Keep reading for more information about the Instagram SEO tips that help you increase your reach.
5 Instagram SEO tips to Increase Your Reach
1. Optimize your Instagram profile for search
Your Instagram profile (aka your Instagram bio) is the most effective place to include relevant keywords and search terms.
Instagram bio SEO starts with Instagram name SEO. Select a handle and profile name that’s related to your content. If you’re famous by your brand name, then that’s the most effective place to begin. If there’s room for a keyword in your handle or name, include that too.
Notice all of the accounts that appeared in the top search results for travel—from both profiles—include the phrase “travel” in their handle or name or both.
Also, ensure to include related keywords in your bio. Who are you, and what are you all about? What kind of content can people (and the Instagram search engine) expect to find in your grid?
Finally, make sure to include a location in your bio if it’s related to your business. Only Business and Creator accounts can add a location, so this is just another reason to make the switch to a professional account in the event you haven’t already done so.
To add a profile location for Instagram bio SEO, open the Instagram app and tap on your profile icon. Faucet Edit Profile, then Contact Options. Enter your address, being as specific or as general as you want. You may enter your specific street address if that’s relevant, or just use your city.
Be sure to turn on the slider bar for Display contact info.
Source: @ckjnewberry
Your location only appears on your profile page on the app, not the web version of Instagram. However, as soon as it’s attached to your account, it’s a ranking signal to the Instagram search engine no matter whether your audience is utilizing the app or the web.
For extra recommendations on making your Instagram profile more discoverable, take a look at our full post on how to write a great Instagram bio.
2. Use the best hashtags
While it’s long been considered an insider trick to hide hashtags in feedback, Instagram has now revealed that keywords and hashtags ought to appear instantly within the caption to affect the search outcomes.
Additionally, they recently shared some specific hashtag ideas for showing up within the search outcomes:
- Use solely related hashtags.
- Use a mixture of well-known, niche, and specific (think branded or campaign-based) hashtags.
- Limit hashtags to 3 to 5 per post.
- Don’t use irrelevant or overly generic hashtags like #explorepage.
Instagram customers have been somewhat shocked by the advice to limit the number of hashtags. After all, Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post. However, the recommendation from Instagram is clear: “Don’t use too many hashtags—adding 10-20 hashtags won’t help you get additional distribution.”
So, what are the most effective SEO hashtags for Instagram SEO tips?
That relies on your business and your viewers. To get a sense of which hashtags are already driving traffic to your posts, check out your Instagram Insights. The Insights for any post will let you know how many impressions for that post came from hashtags.
In the event you’ve used many hashtags, Instagram analytics gained’t let you know precisely which of them did the heavy lifting. However, in the event you’re sticking to the helpful 3 to 5 hashtags, you need to be able to determine which ones consistently drive traffic over time.
You may as well use social listening to see what hashtags your target market, your rivals, and influencers in your business are already utilizing.
Lastly, you need to use the Instagram search bar to find fashionable key phrases and be taught which hashtags the folks you observe are all for. These will doubtless resonate together with your viewers, too.
Go to the Instagram Discover web page and sort a hashtag (together with the # image) into the search bar. You’ll see which of the folks you observe are already following these tags. In the event you seek a generic hashtag (like #journey), additionally, you will see some extra particular hashtags that might present a great steadiness for the final, area of interest, particular mixture Instagram recommends.
The search outcomes web page for any key phrase (see the subsequent tip) additionally features a Tags tab. Faucet on it to see the most well-liked hashtags for that key phrase, together with the entire variety of posts for every.
3. Use the precise key phrases
Up to now, the Instagram search didn’t think about key phrases in captions, however, that seems to be altering. Instagram now particularly recommends together with related key phrases in submit captions to assist with discoverability.
That’s because they’re altering how search outcomes are served. Up to now, search outcomes solely included related accounts, hashtags, and locations.
Now, search outcomes also embrace key phrase outcomes pages meant for looking. That is nice information for lesser-known manufacturers because it provides folks a greater probability to search out your content material without trying to find your particular account title.
Clicking on any of the keyword outcomes pages (indicated with a magnifying glass) opens a full web page of content material to browse. Each keyword outcomes page is an Explore page for that particular keyword. Observe the Tags tab, which might help you uncover the most popular hashtags for every keyword.
So, how do you select your goal key phrases? The analysis you probably did within the step above to determine your finest hashtags offers you some preliminary clues.
Analytics instruments offer you extra perception. For instance, use Google Analytics to see which key phrases are driving site visitors to your website. These are doubtless good candidates to check in your Instagram posts.
4. Add alt text to pictures
One of the Instagram SEO tips is to add alt text to the pictures. Alt text on Instagram is just like alt text on the web. It’s a text description of a picture or video that makes the content accessible to those with visual impairments. It additionally describes the content in case the photo itself fails to load.
Instagram alt text also has the benefit of helping Instagram better understand what’s in your content, and therefore better understand whether it’s related to a specific search.
Instagram makes use of object recognition technology to create an automatic description of every picture for those who use a screen reader. This information also offers information to the Instagram algorithm and search outcomes about the content of your photo.
Of course, the automatic alt text will never be as detailed as alt text created by a human. For instance, here’s the auto-generated alt text for a photo I posted on Instagram.
(Note: You’ll be able to take a look at your auto-generated alt text by turning on the screen reader on your phone or computer.)
The picture is a bee, however, Instagram’s alt text just classifies it as “flower and nature.” While I used the word “bees” in my caption, providing custom alt text here would offer a better experience for those with visual impairments as well as sending better alt text Instagram SEO signals.
To add alt textual content if you submit a photograph, faucet Superior Settings at the underside of the display the place you write your caption.
Below Accessibility, faucet Write Alt Text and add a photograph description utilizing relevant keywords.
To add alt text to a present photograph, open the photograph and faucet the three dots icon, then faucet Edit. At the bottom right of the image, tap Edit Alt Text.
Enter your alt text, then faucet the blue checkmark.
This new alt text is way more accurate and contains keywords people may use to seek content like this. It’s a simple Instagram optimization technique.
5. Keep a high-quality account
Instagram search outcomes are also based on the Instagram Recommendations Guidelines. That means accounts that go against these guidelines will appear lower in search outcomes or not appear in search at all.
Remember that the Recommendations Guidelines are more stringent than the Community Guidelines. Briefly, if you violate the Community Guidelines, your content might be removed from Instagram altogether. If you go against the Recommendations Guidelines, your content will still appear on the platform, however, it will likely be harder to seek out.
Instagram search avoids recommending content that’s “low-quality, objectionable, or sensitive,” in addition to content that “may be inappropriate for youthful viewers.” Some specific examples of what NOT to do include:
- Clickbait or engagement bait
- Exaggerated health claims
- Unoriginal content copied from another source
- Misleading claims or content
- Buying likes
Now, you understand how Instagram SEO works. Hope these Instagram SEO tips help and gain you more engagement!