3 Ways to 10X Your Views On TikTok | How To Get More Views

Back in 2022, you could post a TikTok of yourself sneezing and walk away with tens of thousands of views. Those days are gone. If your numbers have tanked in the last year or two, you are not imagining it. TikTok changed the rules, and most creators are still playing the old game.

In this breakdown of Alston’s video, you will get three specific methods for getting more views right now, based on what TikTok actually rewards in 2024. These are not recycled guru tips. They come from running four real TikTok accounts across three different niches. You will also see why the “best times to post” advice is completely made up, and how to start making real money once the views start rolling in.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A clear picture of why TikTok views got harder and where the platform is heading next
The data behind why “best time to post” is a myth you should stop believing
Method 1: Why videos over one minute get an algorithm boost right now
Method 2: How to create horizontal TikTok videos inside the app and in CapCut, step by step
Method 3: How to use the TikTok Shop to get boosted views even if you have zero followers
A bonus tip for getting a free view boost every time TikTok rolls out a new feature
Four ways to turn your new views into income: TikTok Shop, email list, digital products, affiliate marketing
Not sure which monetization path fits you? Find out in two minutes at finder.platformproof.com

Why TikTok Views Got Harder in the First Place

Every social media platform follows the same predictable arc. YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, they all did it. TikTok is simply the newest platform going through the same cycle, and once you see the pattern, you can stay ahead of it.

In the beginning, platforms need two things: content and eyeballs. There is not much of either, so they practically hand out views to anyone who posts. That is how the “Renegade girl” and the first wave of TikTok influencers blew up overnight. It was not talent alone. It was timing. Early creators got a free ride because the platform needed them.

Over time, more creators join. Celebrities sign up to give the platform legitimacy. Think about Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and even Oprah showing up on TikTok. And then the investors start asking questions. The platform has to shift from growth mode to profit mode. It starts selling ads. Every third video becomes a sponsored post. The organic reach that used to be free now has to compete with paid placements.

That is the moment most creators feel the floor drop out from under them. It is not personal. It is just business. The good news: once you understand where TikTok is heading, you can position yourself to benefit from it instead of fighting it.

Why “Best Time to Post” Is Not a Real Strategy

You have probably seen articles and YouTube videos saying you need to post between noon and 1 PM, or after 3 PM but before 6 PM. This advice sounds reasonable until you think about it for thirty seconds.

TikTok has over one billion monthly users spread across every time zone on the planet. If it is 1 PM in Chicago, it is 3 AM in Sydney. The idea that TikTok essentially shuts down during certain hours falls apart the moment you remember this is a global platform.

More importantly, TikTok’s algorithm is interest-based, not time-based. If you are interested in cooking, you see cooking content whether you open the app at noon or midnight. The algorithm serves you based on your watch history and behavior, not a clock.

Alston tested this directly. He posted a video at 5:30 AM Chicago time and it pulled the same views as a video posted at 3:00 PM Chicago time. The numbers matched. The lesson: stop obsessing over post times and put that energy into the three methods below.

Method 1: Make Videos That Are at Least One Minute Long

TikTok has stated directly, more than once, that videos one minute or longer will receive a boost in the algorithm. The reason is money, and understanding the money makes the rule make sense.

YouTube built one of the most profitable ad platforms in history by mastering mid-roll ads. Those are the ads that pop up in the middle of a video while you are watching. They generate more revenue than pre-roll ads because the viewer is already invested in the content.

TikTok wants to do the same thing. But you cannot put a mid-roll ad inside a six-second video. You need at least a minute of content for the placement to make sense. So TikTok is actively steering creators toward longer content by rewarding it in the algorithm. Every time TikTok boosts a one-minute-plus video, it is building inventory for the ad product it plans to sell to major brands.

The practical takeaway: if your current videos run 15 to 30 seconds, stretch them. Add context. Walk through your process. Tell a story. Sixty seconds is the new minimum if you want the algorithm working for you instead of against you. Alston expects mid-roll ads to start appearing inside TikTok videos within the next few years, so this trend is only going to get more important.

Method 2: Film Horizontally

TikTok’s bigger ambition is to become the one-stop shop for all video: short clips, long-form content, and eventually TV shows and movies right on the platform. To get there, they need users to get comfortable watching video the way they watch Netflix or YouTube, in landscape mode, not portrait.

Right now, horizontal videos on TikTok are getting a boost because the platform wants to train its audience. Creators who film horizontally are helping TikTok achieve that goal, so TikTok rewards them with more distribution.

Here is exactly how to do it, two ways:

Option A: Inside the TikTok App

Tap the plus sign as if you are going to record a new video. Before you hit record, turn your phone horizontal. Hit record and create the video as normal. When you finish, tap the red checkmark. Your footage will look strange because the phone is still reading it as vertical. To fix it: tap Edit, tap each individual clip, swipe until you find the Rotate option, and rotate each clip. Do this for every clip in your recording. Once all clips are rotated, tap Save and Done, then upload as normal.

