SEO on Instagram is all about tailoring your content so it appears in as many places as possible – from suggested content feeds to search results. It’s an essential tactic for improving your discoverability.

Brushing up on your SEO skills will make your business more search-friendly. From hashtags to keywords, I’m going to explain how to tap into new audiences on Instagram using some simple SEO tricks.

How does Instagram SEO actually work?

Instagram’s algorithm processes every piece of content, gathering information to determine what the post is about and who might find it interesting. And there are a few ways you can help steer it in a more optimised direction.

Instagram SEO ranking: key factors

As part of the Explore page, Instagram search is a directory. Much like you would search a term in Google, you can use the search bar at the top of the Explore page to find and discover accounts, hashtags and locations.

According to Instagram, the most important SEO factors are:

1. Relevance to the search query. The algorithm will try to match what people search with top posts, accounts, audio, tags, and places. This is the most important factor.
2. User activity. If Instagram thinks someone will be more interested in one post over another, it will favour that post in search results. It determines this based on the searcher’s previous activity.
3. Information about the search results. When there are a high volume of relevant results for a search term, it can be a bit of a popularity contest. The number of likes, shares and followers for an account or post can influence where it is ranked in search results.

4 Instagram SEO tactics to increase your exposure

Knowing how to use SEO to your advantage can skyrocket your visibility on Instagram. Have a read of my four tactics below.

Tactic #1: write descriptive captions with keywords

Until recently you could only search in Explore via hashtags, locations and usernames. But you can now search using keywords. So writing descriptive captions with relevant keywords can seriously impact your content’s discoverability. While some of these keywords can come from an account’s name, username and bio, they mainly come from your post captions.

Tactic #2: add keywords to your Instagram profile name

If you want to grow your following and use Instagram search to your advantage, optimise your Instagram profile. See below my example, which contains the keyword “social media”.

Tactic #3: include up to 30 relevant hashtags

Using relevant hashtags on posts is still one of the top ways of getting discovered by new audiences on Instagram. Since hashtags are used with the intent to discover new content, using the right hashtags can put you in front of your target audience.

Tactic #4: be consistent with your niche

A major visibility tactic is to be consistent with your Instagram SEO practices. The more you follow the best practices, the more the algorithm will learn what your account is about. You’ll be teaching Instagram who you are and what you offer – which means your profile and content will be served to relevant users as they browse the app.

By maintaining a consistent SEO message about your brand, you’ll be reaping the rewards of increased discovery and reach in no time!

With just a couple of tweaks and improvements, you can easily take advantage of Instagram searches and suggested posts.