Are You Allowed To Add A Link To A TikTok Video?

Authors keep mentioning their new book when doing a media interview. Movie stars do very few public appearances unless they’re hyping a new film they’ve made.

And those who’ve become popular on social media swear by a similar guideline: in all of your content, always include a link to your website, your store, or a product you’re selling. Of course, that link can also lead to a site promoting a worthwhile cause or one with additional information on the topic you’re discussing, but valuable Internet “real estate” should always include a link.

Sometimes, that’s easier said than done. There’s no obvious way for TikTok users to add a clickable link to their videos, and most are only able to add very limited types of links (for example, links to a book or a ticket box office) to the descriptions of their TikTok posts.

Is there any way to expand the possibilities? Let’s find out.

How to Add a Link to a TikTok Video

There are three methods you can use to include links (other than the limited ones we’ve mentioned) in your posted TikTok content, but only one is available to every user — and you might be penalized for using it.

Here are the two legitimate ways of adding links.

Be Popular

The only personal TikTok accounts allowed to put links into their posts are those with at least 10,000 followers. That might seem unfair, but there are reasons for the rule. Links send people away from the social media platform to another destination, and allowing everyone to include them would theoretically cause problems for the app.

• TikTok is designed to encourage users to stay on the platform for long periods of time. If every post they viewed allowed them to leave the app, that would work against the company’s goals.
• Accounts with more than 10,000 fans are much more likely to be reputable — and much less likely to send viewers to spam or phishing sites, or competitive social apps.

It’s not a free-for-all; TikTok polices the links that influencers and popular content creators use. If they’re not relevant to the post that includes them, if they’re adult-oriented, or if they’re spammy or scammy, the video containing the link will probably be taken down, and a penalty may be assessed against the creator.

If you qualify to add a TikTok link this way, you do it by clicking the “Add link” option on the “Post” screen that appears after you’ve created a video. (That’s the same place where any user can include the event ticket or book links we’ve mentioned.)

Have a TikTok Shop

Users who’ve opened a TikTok Shop are allowed to add links to videos promoting the products they sell in their Shop.

They’re only allowed to link to one product page per video (multiple links used to be allowed, but that feature has been removed). The page must already exist in their TikTok Shop, and it must sell the product being promoted in the post.

To add the link, tap the “Add link” option on the “Post” page, then click on “Products.” Find the product you’re promoting, click “Add,” and enter the text you want to appear for the link. When you’re done, upload the video — and be ready to wait. The linked post will have to be reviewed before it goes live.

Sneaky Ways to Add a “Link” to a TikTok Video

We don’t recommend these methods. They might get you in trouble with TikTok if someone reports your post. However, it’s possible to:

• Read the URL of your link aloud while you’re shooting your content. People will probably have to write it down, and it won’t be clickable, but you may be able to attract some viewers to the site you want to promote.
• Switch from a personal to a business account, enter the link in your TikTok bio (find the appropriate field by tapping the “Edit profile” button on your TikTok profile page), and then invite viewers watching your video to check out and click the link in your bio.

TikTok deliberately makes it difficult for most users to put links into their posts. If you can work with their rules, though, you’ll find that the links can be enormously helpful in expanding visibility for your website, the causes you promote, or the products you sell.