For more than a decade, when companies talked about search engine optimization (SEO), by default they were talking about Google. With the rise of digital fraudsters in the e-commerce and social media spaces – including the buy-anything platform Amazon and video-sharing apps like TikTok – online searches for products, entertainment and information are beginning to migrate elsewhere.
At a recent conference in Aspen, Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice president of Google Knowledge and Information revealed that a large portion of 18- to 24-year-olds are bypassing Google in favor of social media searches when looking for information.
“In our studies, almost 40% of young people, when looking for a place for lunch, don’t go to Google Maps or Search – they go to TikTok or Instagram,” he said. “We continue to learn, over and over again, that new internet users don’t have the expectations and mindset we’re used to. The questions they ask are completely different.”
Hacking Google search is hardly a new trend: An oft-cited 2016 study published by big data technology company Bloomreach found that 55% of consumer product searches originate on Amazon. com. It’s a number that has likely grown since then. And as tech companies continue to launch new products, platforms and web applications, search options will further erode Google’s market share.
For content creators and brand marketers, this means that, for now, in addition to relying on arcane algorithms, learning social media SEO for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is vital to displaying the right content. for new audiences. Best practices vary by platform, but for most, implementing a smart strategy around keywords and hashtags will go a long way toward driving discovery.
On TikTok, there is now an entire genre of content that helps creators improve SEO and be found on the app. Creators like Mike Rama, who runs a platform that connects UGC manufacturers and brands, have started publishing free and informative posts doubling down on the importance of using the best search terms possible, as well as offering advice useful, including demonstrations of how to use the TikTok search bar to find the most popular autocomplete search phrases based on the initial words, then create posts for each of the most searched topics.
@mike.rama Tiktok SEO is changing the game for creators: here’s how to rank for keywords #tiktokseo #rankontiktok #tiktokkeywordsearch #creators
♬ Blade Runner 2049 – Synthwave Goose
Unlike meme-driven tropes and flashy trends, search-optimized content gains traction over time as people purposefully search for information and posts rack up clicks, argues Yvonne Dekoning, a former social media manager at Saks Fifth Avenue. which now provides social media training for brands and corporate executives. Her content on TikTok focuses on lessons.
@ivanka.dekoning How to use SEO on TikTok #tiktokseo #socialmediastrategytips #socialmediastrategist #tiktokstrategy #tiktokcoach
♬ Jiggle Jiggle – Duke & Jones & Louis Theroux
Meanwhile, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have all expanded their product offerings—especially LinkedIn with its newly launched Creators Toolkit—providing easy ways for users to populate existing platforms with powerful, searchable, and other content. Anyone with an internet connection, keyboard and camera can feed the beast – the more content, the merrier, it seems – or at least the more chances it has to show up in search, on Google and beyond, and to bring audiences and eyes to technology platforms everywhere.
