With more than 2 billion active users, Instagram has established itself as the world’s most popular social network. It also offers versatile and effective tools for content marketing. For brands, it is essential to know and analyze in depth all the tactics that can be applied on this platform, and one of the most powerful is the SEO strategy, key to boost the organic growth of your account.
Instagram is not only a social network for sharing content, but it also works as a powerful search engine. In this Media Evolution Bite from SomosSapiens, we bring you 10 SEO tips on Instagram that will help you improve your reach. Pay attention and indulge yourself with this informative bite!
1. A 100% optimized Instagram profile
When driving traffic to your Instagram profile, it is essential that the biography clearly explains what your brand is about and where users can access your website. To help you in this task, we give you four simple recommendations that, although they may seem obvious, are often overlooked in the daily management of a brand on this social network:
- Keep your profile public: It is essential so that more people can discover your content without restrictions.
- Use an attractive brand image: First impressions count, and a neat image makes a difference.
- Choose a user name that is recognizable and easy to find: This will make it easier for users to search for you and identify you quickly.
- Register your account on Instagram Business: To access analytical and promotional tools that will help you better manage your strategy.
- Include a trackable link in your bio: You can use UTMs, to measure the traffic coming from Instagram and optimize your actions.
2. Include the main word in the user name and main name.
When creating content or optimizing your profile, it’s crucial to think like your audience would and use the terms they would use to find what you offer.
Instagram has its own search engine, so incorporating the right keywords is essential for your profile and posts to appear in the first results. This will allow you to increase visibility and attract more users interested in your content.
3. Add secondary keywords in the biography
Secondary keywords are terms that, while not the primary search, may be related to what your audience is looking for. While not as direct as primary keywords, these secondary keywords can indicate that users have an interest in your product or service, helping to attract a broader audience that may also be interested in what you offer. Secondary keywords are terms that, while not the primary search, may be related to what your audience is looking for. While not as direct as primary keywords, these secondary keywords can indicate that users have an interest in your product or service, helping to attract a broader audience that may also be interested in what you offer.
4. Hashtags are also keywords
Currently, there are many doubts about the validity of hashtags, but SomosSapiens confirms that they are still relevant. Many users continue to use hashtags as a tool to discover content related to specific topics.
Therefore, we recommend implementing a hashtag strategy that includes secondary keywords, which will allow you to reach a wider audience and attract users interested in various areas related to your content.
5. The use of secondary keywords in the texts of the publications.
Like Google, Instagram functions as a standalone search engine, where every aspect of the experience must revolve around the use of keywords. While creating engaging copy is essential to grab the attention of new users and keep current followers, we can take it a step further. By optimizing that content with appropriate keywords, we not only attract, but also appear in search results, which helps build a stronger image for the platform’s algorithm and maximize our visibility.
6. The use of hashtags and other solutions in your stories.
It is essential to make the most of all the formats that Instagram offers, especially stories.
This format not only allows you to interact more closely and directly with your audience, but also offers the possibility of adding hashtags to improve visibility and even links to your website, making it easier to drive traffic and boost the reach of your content. Take advantage of these functions to add secondary words and key links to your strategy.
7. Take advantage of Instagram’s alt text
Although originally designed for visually impaired users, alt text on Instagram can also be a valuable SEO tactic. The benefits of optimizing this text are similar to those you get from using alt text on your website images: it can improve your posts’ ranking in the algorithm, increase visibility in voice searches, and more.
To modify the alt text, simply access the options in the advanced settings of the application > select “Write alt text”. Here you can create a detailed description of your image. When you have written your own alt text, post your photo as you normally would.
8. Analyzes and follows up
Once you implement the necessary SEO changes, it is crucial to monitor how your new strategy is impacting Instagram and whether it is contributing to achieving your established social media KPIs.
While there are analysis tools available at the click of a button, experience in audiences and in-depth knowledge of social media environments allow us to give real value to the data obtained, generating more than reports, new strategies which will ensure better performance and better results in the future. Our DigitalSapiens business line’s mission is to effectively connect brands with their audiences through all digital environments.
9. Avoid common Black Hat SEO techniques
What is Black Hat SEO? According to IEBS, it is “set of practices that are used to increase the positioning of a web page in search engines that are considered unethical”. And is that like Google, Instagram has also implemented measures against accounts that try to manipulate its algorithm.
Among these measures, the shadowban, a recent sanction applied to users who repeatedly violate the rules, stands out. This punishment limits the visibility of publications, affecting organic reach and making it difficult for content to be discovered by new users.
10. Use subtitles in the Reels
It’s a fact: users don’t like watching Reels without subtitles. It doesn’t allow them to multitask or consume them in any environment. According to Powtoon, this allows the content to reach a wider audience, thus increasing the impact of the content.
Although this is related to accessibility, adding subtitles will also allow you to include relevant keywords and provide more context to the algorithm, making it easier for search engines to crawl and improve ranking.At SomosSapiens, we are experts in evolving and optimizing strategies to reach audiences through brand channels. Learn more about our digital media solutions and which are the tools and technology with which we ensure performance optimization.
