How to get more views on TikTok

Why are my TikTok views low?

New viewers find you through the For You feed and through search. Low views mean neither is picking your videos up yet.

TikTok says its recommendations learn from how viewers interact with videos: likes, shares, comments, and whether they watch to the end. Our guide on how to go viral on TikTok sets out those signals in TikTok's own words.

So low views usually come down to one of these:

• No clear niche, so each video speaks to a different crowd.
• Slow openings that lose people in the first seconds.
• Low watch time: viewers leave before the end.
• Captions that do not use the words people search.
• Videos that are not eligible for the For You feed at all.

The last one is different from the rest. TikTok's Community Guidelines keep some content out of For You, such as unoriginal reuploads and spam. If your views fell to almost nothing overnight, start with our guide to the TikTok shadowban. Otherwise, work through the checklist below.

Pick one niche per account

The simplest way to grow on TikTok is to be easy to place. One account, one topic, one kind of viewer.

When every video speaks to the same viewer, someone who enjoys one has a reason to watch the next, and to follow. An account that jumps between cooking, gaming and travel makes every new viewer start over.

Pick the niche you can make the most videos about without running dry. If you have several audiences, give each its own account rather than mixing them in one feed.

How long should a TikTok video be?

There is no magic number. Make the video as long as the idea needs, and no longer.

TikTok names finishing a longer video as a strong signal of interest. So every extra second has to earn its place.

Check each video's retention in your analytics. The point where viewers drop off shows which seconds to cut next time.

If most people leave at the start, fix the opening. Put the point in the first seconds, and show it as text on screen for people watching without sound. Our guide on how to go viral on TikTok goes deeper on openings, endings and shares.

Write captions and pick sounds people search for

People also look things up in TikTok's search bar. A video that answers one of those searches can keep being found after its first days.

TikTok reads a video's caption, sound and hashtags to understand what it is about. Write the caption the way a viewer would type the question. Put the main words in the caption and in the text on screen. Add a few accurate hashtags rather than many broad ones.

To find the words, type your topic into TikTok's search bar and read the suggestions. Where it is offered, TikTok's Creator Search Insights tool lists what people search for. It also flags topics that few videos answer yet.

Pick sounds the same way: one that is popular in your niche, and only when it fits the video.

Post consistently, at the hours your followers are on

Each good video is a fresh chance to be recommended. A steady schedule also gives followers a reason to come back.

Pick a rhythm you can keep for months, then keep it, rather than a burst of posts followed by silence.

Timing helps at the margin. TikTok Studio's analytics show when your followers are active, so post a little before they peak. Our guide to the best time to post on TikTok shows where to find those hours and what the studies found.

Read your TikTok analytics and do more of what worked

TikTok Studio holds your analytics, in the app and on the web. Account analytics cover an overview, your content, your viewers and your followers. Each video also has its own overview, viewer and engagement data.

Look past the view count. Average watch time and the retention graph tell you whether people stayed. Comments tell you what they want next. A simple weekly review:

1. Sort your recent videos by views.
2. For the top three, note the topic, the opening line and the length.
3. Check where viewers dropped off in each one.
4. Make the next videos from what held people: the same topic with a new angle, or the same opening on a new topic.
5. Reply to the best comments, and turn a good question into the next video.

Change one thing at a time. If you change the topic, the hook and the posting hour at once, you will not know which one worked.

Should you buy TikTok views?

No. Bought views cost money and can cost you the account.

TikTok's Community Guidelines do not allow services that artificially boost engagement or try to trick the recommendation system. Buying views, likes or followers breaks that rule. TikTok can act against accounts that break its rules.

Bought views also muddy your analytics. Views from people outside your niche say nothing about who would enjoy your next video.

Put the money into making more good videos instead. If you want to pay for reach, use ads. Our post on organic reach vs paid ads compares the two.

How to get more views on TikTok across many accounts

Every step above works one account at a time. A brand, agency or app maker with several niches can run one account per niche, each posting every day.

Tiktok Farm builds the setup for that: real iPhones running the official TikTok app, one account per phone, in hardware we build. The Farm Software on your computer puts every phone on one screen, with a posting calendar, analytics and alerts.

It is not a view bot. It buys no views, likes or followers, and it promises no views. TikTok can limit or remove any account, and each one still needs the checklist above. Tiktok Farm is not affiliated with TikTok. See the Farm Software.