Instagram SEO Guide: How to Improve Your Reach?

You might feel frustrated by the ever-evolving landscape of social media and lost due to changes in algorithms. However, whenever a significant shift arises, consistency is what helps brands stay afloat.

If a company is using Instagram to promote its brand and striving to improve its reach, working on Instagram SEO is one of the great ways to guarantee its success. Similar to Google or any other search engine, several SEO tactics can help improve your visibility and ranking on Instagram. In addition, you can reach more people with optimized SEO tactics, further increasing your chances of driving sales.

This article enlists the best tactics to optimize your Instagram profile and content to improve your reach on the platform.

#1. Optimize the Instagram profile for search

The Instagram search feature works quite similarly to Google's in such a way that it delivers the most relevant profiles depending on your search terms. Furthermore, when it comes to Instagram, the search results usually depend on multiple factors, such as the accounts an individual follows or is connected to.

In addition, the posts one likes or shares have a significant influence on the search results and keywords also play an essential role in brand visibility. Therefore, it can help if you optimize your Instagram profile with relevant keywords to show up in related searches.

Here are two effective ways to optimize your Instagram profile for search:

Name and Username: You can incorporate a primary keyword in your name and username to increase your chances of showing relevant searches. For instance, if you are an interior designer, then make sure to add the keyword 'interiors' in your name or username so that Instagram can bring up your profile when people search for 'interiors.'
Bio: The Instagram bio is one of the great places to add keywords. In addition, you can use this space to add secondary keywords describing your business. For example, if you strive to target the keyword' sportswear,' you can add secondary keywords like 'styling' or 'high-quality fabric' in your bio.

#2. Add keyword-optimized captions

You can search for content using location tags or hashtags on the Instagram explore page. Apart from this, Instagram also provides recommendations based on the interests and interactions of the users.

5 Instagram SEO Tips to Increase Your Reach

For instance, if you consistently watch or like make-up-related posts, your Explore page will automatically display content aligning with the same type of content. It is where the role of captions on your posts comes in.

Instagram uses an account embedding framework for identifying accounts that are topically similar to one another. Also, this framework learns what is represented by a word based on the context. Moreover, it can identify how specific Instagram accounts are similarly based on keywords used in the captions, bios, or usernames. Therefore, writing descriptive Instagram captions and relevant keywords can enhance your chances of showing up on the relevant users' Explore page.

#3. Encourage tagging

Another Instagram SEO technique to improve your reach is getting tagged. Other users can click through the company's profile when tagging the same company's account in their posts or stories. Hence, there is a higher chance of attracting an audience with huge figures with more tags.

For instance, you can encourage people to tag your brand in the photos of your products or services in return for a chance to be featured on your official feed. Alternatively, a company can opt for promotions and giveaways involving tagging your account in the audience's Instagram feed. Now that there is a higher chance of winning something, people are more likely to participate in this marketing campaign.

#4. Include hashtags as keywords

How to Find Paid Social Media Keyword Ideas From Top Hashtags

One of the most creative ways, including hashtags as keywords on your posts or stories, can drive more traffic to your Instagram page. According to experts, on Instagram, hashtags function similarly to keywords in search engines, i.e., helping users discover relevant content. For instance, when you search using a particular hashtag on Instagram's explore page, it will show you all posts tagged with the same hashtag. Therefore, tagging your posts with specific hashtags will increase the chances of your posts appearing when someone searches for those hashtags.

Make sure to add trendy Instagram Hashtags relevant to your content to attract the right audience. However, see to it that you are not overloading the caption space with hashtags making it look cluttered. Although Instagram provides the freedom to add 30 hashtags in a post's caption, ensure that you find the proper hashtag density for your post.

#5. Use relevant tools to improve Instagram SEO

There are several tools available that a user can use to improve their Instagram SEO. These tools can help you find the right keywords for your posts, track your progress, and measure your success. Here listed are some tools you can start with:

Iconosquare: It is a powerful scheduling tool, the primary function of which is to provide real-time analytics on how your content is promoted and details related to your competition to help you post well.
Plann: This tool enables the users to create, post, and monitor all in a single place so they can pay close attention to how their Instagram SEO strategy is working.
Hashtags for Likes: This tool is the right choice for the ones you are looking forward to reaching and uncovering the best, relevant hashtags for their Instagram posts.

To wrap it all up!

SEO is an integral part of the content strategy, whether you consider posting your content on websites or Instagram. Both SEO and content are interrelated and critical in an ever-evolving digital world. Moreover, with the immense popularity of Instagram among millennials, your SEO strategy for your Instagram account can make a big difference between being a winning brand and an ordinary one.

Now that you know five different ways to optimize Instagram profiles for SEO, make sure to implement them correctly. An effective Instagram SEO can increase your brand's visibility and awareness among the target audience. Therefore, make the most of the Instagram SEO optimization tips to improve your reach on the platform.