Before getting to Instagram SEO tips, imagine something.
You’re a passionate foodie who decided to share your delicious recipes with others.
You create an Instagram channel and post some of your mouth-watering dishes. Excited and anxious to see the reactions of other people.
But it’s the 3rd day with no response.😪
First time with a broken heart?💔 We’ll help you with it👇🏻
As the wise men say, “It’s deadly to enter the lion’s den without befriending him”. The same goes for Instagram SEO.
Here’re 7 fail-proof Instagram SEO tips that can help you increase visibility and level up your followers quickly.
But first, let’s look at what Instagram SEO is.
What is Instagram SEO?
Instagram SEO is optimizing your Instagram channel to rank higher on the search results.
It’s a process by which you can make your content search friendly so that when someone from 1.4 Billion users searches for a keyword or a hashtag, they can see your account.
If you do this right, you can reap great rewards in no time like:
- Increased visibility
- Better engagements
- More followers
- Better Relationships
Your content could disappear quickly in this vast ocean in no time.🌊
So, you need some clever SEO tips to stand out and be visible to your prospects. To ease your search, we’ve already curated a list below.
7 Instagram SEO Tips For Increased Visibility
1. Optimizing Your Profile for More Visibility
Instagram pushes relevant searches for more visibility. That makes optimizing your profile with relevant keywords the foremost thing to do.
Your Instagram bio is the perfect place to get started.
Choose a handle and profile name that suits well with your content. It gives you the best chance to get recognized in the search results once someone comes looking for your content.
It’s not at all difficult to do. Here’s how you can optimize your profile:
User Name
If you can, try to include content-related keywords in your username.
For instance, this channel uses the same keyword as the username and in the bio-Nature.
Bio
This is where you can play with the keywords for which you want to be ranked. You can also utilize this space to describe your business with secondary keywords.
This channel uses the keyword “food” in the username and bio. Moreover, you can also find secondary keywords like recipes and restaurants, all related to food.
2. Use Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags are like a magic wand to boost your visibility and expand your reach on Instagram. But it must resonate with your content.
When you use relevant hashtags in your post, people will see your post whenever they search for that particular hashtag.
But there are some ground rules for that:
- Use specific hashtags on a post
- Keep the number of hashtags between 3-5
- Refrain from using generic hashtags
Look at this picture by Nat Geo. You can see the number of hashtags and how specific they’re.
3. Using the Right Keywords
Instagram recommends using the right keywords for more discoverability.
Earlier the search results on Instagram included only relevant pages, locations, and hashtags.
But now, search results also include accounts with relevant keywords.
You can click on any keyword result page and explore the content.
Industry Tip: Writing keyword-specific bios and usernames will improve your chances of appearing in the search results.
Additionally, people can now find new and emerging accounts since they now have a chance to rank on Explore pages even without getting searched for it by their name.
Now, how can you find the right keywords?
You can use Google Analytics to get a sense of which keywords are driving more traffic to your account. Moreover, you can use multiple 3rd party websites for that.
4. Add Alt Text
Initially, alt text was intended to make content descriptions accessible to those with visual impairments. But Instagram lets you add alt text to better understand your content’s details and relevance. Thereby creating an opportunity of ranking better in the search results.
As soon as you add any photo, Instagram creates an alt text. However, you can edit and make it more detailed and interesting by clicking on the Advanced settings.
You can check out automatically generated alt text on Instagram by clicking here.
5. Stay Miles Away from Black Hat SEO Strategies
While struggling for more likes and visibility on Instagram, you may be swayed away by some shortcuts and malpractices.
Remember, one way or another, your account is being constantly monitored, and any attempt to befool the algorithm can cost you your account in the long run.
On top of that, Instagram hunts down accounts using suspicious black hat SEO techniques like creating fake followers and using bots to get 1000 likes.
Here are some more on the not to do list:
- Using clickbait
- Copied content
- Promoting suspicious and harmful content
Long story short, stay miles away from such activities. Try building a brand you would be proud of, even if it takes a long time.
6. Stick With Your Niche
Your niche is your identity on social media, and it’s no different on Instagram. That’s why your content should always be consistent with your niche.
By doing so, you’ll be enjoying some enormous benefits on the channel like:
- Enhanced visibility
- Higher engagement
- A loyal audience
When you’ve a consistent voice, people are likely to be attracted to you. Also, representing who you’re on a social media channel makes people trust you, which can skyrocket your presence.
7. Leverage Instagram Tools
A man with a machine can do wonders. This holds true even on Instagram.
There are a variety of Instagram tools that can help you to up your Instagram SEO game. You can use these tools to:
- Find the right keywords
- Monitor your success
- Track KPIs
You can search for various trusted tools to improve your SEO strategy and make the most out of Instagram.
Wrapping Up
If you want to go from 0 to 10k followers on Instagram with all the right methods and in less time, SEO for Instagram is the first thing to consider.
And now, when you’re well equipped with proven Instagram SEO strategies, it’s time to make the most of these.