Option B: Film First, Edit in CapCut

Open your phone’s camera app, flip to horizontal mode, and record your video. If you make a mistake, keep going and edit it later. Once you have your footage, open CapCut and create a new project. CapCut defaults to 1080p, which is the correct format. Make your edits, export the video, and upload it directly to TikTok.

To confirm it worked: after the video has been on TikTok for a few minutes, it should display horizontally. Underneath, you should see a “full screen” option. Tapping it flips the video to true landscape mode and fills the screen. If you see that button, you did it correctly.

Method 3: Connect Your Content to the TikTok Shop

TikTok figured out something that Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are still struggling with: selling products directly on the platform. The TikTok Shop lets creators, affiliates, and brands tag physical products inside videos and livestreams. When a viewer buys, TikTok takes a cut, the creator or affiliate takes a commission, and the product seller gets a sale. All three parties win, so TikTok has every reason to push these videos to more viewers.

This means one thing for you as a creator: videos that include TikTok Shop products get boosted in the algorithm. TikTok is motivated to show those videos to more people because more eyeballs equals more sales equals more revenue for TikTok.

There are a few ways to use this:

If You Have Your Own Physical Product

Add it to the TikTok Shop and link it in every video. This works for dropshippers, Amazon FBA sellers, print-on-demand creators, and anyone who ships a physical item. The link shows up as a button inside your video, and TikTok distributes the video more broadly because they earn on every purchase.

If You Do Not Have a Physical Product: Become a TikTok Shop Affiliate

You can become an affiliate for other sellers’ products on the TikTok Shop and earn a commission on every sale. There are follower minimums to apply through the standard path, but there is a loophole to join the TikTok Shop affiliate program with zero followers. Alston links to a separate video in his description that walks through that process step by step.

The View Boost Hack: Feature a Product Without Selling It

Here is the part most creators miss. You do not even have to actively sell anything. If you hold up or reference a product that exists in the TikTok Shop, TikTok will still boost your video. In the video, Alston holds up a microphone. He did not buy it from the TikTok Shop. He bought it from Amazon. But because that microphone model is listed in the TikTok Shop, TikTok classifies his video as Shop-adjacent and pushes it to more viewers. You can talk about whatever you normally talk about. Just work in a relevant product, and the views follow.

Series: The Digital Product Loophole

If you want to sell a digital product, there is a TikTok feature called Series. Series lets you create a video course directly on the platform and charge for it. Alston was rejected from Series a few times before getting in. The requirements change, so check TikTok’s current guidelines and apply. If you are accepted, your series videos also get algorithm support because TikTok earns when viewers pay for your content.

Not sure whether to focus on TikTok Shop, digital products, or affiliate marketing?

Take the two-minute quiz at finder.platformproof.com to find the income path that fits what you already know and the time you actually have.

Bonus: Use Every New Feature the Moment TikTok Releases It

Whenever TikTok announces a new feature, they need creators to actually use it so it does not flop. To make that happen, they boost the views of early adopters. This is not a secret. It is a calculated incentive. TikTok needs proof of concept for every new tool they ship, and the creators who show up first get paid in distribution.

You do not need to use new features perfectly. You just need to use them. Watch TikTok’s announcements and creator newsletters. The window where early adoption pays off can close in a few weeks, so speed matters more than polish here.

How to Turn More Views Into Real Money

Getting views is step one. Turning those views into income is the whole point. Alston outlines four concrete paths:

1. The TikTok Shop

Whether you are promoting your own product or earning commissions as an affiliate, the TikTok Shop is the most direct path from views to dollars on TikTok right now. Some creators claim $10,000 per month or more from the Shop alone. With over one billion monthly active users, those numbers are not impossible. The Shop is embedded in the platform, the checkout is frictionless, and TikTok actively drives traffic to Shop-linked content.

2. Build an Email List

Every viewer you keep on TikTok is a viewer you lose if the platform bans you, limits your reach, or shuts down. An email list moves your audience off the platform and onto something you own. The mechanics are simple: create a lead magnet relevant to your niche, build a landing page to collect names and emails, and follow up with emails that send people back to your content or to affiliate or product offers. Tools like GBolt Systems handle the landing pages, lead magnets, and email sequences in one place.

3. Create and Sell a Digital Product

Digital products include ebooks, workbooks, planners, courses, workshops, memberships, Lightroom presets, and podcasts. You create them once and sell them repeatedly with no shipping cost and no inventory. If you already make TikTok content about a topic, you have the expertise to package what you know into a product someone will pay for.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Recommend other people’s products and earn a commission when someone buys. You can partner with established brands like Sony or Amazon and tie their products naturally into your existing content. Affiliate marketing works well alongside TikTok because you can link to products both inside the TikTok Shop and in your bio link, giving you multiple paths to a commission from a single video.

How to Get More Engagement on Every Video

Engagement (comments, shares, saves) signals to TikTok that your content is worth showing to more people. More engagement generally means more reach, which is a feedback loop worth building deliberately.

Ask a Question at the Start

Put a direct question in the first ten seconds of your video. People will answer it in the comments before they even finish watching. This is not a trick. People genuinely like sharing their opinion. A question at the top gives them a reason to engage before the video ends, which helps your completion rate and comment count at the same time.

