Last Updated on December 9, 2024 
Jeffrey Hau
What is XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking (小红书热点榜)?
The XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking (小红书热点榜) is a unique feature on the platform’s ‘Search’ page. When users go to their search bar, they will see this ranking showcasing the current trending topics on XiaoHongShu.
This feature is quite similar to the ‘Trending’ feature on X, formerly known as Twitter. However, unlike X which showcases trends based on the user’s location; XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking displays trends across the whole platform, regardless of location. XiaoHongShu will also show the number of searches along with each trend on the ranking.
For instance, on X, you might only see trends among users in your country; but for XiaoHongShu, you’ll see trends worldwide.
This ranking is the starting point of every trend, as each trend’s ranking is calculated by the algorithm based on its search popularity, exposure, engagement rate, and clickthrough rate.
The XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking is calculated and refreshed every minute, therefore it provides real-time updates on the platform’s current trends!
Why is XiaoHongShu’s Hot Ranking/Trending Searches Important?
Firstly, the hot ranking provides detailed and straightforward insights into trends among the platform’s massive user base.
You can roughly get a clear vision of what the users are focusing on, inspiring you to create relatable high-quality content for XiaoHongShu’s users.
Besides, the virality brought by the ranking is also beneficial. When a topic is featured on the ranking, it means that massive traffic is going into each of these topics.
If you can act fast and tune your content according to the hot ranking, you can take advantage of this virality. For example, the hot ranking is a great way to boost your account’s visibility, as being featured on it almost guarantees a huge amount of users come across your content.
The XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking is a powerful, authentic way to increase your account’s awareness. Unlike other types of rankings, it’s based solely on real user behavior, with no paid promotions allowed.
This ensures that content featured on the ranking is seen as reliable and trustworthy by users. Being featured on the Hot Ranking boosts your brand’s credibility and enhances your image, as it shows that your content is relevant to the community.
What Factors Affect XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking?
As we mentioned above, topics are evaluated based on four criteria before being featured on the XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking. The four criteria are:
- Number of Searches: When a huge number of users search for a specific topic simultaneously, the topic will be featured higher on the XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking.
- Exposure to the Topic: If notes containing keywords about the topic are being exposed to more users’ XiaoHongShu homepage by the platform’s algorithm, the topic will be seen as ‘hot’ and popular.
- Engagement Rate: The most common factor, which are the users’ reactions on posts related to the topic. If all related posts receive high numbers of likes, comments, and bookmarks, the topic will likely be featured in the ranking.
- Clickthrough Rate: This means how many users are clicking on notes related to the topic. If the related notes are being clicked into and accessed by many users, the topic will also enter the Hot ranking.
In fact, topics becoming viral on the XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking are actually quite spontaneous, niche topics first gain popularity by being featured on the ranking; then only more people will ride on and post content about it.
So, how do niche topics get featured? Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs) play a vital role in this.
They discover a potential topic to become viral, then they will post content about it. The topic then gains popularity among their audience and all users, which earns it a spot on XiaoHongShu’s Hot Ranking.
How Brands Can Take Advantage of the XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking
Create Notes Based on Ranked Viral Topics
To benefit from XiaoHongShu’s Hot Ranking feature, the best practice is to ride on the trending topics, by creating notes based on these topics.
You can start by researching the current trends listed on the ranking. Keep in mind that the ranking is refreshed every minute, so look out for the topics with sustainable popularity! You can track this by the popularity index attached to the ranking.
The numbers attached behind each trending search indicate the popularity of the topic.
Besides the sustainability of the topic, you should also select trending topics that are relevant to your brand and industry!
For example, if you are a fashion brand and a celebrity’s outfit goes viral on the Hot Ranking, you can choose to ride on this trend. You can create relevant notes such as teaching your audience how to replicate the celebrity’s outfit with your products!
Try Starting A New Trend Yourself
Rather than just following trends, you can choose to become a trendsetter on XiaoHongShu. For this approach, you will need to put more effort into initiating topics with a high potential for virality.
This approach challenges your creativity, as you need to come up with content that is unique, practical, and fresh. This is because innovative content can tap into users’ curiosity, sparking their interest to engage with the topic.
To get ideas on this, you can rely on data analytics tools such as XiaoHongShu’s official XinHong （新红） tool or Qian Gua Data （千瓜数据） to gain insights about users on XiaoHongShu.
These tools can help you discover keywords and topics that are slowly gaining popularity on the platform, helping your brand act fast before the topic goes fully viral!
Leverage the Power of Influencers (KOL/KOC)
Now you have an innovative idea in mind, what’s the next step? To amplify your unique content idea to more users, partnering with influencers on XiaoHongShu might be a good choice.
This is because these influencers already have a stable audience base, which can help increase the popularity and visibility of the trend.
Other than that, XiaoHongShu’s users have built trust and loyalty with these influencers, so they will be more willing to participate in trends endorsed by influencers.
With these users’ engagement, your trend has a higher chance of getting noticed by the platform and earning a place on the XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking.
Utilize Keywords and Hashtags
Incorporating relevant keywords and hashtags into your notes can also help you to relate to trending topics on the ranking.
This strategy is quite simple: each topic on the ranking has a huge amount of hype on the platform. Therefore, your goal here is to channel this hype into your notes, to extend your notes’ reach and increase their visibility.
First, select the trending searches that you can relate to your content. Then, observe the top-performing notes under the topic for hot keywords and hashtags.
Attach these keywords and hashtags to your notes, and more users clicking on the ranked hot topic will have a higher possibility of accessing your notes.
Successful Case Studies of Brands Featured in the XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking
Marvel (Disney)
A great example of a brand featured in the XiaoHongShu is Marvel Studios by Disney. Marvel’s latest movie, ‘Captain America 4’ has become a trending search feature in the XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking.
To leverage the buzz brought by the ranking, Marvel has worked with XiaoHongShu fan pages and Chinese cinema accounts to create content based on the movie.
The notes created are mostly featuring the movie trailer, to introduce the movie to a wider audience. As a result, the topic ‘Captain America 4’ attracted a total of 3,577,000 viewers engaging with it.
City of Guangzhou, Guangdong
Another great example is the city of Guangzhou, China. Guangzhou’s scenery with flowers blooming in the city has also become a trending search on the hot ranking.
User-generated content (UGC) contributed significantly to this trending search. XiaoHongShu’s influencers and users are posting their own notes featuring Guangzhou’s scenery, which helps to boost related searches to the topic.
These notes featuring aesthetically pleasing photos of the city have attracted more people to visit Guangzhou, resulting in 4088000 users searching and viewing content under the topic of Guangzhou.
Excited to Start Your Own Viral Trend on XiaoHongShu?
Our team at PRIZM is always ready to help! With our recorded experience in the Chinese market, we are your best choice when it comes to XiaoHongShu marketing!
From managing your account to creating great content, we are ready to help your account make huge waves on the platform.
Is your brand ready to be the next top winner on the XiaoHongShu Hot Ranking? Welcome to reach out to us for a consultation- we’re here to help!
