for your TikTok marketing needs.

  1. Strategically Insert Keywords 
  2. Include them in your Captions, with 3-5 Tags

For best results, combine good, keyword-rich copy with 3-5 relevant hashtags. 

  1. Add them to On-Screen Text 

Many Filipino users scroll TikTok on mute. Using keywords for on-screen captions helps TikTok “read” your content for contextual discovery.

3. Say the Keywords Out Loud in Your TikToks

TikTok uses voice recognition to understand video topics. Saying phrases like “best places to eat in Pampanga” out loud improves your ranking when users type those words.

Why You Need a PR Agency That Understands TikTok and Traditional Media

TikTok is nothing short of powerful. If you want your business to actually build a reputation through TikTok, you need public relations support.

A PR agency helps you win on TikTok by:

  • Providing, and navigating your SEO roadmap. Trust me, nobody can succeed in SEO alone. 
  • Using their creativity to seamlessly weave SEO phrases wherever they need to be, no matter how awkward they are.
  • Monitoring trends and reputation proactively. A smart approach to trends supports both your TikTok SEO and your long-term success.

With TikTok, discoverability is planned. It’s a result of strategy, structure, and storytelling.

If you want to stop guessing and start growing on TikTok, partner with NGP IMC! 

Kriztin Cruz
Kriztin Cruz is a recruitment and digital marketing professional, freelance writer, hobbyist painter, and frustrated sociologist–with too many things to want and too little time to spare. She graduated with a Psychology degree in 2019 at De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde Antipolo. When she’s not drafting a corporate letter or working on anything digital marketing, you can find her doing the following, but not in this order: reading a good book, scavenging for a good book, sketching, painting, journaling, junk journaling, obsessing over an obscure Czechoslovakian surrealist film (or anything by Miyazaki or Del Toro), cooking, finding a cafe to relax in, and creating new things while a nice documentary plays in the background.

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