SEO techniques on Instagram: make your brand profile stand out between searches

In recent years Instagram has become one of the best tools for digital marketing. This is because the network has more than one billion monthly users, where 25 million are active business accounts. So it is the best option to promote your brand since there are millions of users waiting to see your content. But, how can you quickly reach these users and boost your online sales? The answer is using SEO. However, is it possible to optimize a social network as well as a website? Fortunately, yes.

How does Instagram search work?

The best way to start implementing SEO techniques on Instagram is to understand how search works on the network. This is designed to help users find accounts and topics of interest. It differs from the Feed, Stories, Reels and Explore because the search is conditional to the words entered into the search engine. For example, if you want to find images of space, by entering the word “space” in the search bar, Instagram’s artificial intelligence will start displaying a series of accounts, hashtags and places that match the text entered. But in addition to the search text (Where user names, bios, hashtags and places match), which is by far one of the most relevant aspects, Instagram also takes into account:

• Your activity. including accounts you follow, posts you have interacted with, locations, hashtags and so on.
• Information about search results. This happens when there are many potential results, in such cases Instagram displays these according to popularity (likes, shares, follows, hashtags).

6 SEO techniques to improve your ranking on Instagram

Now that you know about Instagram’s built-in search functions, which act just like a mini-Google, the next step is to use this to your advantage. Let’s walk you through 6 techniques to expand your reach and improve your SEO rankings on Instagram.

1. Optimize your profile.

To increase the reach of your Instagram profile, it is important to have your profile optimized. Since attracting traffic to your profile, but not arousing interest in the user will not benefit you. Some techniques to optimize your profile are:

• Keep your profile as public.
• Design an attractive feed.
• Create a recognizable username.
• If you are a company or business, sign up for Instagram Business.
• Include a link to your website or LinkedIn.
• Develop a content marketing strategy.
• Add a profile picture that represents the essence of your company.

While most of these tricks may seem obvious, hundreds of businesses fail to implement them on their Instagram accounts, which hurts their SEO on the social network. 2. Add keywords in your username and primary. As we have mentioned, Instagram has its own search engine to show the right results. Therefore, you must identify your main keyword. From this keyword depends on the position you will have in the search engine of the social media. As an example we will use the word “Tea”. When a company dedicated to this field has the keyword in its user name, it is more likely to appear among the first suggested accounts. 3. Add keywords in your bio. In addition to the main keyword in your username, you should take advantage of your secondary keywords and include them in your biography. If your main keyword is “Tea”, secondary keywords could be “tea brand”, “organic products”, among others. 4. Work on your hashtags. Once you have optimized your profile, it is time to optimize your posts. This phase is an ongoing process, because you must do it with every new post you publish. Most users will not search for you directly, but it is likely that they will find your profile through a hashtag. To do this, always use keywords in your hashtags, back to our example it must be related such as #teacup  #organictea. 5. Add keywords in your copy. Instagram is a standalone search engine. This means that every part of the platform’s experience is keyword-centric.

Adding primary and secondary keywords in your post’s copy can help you appear among the top search results. You can add up to 30 hashtags to every post that you create. 6. Take advantage of the alternative text. Very few Instagram users take advantage of “alt text” and this is because most of them are unaware of its existence. Alt text is a relatively new tool that allows users to add descriptive text to their posts. This feature was designed for visually impaired users, but it is also quite useful for SEO. To access this feature, just go to the options just before posting an image. You must click on “advanced settings” and then select “alt text”. After you have created your alt text, post your photo as usual. The benefits of using this option are the same as when you use alt text on your website photos.

What prevents the search engine from displaying?

If you have performed each of the SEO optimization tricks on Instagram, but still your positioning does not improve, maybe you are performing practices that prevent the search engine from showing your profile in the first results. Instagram avoids displaying accounts, hashtags and posts that go against its recommendations in search results. For example, using hashtags that are unrelated to the post. In addition, accounts that post spam or violate the rules of the social network may appear in the last results or simply not appear at all. Thus, leaving only the possibility of being found through their exact username. Similarly, searches for sensitive topics with additional security measures are balanced so as not to show users harmful content.  Instagram works on the basis of showing users the things they love, need or want to see, which is why you should constantly work on optimizing your profile so that your account appears at the top. If you need help with optimization, you can send us a text via WhatsApp and receive a FREE consultation with one of our specialists.