The digital landscape of social media is always changing. If you want more traffic, leads, and sales on Instagram, you need to take advantage of Instagram SEO. Similar to regular search engine optimization (SEO) for search engines, such as Google and Bing, there are specific digital marketing tactics you can utilize to increase visibility and improve your rankings on Instagram. In this article, we’ll go over what Instagram SEO is, the factors that affect Instagram SEO rankings, and tips for getting more engagement and followers.
What is Instagram SEO?
Instagram SEO is the practice of optimizing your Instagram profile and content for greater visibility in search engines. It’s essential for two reasons: You can get more people to see your posts by making them easier to find on Google and other search engines, and it increases engagement with your followers, leading to higher follower growth and brand awareness.
Instagram SEO utilizes several crucial strategies, including hashtags and keywords. There are two important types of SEO for Instagram: on-page and off-page.
Instagram On-page SEO
On-page SEO includes digital marketing strategies that are implemented directly on your Instagram account. Some examples include using relevant hashtags with your photos or utilizing specifically chosen keywords in your bio.
Instagram Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO includes digital marketing strategies implemented outside your Instagram account, such as building high-authority links from other websites.
What Factors Affect Instagram SEO Rankings?
Engagement
Instagram’s algorithm is based on engagement, meaning that posts that garner more likes and comments will be shown to more people than those with less attention. The number of followers you have isn’t as crucial as your post’s performance. For instance, if you’ve used hashtags in the past, but few people are engaging with them now, then it doesn’t matter how many followers you have. New users won’t see your posts because they aren’t getting enough engagement from users who already follow your profile.
Hashtag Density
Instagram has a limited number of hashtags you can use in each post—30 hashtags at most—so don’t go overboard and try posting 40+ hashtags every time! If you do so anyway, then don’t be surprised when nothing shows up under the “Top Posts” or “Recent Posts” sections (see below) since these sections only show posts containing fewer than 30 #hashtags at most.
Ever-changing Social Media Landscape
If you’re looking to grow an Instagram account, you need to be aware of the latest restrictions. As more and more people join Instagram every day, the platform will continue to make changes to limit spamming and other forms of abuse that could potentially damage its reputation among users.
5 SEO Tips for Optimizing Your Instagram Profile
Here are five tips and best practices for optimizing your Instagram profile to help you grow your account faster than ever before:
Use Hashtags Appropriately
Hashtags are the best way to find new people on Instagram and engage with them, but they should be used sparingly. You don’t want to use too many hashtags because that can look spammy and turn people off from your content. Hashtags are an easy way to give context to specific photos and ensure they’re used properly. For example, if someone posts a picture of their favorite cupcake recipe (and tags “baking” in their caption), then anyone searching for #baking would find this post, as well as others tagged with similar terms—like #baker. You don’t want your pictures buried under all those other posts! We recommend using no more than ten hashtags in each post. The best strategy is to use relevant hashtags for you and your followers; they should be strategic industry-related ones to help you connect with other users searching for similar things online.
Use Your Account Name as a Keyword
A great place to start optimizing your Instagram profile for SEO is with the account name. Your account name is one of the most essential parts of any Instagram profile, so it’s worth spending some time getting it right. It should be a keyword that people searching on Google would use when looking for you or your business. It can be your brand name, niche keyword, company, or location name – whichever makes sense regarding what you offer and what people will search for when they want to know more about you.
Don’t Over-optimize Your Bio
It’s tempting to use your Instagram bio as an opportunity to use all of the keywords you can think of, but it’s not necessary. You can still optimize your profile without overdoing it!
Your bio is limited to 160 characters, so you need to be concise and informative if you want people to read it. No keyword stuffing or links; keep it simple.
Don’t Include Links in Your Bio
If someone is interested enough in following you on Instagram that they’re reading your bio, they probably already follow (or will follow) other profiles related to yours. There’s no need for direct links here.
Tag People in Your Photos
Tag people in photos to give them exposure, but don’t over-tag or tag irrelevant users just because they have a high number of followers. Otherwise, you might annoy those who follow you, which could lead to unfollows. Make sure you’re tagging the right person or people. It’ll make things easier for everyone involved. When users look at a post, they’ll be able to see who’s responsible for creating the content, motivating them to follow both accounts.
Gain More Instagram SEO Insight from our SEO Experts!
Instagram is a great way to connect with your audience and create brand loyalty. It also provides valuable data on who your followers are and what they’re interested in. With these tips and tricks under your belt, you should be ready to start growing your Instagram account! Want to take your Instagram a step further? Consider expanding your target audience with Instagram ad targeting! Whether it’s Instagram SEO or regular SEO, navigating the digital landscape can be challenging. CadenceSEO is a full-service digital marketing firm. Our SEO experts have a wide range of tools and tactics to help you increase your online visibility, grow brand awareness, and connect with a larger target audience. Not sure where to begin? Start with our free Instagram SEO consultation! We’re passionate about all things SEO. Our team of SEO nerds is here to help you get the most out of your Instagram profile!
