SEO on Instagram has been a long time coming and here at Yellow Tuxedo we are super pleased to see that finally, Instagram is embracing search on their platform.
Last year we wrote a blog post on the importance using alt text on your instagram posts knowing that at some point the roll out of the new SEO features would be coming. Today we want to share with you some of the other ways in which you can optimise your instagram for search engines in 2021.
First of all, SEO on instagram should not be a daunting thing. It is a really good way of increasing your reach and getting the right people in front of your content. And lets face it, who DOESN'T want more organic traffic to their content??
Your approach to Instagram SEO should be no different to how you approach your SEO on any other platform or your website. Its about logically thinking about how people are likely to find you and what they are likely to be searching for when they stumble across your content.
If you haven't yet done any keyword research for your business do be sure to check out our video "How to find Google Keyword Planner" to get started with using keyword planner to help you find the best keywords for your business.
So once you have defined your keywords, both for explaining your business and describing your content, where do you put them?
The first logical place to insert your keyword is within your user handle itself. For example if you were a cleaning company offering domestic cleaning you might think about creating @joebloggsdomesticcleaningservices as your handle. This covers your brand name and what you do.
Now we recognise that this isn't possible for every business. I mean come on, our handle is @yellowtuxedo !! Thats a fairly ambiguous brand name and definitely doesn't say what we do on the tin. This being said, we're not about to change our handle because ultimately we have a strategy in our business that involves mass brand awareness.
So in this instance the next logical place to insert your keyword is within your bio name itself. An example of this can be found in the video above. So we are @YellowTuxedo and our bio name reads.."Digital Visibility Specialists" which is the explainer to what we do. This is not only searchable but also editable so that you can tweak and adjust your bio according to how the landscape of your business changes.
The next logical step for inserting your keywords would be your bio. Utilise the space in your bio. Can you think about the way in which you write your bio description to incorporate your primary keywords?
Just think logically. Instagram is going to pull up those accounts that fits a particular search query the best FIRST. Does your profile currently do this?
It goes without saying that Instagram does like an engaging long form caption. But with your optimisation head on does that caption incorporate some of the keywords and phrases than encapsulates the post?
Time and time again we get cross with ourselves for not being found but 9 times out of 10 its because the keyword that someone is logically going to type about your business, product or service is sitting there in your head and not on the page. Be sure to think about your SEO as you write your captions but REMEMBER to talk naturally to your audience. DO NOT KEYWORD STUFF.
Your images themselves have the ability to be searchable much like the images on your website. Ensure that you include alt text with a relevant keyword where possible. Our article Using Instagram Alt Text for SEO explains exactly how to do this and why its important.
For more information about optimising your instagram account for SEO do be sure to watch the video above. In it we also explore how hashtags have the ability to be optimised as well as some real life examples of how the instagram search function works.
As always if you have any questions whatsoever please do get in contact. And for more detailed hints and tips do be sure to sign up to our online membership The Digital Circus to learn lots more about digital visibiity and to get practical support with getting your business seen online.
Have you checked out our latest blog post all about Instagrams brand new feature Reels Remixing??