How To Make A Booktok Video

As a webmaster, my focus is always on discoverability, optimization, and leveraging content ecosystems. Creating a BookTok video isn’t just about the video itself—it’s part of a wider digital strategy. Here's how I approach it:

1. Know Your Audience and Platform Algorithms
Before posting, analyze BookTok trends via TikTok analytics or third-party tools. What hashtags are performing well? What kind of book-related content ranks highest in engagement? Cross-reference this with Google Trends or SEO tools to align your TikTok content with what people are searching for.

2. Content Production with Web Optimization in Mind
Yes, TikTok is video-first, but you can use it to drive traffic elsewhere. Plan your BookTok video around a book review, article, or listicle on your site. Feature a 15–30 second teaser in your video — e.g., “Top 5 Psychological Thrillers You Haven’t Read Yet” — and link back to your blog or landing page via your TikTok bio (using a link aggregator like Linktree).

3. Metadata Matters
Optimize your video title and description for search visibility. Incorporate keyword-rich hashtags like #BookTok, #BookReview, or more niche ones like #DarkAcademiaReads. The goal? Cross-platform discoverability. You want TikTok and Google picking up your video.

4. Integrate with Web Infrastructure
Embed the TikTok video on your site. Whether it’s a book blog, review page, or author portfolio, embedding TikToks increases time-on-page and reduces bounce rate. It also strengthens your brand's multimedia presence.

5. Track Conversions and Behavior
Use UTM parameters in any link you place in your TikTok bio to track how much traffic each video drives to your site. Funnel this data into Google Analytics. Track bounce rate, clicks, time on page, etc., to optimize future video content.

Ultimately, a BookTok video is a top-of-funnel tactic. As a webmaster, I use it to drive awareness, guide traffic, and convert casual readers into loyal followers across platforms.

Creating BookTok videos is part of a broader strategy to funnel social attention into our book-centric website.

Step 1: Align Video Content with Site Goals
We choose books to feature based on current SEO-performing pages or new content we want to push. For example, if our “Best Dark Fantasy Reads” blog is trending, we’ll make a BookTok video teasing 2–3 titles from that list.

Step 2: Craft the Video with Clear CTAs
The video must be engaging but purpose-driven. We may script a 20-second video showing reactions, reviews, or tropes with on-screen text like, “Want more recs like this? Link in bio.” That link leads to a dedicated landing page that we can track.

Step 3: Optimize On-Platform SEO
Hashtags on TikTok are like keywords. We include high-volume ones like #BookTok and lower-competition tags that mirror our blog’s focus (e.g., #IndieFantasy or #ThrillerRecommendations). This helps the algorithm categorize and distribute our content effectively.

Step 4: Technical Integration
We always embed our TikTok videos on our site’s homepage and blog posts. This not only boosts engagement but increases our dwell time metrics—something we care about for SEO.

Step 5: Analytics & Feedback Loop
We monitor video engagement and click-through rates using TikTok’s Business Suite and Google Analytics. If a video drives substantial traffic, we double down with related follow-up content.

The BookTok videos are micro-content units that work as top-of-funnel magnets for our entire content ecosystem.

As a webmaster managing a self-published author’s platform, making BookTok videos is part of our outreach and content loop.

We film a short, emotional hook that highlights the book’s theme—romance, mystery, betrayal, etc.—and combine it with trending audio. The goal is to create interest in the book without spoiling anything.

Once the video is ready, we include a call to action: “Read more at the link in bio.” That link points to the author’s site, specifically a page optimized for TikTok traffic. On that page, we highlight the book, include reviews, a sample chapter, and direct purchase links.

We use UTM codes to track which TikTok videos drive conversions. These metrics feed back into how we make future videos—genre focus, aesthetic choices, even posting time.

We also embed those TikTok videos back onto the website using TikTok’s embed code, helping with dwell time and giving the site a more interactive feel.

For authors, BookTok is not just content—it's conversion strategy. And as a webmaster, I make sure every view has a clear, measurable path back to the book.

BookTok? For me, it’s all about the data.

I create videos that link back to a sales-optimized page using UTM tracking. Every video has a call to action and leverages niche hashtags for targeted reach. I embed the video on the book’s landing page and monitor engagement in Google Analytics.

Post, test, tweak, repeat. It’s performance-based content wrapped in aesthetic appeal.

If a BookTok gets 10k views but no clicks? It flopped.

If it drives 500 page views and 50 sales? That’s ROI—and that’s what I care about as a webmaster.