Make People Feel Something

Content that triggers a strong emotion, whether that is frustration, excitement, or even mild annoyance, generates more comments. When people feel something, they want to say something. You do not need to be controversial. You just need to pick topics your audience actually cares about and frame them in a way that gets a reaction.

Honest Drawbacks

None of these methods are instant. Switching to longer or horizontal videos requires changing how you film and edit, and that takes time to adjust. TikTok Shop affiliate approval has requirements that can block newer accounts. The view boost from including shop products is real but not guaranteed on every post. And TikTok’s algorithm priorities can change again next year for the same reason they changed this year: money. Platforms do not consult creators before adjusting the rules.

The practical response is to not build your entire business on TikTok reach. Use TikTok to drive views, but push that audience toward an email list or a product they can buy off-platform. That way, an algorithm shift does not wipe out your income.

The Three-Step Action Plan

Here is the fastest path from where you are now to more views and income:

Step 1: Audit your last ten TikToks. How many were over one minute? How many were horizontal? Those two changes alone can start moving your numbers within weeks.
Step 2: Browse the TikTok Shop for one product relevant to your niche. You do not have to sell it. You just need to feature it naturally in your next video to test the view boost yourself.
Step 3: Pick one monetization path (TikTok Shop, email list, digital product, or affiliate) and set it up this week. Views without a monetization plan are just a vanity metric.

Find Your X

TikTok can drive real income, but only if you pair your views with the right monetization model. Not every path fits every creator. Someone with a day job and fifteen free minutes a day needs a different plan than a full-time content creator. The Platform Proof Finder helps you cut through the noise and find the specific income path that matches your skills, your schedule, and where you are starting from right now.

Take the two-minute quiz at finder.platformproof.com and walk out with a clear first step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the time of day you post on TikTok actually matter?

No. TikTok has over one billion monthly users spread across every time zone. The algorithm serves content based on viewer interests, not the hour of the day. Alston tested this by posting at 5:30 AM and 3:00 PM and saw the same view counts. Stop chasing perfect posting times and focus on content quality and the three methods above.

How long should a TikTok video be in 2024?

At least one minute. TikTok has confirmed multiple times that videos one minute or longer receive a boost in the algorithm. The reason is that TikTok is building toward mid-roll advertising, which requires longer content. If your videos currently run under 30 seconds, stretching to 60-plus seconds is the single highest-impact change you can make right now.

Do horizontal TikTok videos really get more views?

Yes, based on the experience Alston shares. TikTok is actively trying to get its users comfortable watching horizontal content, similar to how people watch YouTube or Netflix. Creating horizontal videos aligns with that goal, so TikTok currently gives those videos more distribution. This may normalize over time as horizontal content becomes standard on the platform.

Can I get a TikTok Shop view boost without actually selling anything?

Yes. If you feature a product in your video that is listed in the TikTok Shop, TikTok will treat your video as shop-adjacent and boost it, even if you are not officially an affiliate and not linking to the product for sale. Alston demonstrated this by holding a microphone he bought on Amazon. Because that microphone model exists in the TikTok Shop, his video received the boost. You do not need to sell anything or even mention the product directly.

How do I become a TikTok Shop affiliate if I have no followers?

There is a loophole to join the TikTok Shop affiliate program without meeting the standard follower requirement. Alston covers this in a separate video linked in his description. The short version: there is an alternative application path that does not require an existing audience. Look for his TikTok Shop affiliate loophole video for the step-by-step walkthrough.

What is TikTok Series and how do I use it to make money?

TikTok Series is a feature that lets creators build a paid video course directly on the platform. Viewers pay to access your series, and you keep a portion of that revenue. Requirements exist to join, and acceptance is not guaranteed. Alston was rejected multiple times before getting in. Check TikTok’s current Series requirements, apply, and keep reapplying if you are turned down. It is worth it because Series content also receives algorithmic support.

Why do I need an email list if I already have TikTok followers?

Because TikTok owns your followers, not you. If TikTok reduces your reach, bans your account, or shuts down, you lose access to every person who followed you. An email list is an asset you control. You can reach your subscribers directly, without an algorithm deciding who sees your message. The goal is to use TikTok to build the list, then use the list to build a business that does not depend on any single platform.

How do new TikTok features help me get more views?

When TikTok launches a new feature, they need creators to adopt it so it gains traction. To incentivize early use, TikTok boosts the visibility of content that uses the new feature. This is a limited window. The boost fades as the feature becomes mainstream. The practical move is to follow TikTok’s creator announcements and be among the first to use anything new, even if your execution is not perfect. Speed beats polish in the early-adopter window.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, “3 Ways to 10X Your Views On TikTok | How To Get More Views,” YouTube, https://youtu.be/PGvysbY_dY4
TikTok Newsroom, TikTok Creator Portal, https://www.tiktok.com/creators
TikTok monthly active user figures: publicly reported at 1 billion+ as of 2023
CapCut editing platform, https://www.capcut.com

Helping 1 million working adults make their first $3,000 online with the skills they already have. Alston Godbolt, Platform Proof.