Instagram SEO: How to optimise your content

Earlier this year, Instagram announced that it was making its content indexable by search engines. With over 2 billion active users on the platform, if you’re looking to get more eyes on your brand and your content, it’s probably a good idea to start thinking about Instagram SEO.

But how do you maximise your content and reach your desired audience? In this guide, we’ll provide you with some handy tips for optimising your Instagram profile and content, helping your business to climb in the rankings.

This guide at a glance

• What is Instagram SEO and why is it important?
• Which posts are indexable by search engines?
• Six tips for optimising Instagram posts
• How to optimise your Instagram profile.

What is Instagram SEO and why is it important?

Instagram SEO is the process of optimising your profile and content so that it increases your visibility in the platform and in traditional search engine results pages. With approximately 4.9 billion people using Google for their search needs, this change presents businesses and creators with the opportunity to access a much larger audience. 

By optimising your profile and content, you can expect to:

• Increase your brand’s discoverability: If your content ranks well on Instagram and Google, then you’ll have more eyes on your brand, which will pay dividends in the short and long term.
• Gain an edge over your competitors: Well-optimised content is more likely to rank above content that isn’t optimised at all, giving you a potential opportunity to outperform your competitors.
• Grow your audience organically: Greater reach means there’s more potential to increase your following and engagement.

Which posts are indexable by search engines?

Instagram will allow search engines to index photos and videos that were posted after January 1st 2020, as long as the publishers adhere to these criteria:

• Account holders must be over the age of 18
• The account must be a business account
• And available to the public.

6 tips for optimising Instagram posts

Instagram is all about the content; therefore, fully optimising it is the best way to bring you growth. To get the most out of your content, we recommend the following:

Use alt-text

Alt text helps make your content accessible to everyone, including people using screen readers. It’s also used by search engines to understand what your image shows. While Instagram automatically creates alt text if you don’t add your own, writing it yourself is a simple way to give your image more context. You can also include a relevant keyword if it fits naturally. Just avoid overloading it, as that can harm rather than help your visibility.

Meta has produced a handy guide for changing the alt-text on images if you need it.

Factor keywords into captions

Using keyword research aimed at traditional search engines can be a great way to optimise posts for relevant topics, especially if you want your content to rank in results pages. There are several well-established keyword research tools on the market. If you don’t have access to one, then the likes of Ahrefs offer a free keyword research tool that will give you a basic level of insight. 

The only thing to avoid is forcing keywords into places like your caption in an attempt to boost performance. This is called keyword stuffing, and search engines don’t respond well to it. 

If you need support when it comes to keywords, we can help! Why not get in touch with us to find out more? 

Include hashtags

Hashtags help connect users with content that’s relevant to the topics they’re searching for or interacting with, so they're a useful way to get your posts seen by more people. 

Instagram allows up to thirty hashtags, but we'd advise against spamming or overusing them. While the official number of recommended hashtags has fluctuated over the years, and you may find some sources that contradict each other, the current consensus among social media marketers is that three to five carefully selected hashtags will extend your content’s reach.

Good quality hashtag research can be time-consuming, and it's certainly a skill that improves with experience. There are, however, tools to help you find the right hashtags to target. For example, while relatively basic, Answerthepublic, has a dedicated Instagram feature that provides insights into the number of posts a hashtag achieves, which is based on the keyword(s) you enter. 

Use subtitles in reels

Similar to alt-text, subtitles can add an extra layer of accessibility for users. They also improve engagement, with some sources online suggesting that including subtitles on reels improves retention by 38% compared to videos without them.

In the eyes of search engines, healthy engagement and retention are signals of quality content, which will have a better chance of ranking against competitors as a result.

Enable location tag

Sharing relevant content is key to performing well in search. One simple way to support this is by tagging the location of a post where it makes sense.

Whether it’s suitable will depend on the client and the type of content, but if we can tag a location, it’s a quick win for showing topical relevance to the algorithms.

Consider thumbnail accessibility

Whilst the readability of thumbnails may not have the largest impact compared to the other points mentioned above, it could improve click-through rate for people who have found the post via search engines. In turn, this translates to increased engagement metrics, and therefore improved rankings.

When pulling through Instagram posts, the likes of Google use rich results, which means that posts show up alongside a video thumbnail. This can make it look quite small on a screen, especially mobile devices, so we'd recommend considering readability when adding text to thumbnails.

While the readability of thumbnails might not have the biggest impact, it can help improve click-through rates from people finding posts through search engines. In turn, this can boost engagement and support rankings.

When Instagram posts appear in Google’s rich results, they often display with a video thumbnail. These can look quite small, especially on mobile, so it’s worth keeping readability in mind when adding text to thumbnails.

 

How to optimise your Instagram profile

It's not just about what you post. Alongside content, your Instagram profile offers a great opportunity for further optimisation. To maximise your discoverability, we recommend the following:

• Update your bio: Your bio is a great place to factor in some keywords that are related to your business and offerings. Just remember to avoid keyword stuffing, and instead focus on who you are and what users can expect from your account.
• Optimise your username: Your brand is the most powerful asset you have, so factoring your brand name into your username should always be a first port of call. If there’s room to add in a relevant keyword without it looking out of place, then it’s worth considering.
• Consider your display name: Instagram uses your display name as a ranking factor for relevant searches, so it’s worth exploring the use of keywords that are related to your products or services, since it’s more likely your account will be surfaced this way.

With changes like the above, we’d recommend documenting how your page is performing before and after the changes. These results will provide you with valuable insights, and will allow you to refine your approach in the future.

 

We can help with your social media strategy

As social media marketing experts, Instagram SEO has been on our radars for a while. Now, with search engines indexing content from businesses and creators, there’s more emphasis than ever to not only create content that resonates with your audience, but to ensure it’s well-optimised for traditional search engines. 

If you need help with any aspect of your social media marketing, whether it’s for strategy or profile management, then our in-house team can support you. Simply drop us a message and we’ll discuss your requirements.