'I just don't understand the Instagram algorithm' is a common phrase we hear A LOT! In this blog, we're going to help you increase your discoverability on the platform so that you can start reaching more of your target customers and increase engagement across your posts.
To increase your discoverability you need to improve your SEO! The more people discover your content, the greater chance you have at growing your following and building a loyal Instagram community.
SEO on Instagram is tailoring your content to your niche to make sure that it then appears in as many places as possible. Instagram’s algorithm processes every piece of content, gathering information to discover what the post is about and who might be interested in it.
What is SEO and why is it important?
Instagram is a hugely saturated platform, with over one billion active monthly users so having a good SEO strategy is imperative for your business.
The Instagram explore page is basically the directory to every Instagram account there is, which can be used in a similar way to Google. Here you can discover accounts, hashtags and locations.
It doesn't end here. SEO plays a major role in what populates users’ suggested posts from the accounts you don’t follow. These are the types of posts suggested to you based on posts from accounts like the ones you follow, like or save.
Keep your SEO game strong and you can ensure that your posts will be shown in relevant search results on the explore page and in suggested content feeds - giving it the visibility it deserves. It all helps beat the Instagram algorithm.
5 Instagram SEO Tactics to Increase Your Discoverability
1. Write descriptive captions which include keywords.
Keywords are your new best friend on Instagram. Until recently you could only search Instagram for hashtags, geotags, usernames and profile names but now you can search using keywords too.
If you use relevant and descriptive keywords in your Instagram captions you’re more likely to appear on the Explore page, opening up your business to a wider audience.
2. Add keywords to your Instagram profile name.
Optimise your profile with keywords just like your captions. If you can’t fit a keyword into your username, adding keywords to your name field can be just as valuable. So our username is @thirtythree_percent but our name is ‘Marketing for Small Businesses’.
3. Include relevant hashtags to all posts.
There has been controversy recently over how many hashtags are best for your social strategy. Should you be using the full 30? Or should you be sticking to 4-6 as the recent reports have said? We say, utilise as many relevant hashtags as possible to widen your possibilities of increasing reach.
But either way, using relevant hashtags on posts is still one of the best ways to get discovered by new audiences on Instagram.
Don’t just use random hashtags, make sure they're relevant to your post, your business and location. Also, don’t make the mistake of only using popular hashtags, which have millions of posts linked to them because your post will just get lost amongst them and has the risk of never being seen.
4. Add alt text to your images.
At the moment Instagram automatically adds alt text - However, you can also manually input alt text when you create a post, adding valuable extra detail and keywords. Simply go to ‘advanced settings’ before posting - you can add alt text to content you’ve already posted by tapping the 3 dots in the corner and pressing edit. It's a really simple tip for beating the Instagram algorithm.
5. Be consistent and know your customer.
Finally, you need to be consistent. Just like with any area of social media the more consistent you are with your SEO practices the better your visibility will get.
To put it simply, the more you tell the Instagram algorithm who you are, the more it will understand and you will be pushed to the top - and you know what that means! You’ll be reaping the rewards before you know it.
Having the knowledge of a good SEO strategy will help you grow your audience and build a relevant, highly engaged audience which will boost awareness of your business.
Get optimising!
