TikTok is a popular social media platform that allows users to create and share short vertical videos. With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok has become one of the fastest growing apps in recent years.
One important metric on TikTok is post view counts. This shows the number of times a particular video has been viewed. For creators, having high view counts is a signal that their content is resonating with viewers and can help them gain more followers.
In this article, we’ll provide an overview of how to turn on post view counts in TikTok and why it’s useful for creators to track this metric.
What are Post View Counts?
On TikTok, post view counts refer to the total number of times a specific video has been watched on TikTok. Every time a user views a video from start to finish without dropping off or scrolling past it, that counts as one view for the post view count (Source: TikTok Post View History).
Post view counts provide valuable analytics and feedback to TikTok creators. Higher view counts typically mean a video is resonating with viewers and reaching a larger audience. Post view counts help creators gauge viewer interest for different types of content. Monitoring views over time can also show how a creator’s audience is growing.
Why Post View Counts Matter
Views are an important metric for measuring engagement and reach on TikTok. The view count shows how many times a video has been watched. This helps content creators gauge how well their videos are resonating with viewers.
A high view count signals that a video’s content is connecting with a large audience. It means the video is being shown to lots of people through TikTok’s recommendation algorithm and For You page. According to TikTok, videos in the For You feed receive on average 50% more views.
View count also indicates how much organic reach a video is getting. If a video has a lot of views without much promotion, it’s a sign that the content is compelling and shareable. TikTok’s algorithm rewards engaging videos by showing them to more users.
For creators trying to grow their audience and get discovered, view counts are an essential metric. More views lead to more followers and opportunities for going viral. While follower count is important, view counts better reflect how much your content is actually engaging people.
In summary, view counts allow TikTok creators to evaluate performance and adjust their content strategy. Highly viewed videos can be used as benchmarks for creating more engaging and popular content.
How to Turn on View Counts
Turning on view counts for your TikTok videos allows you to see how many times each video has been watched. Here are the steps to enable view counts on TikTok:
1. Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Tap on the three-line menu icon in the top right corner to access your account settings.
3. Select “Settings and privacy” from the menu.
4. Tap on “Privacy” and scroll down to “Video view counts.”
5. Toggle the switch next to “Video view counts” to the on position.
Once you’ve turned on view counts, you’ll be able to see the number of views for each video you’ve posted by tapping on the video and looking below the likes and comments. The view count will update in real-time as more people watch your video.
If you want to turn view counts back off, just repeat the steps above and toggle the “Video view counts” switch to the off position. Keep in mind other users will still be able to see the view counts for videos that had the setting enabled previously.
Finding Your Video View Count
To see the view count for each of your videos on TikTok, follow these steps:
1. Open the TikTok app and go to your profile page.
2. Tap on the “Videos” tab at the bottom to see your posted videos.
3. Tap on a video to open it. The view count will be shown directly under the video.
4. Repeat this for each video to see its individual view count.
The view count shown is the total number of times your video has been viewed by other users on TikTok. This number updates in real-time as more people watch your video.
View counts only display publicly after a video receives more than 30 views. Before it passes 30 views, you can still see the view count but others can’t.
If you want to see more in-depth analytics for your videos like demographics and traffic sources, you need to switch to a Pro account on TikTok.
So in summary, to quickly see the view count on any of your videos, open the video in the app and check below it. This shows you how many times that individual video has been watched.
Tips to Increase View Count
One of the best ways to increase your TikTok view count is to optimize your content, captions, hashtags, and more to maximize relevance and discoverability. Here are some tips:
Focus on creating high-quality, engaging videos that viewers will want to watch until the end. Keep them entertaining, informative, or emotional to capture audience attention. Use trending audios, effects, and hashtags to make your content more discoverable.
Write compelling captions that describe your video and make viewers curious to watch. Include relevant keywords and hashtags, but don’t keyword stuff. Captions should enhance the video experience.
Use a mix of popular and niche hashtags so your content reaches both broad and targeted audiences. Research which hashtags are trending or most used in your niche for a boost.
Optimize your videos for mobile viewing since most people watch TikTok on their smartphones. Use vertical framing, text overlays, and visuals designed for small screens.
Post consistently at optimal times when your target audience is most active on TikTok. Analyze when your existing followers are online and schedule posts accordingly.
Consider promoting your videos on other social platforms where you have an audience. Cross-promotion can drive viewers from YouTube, Instagram, etc. to check out your TikTok (cite: https://metricool.com/how-to-get-more-views-on-tiktok/).
Interact with your followers by responding to comments, using duets and stitches, and more. This helps build an engaged community that wants to watch your videos.
Limits and Restrictions
There are some limits and restrictions when it comes to TikTok view counts that users should be aware of. According to TikTok’s support page, if your account is set to private, views will only count from people you have approved to see your videos. So making an account public can help increase view counts.
TikTok also has restrictions against artificially inflating view counts. As stated in their Community Guidelines, using automated means to artifically increase view count is prohibited. This includes using bots or other services to continuously watch your own videos to boost views. TikTok has systems in place to detect artificially inflated view counts and will remove bogus views.
Additionally, according to TikTok’s Help Center article, view counts are designed to detect and exclude illegitimate views generated by bots, spam accounts, and other artificial methods. So users should avoid trying to artificially boost views, as it likely won’t work and could get your account suspended.
Troubleshooting Issues
If your TikTok view count is not updating or showing the correct number of views, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:
Check that you have view counts enabled for your account – go to your profile, tap the 3 dots icon in the top right corner, choose “Privacy and Settings”, then make sure “Show View Count” is toggled on.
Give it some time. View counts are updated on a delay, so it may take a while for the number to update, especially if you just posted the video. Wait at least 24 hours before troubleshooting.
If your view count is stuck, try deleting and re-uploading the video. This should reset the view counter.
Make sure you have a strong internet connection. Poor connectivity issues could prevent view counts from updating properly.
Try watching the video yourself from a different account to see if the view count goes up. If so, the issue is just a delay.
As a last resort, you can contact TikTok support if view counts are still inaccurate after trying these steps.
Alternatives to View Counts
While view counts provide helpful insight into your TikTok video performance, they aren’t the only metric worth tracking. Here are some other key metrics to monitor:
Likes – The number of likes shows how many viewers genuinely enjoyed your video enough to tap the heart icon. Popular videos on TikTok often have like counts in the tens of thousands or even millions. Benchmarking your likes against videos in your niche can indicate how engaging your content is.
Comments – Comment counts demonstrate how many people felt inclined to share their reactions, opinions, or other remarks on your video. Videos that spark discussion will typically see higher comment numbers. Try responding to commenters to further boost engagement.
Shares – When viewers opt to share your video to their own profile or with friends, it’s a strong signal of quality, interesting content. While harder to track precisely, shares extend your reach and indicate organic interest in your work.
Overall, balancing these alternative metrics with view counts will give you a fuller picture of how captivating and shareable your TikTok videos are for your target audience.
Conclusion
Monitoring view counts is an important aspect of understanding how your TikTok videos are performing. View counts provide insight into how many people your content is reaching and engaging. By tracking view counts over time, you can identify trends in viewership and see which types of videos resonate most with your audience. This data allows you to optimize your content strategy and focus your efforts on creating more of the content that performs best. In summary, view counts are a key TikTok metric that gives content creators essential feedback they need to grow and sustain their audience.