Hashtags were a struggle of mine on every platform
So I dug in and learned as much as I could about them when I started my TikTok
Hashtags do work on TikTok, but not the way that many people think. They mostly help the algorithm find the right people to show your videos to. They are a supplement to help guide TikTok when choosing who to send videos to. They don’t determine success alone, but they do help
Sometimes people will search for things using hashtags, but usually, people will just scroll through their FYP page
This means your goal is to give TikTok enough information so they can put your videos on the right FYP page
This can be done in a number of ways, and using hashtags is one of those ways
Do Hashtags work on TikTok?
Yes! Hashtags do work on TikTok, but not the way that most people think
Many creators use the largest hashtags they can find like #FYP and #viral because they think it will increase their chances of reaching more people
Makes sense right?
You are using hashtags that millions of people use so that should get their attention right?
However, that is not how hashtags work
Hashtags are there to do two things:
- Bring people to the exact kind of video that they search for in the search bar
- Help the algorithm send your videos to the right FYP pages
Think about the last time you searched for #FYP or #viral
I know that I have never searched for those
But I have searched for specific things like APEX Tips
That is how hashtags help you get found in the search
By using hashtags that are specific to you, your video, and who you want to reach
Now think about #FYP again
Is everyone who sees videos with that hashtag a gamer?
Or even more specifically, are they APEX players?
Nope
That hashtag tells the algorithm nothing
So it just increases the chances of the algorithm guessing
The more it guesses wrong, the less watch time you get
The less watch time you get, the faster your video dies
So not only do the huge and broad hashtags not help, they can hurt your content
How do I find good hashtags to use?
Thankfully, finding good hashtags is not super difficult, but it does require some time
You can do in-depth research or you can do basic research
There is no evidence that there is a huge difference in results between the two, so I just did basic research
You start by thinking about what people would type in the search if they were looking for your channel without knowing your name
Write down everything you can think of
Then write down all the ways people can search for your content
This will be different depending on the video so many a list based on a variety of content that you post
Lastly, think about how people would explain themselves
What hashtags are they using for their videos?
Once you have a list of terms, it is time to look at their size
I do this in the caption portion at the end of uploading a video
Type in the first term on your list and see what pops up
You are looking for a video that matches the term on the list that has between 2000 and 1 million views
You can use one or two that are larger, but really focus on the smaller hashtags
Write down all the hashtags that fit the criteria when searching for the first term on your list
Then repeat the process down the list
Whenever you go to post a video, choose the hashtags that you wrote down that best fit the video that you are posting
How many hashtags do I use on each video?
There are different theories on this, but I followed Rachel Pedersen’s advice
I use as many hashtags as I can fit before running out of characters
I start by typing in the caption that I want to use for that video
Some captions are longer than others
Once I have the caption done, then I add hashtags until the characters are gone
This may look like a huge list of hashtags when people view them on TikTok
This could result in people commenting that you use too many hashtags
This only helps you too
Those comments boost your views
But feel free to test things out!
Try posting the same video with different numbers of hashtags
See what works best for your account
Do I have to have hashtags?
There are many videos that go around saying that their video appeared on your FYP without hashtags so they are not needed
And that is true
You don’t HAVE to have hashtags to grow your TikTok account, but they help
They specifically help your evergreen content
As gamers, most of your content will be evergreen
That means it is relevant today, tomorrow, and possibly for years
What that video doesn’t account for is trends
I saw a lot of videos with the same sound saying that hashtags are not needed because they appeared on your FYP
But that is because that sound was trending
Trending content gets sent out more because TikTok knows that trends are popular
They see the same sound or the same movements being used and watched a lot
So they send out videos with those sounds and movements more than they would other videos
Even though hashtags are not vital to success on TikTok, they do help
And as a creator, every bit of help could be a huge difference
Doing basic hashtag research may take you an hour or two
But then you don’t have to do it again
And you can reap the benefits of the work you put in over and over again
Every time you post a video, you are giving your videos a better chance of success because of that hour or two that you spend on hashtag research
In my opinion, it is completely worth it