Instagram started as a fun way to share photos with friends, but it quickly grew into a serious marketing tool.
But how can you make your profile stand out and entice followers in a sea of content?
More and more people are using Instagram as a search engine, therefore it’s important to know how to optimise your profile for maximum exposure.
Insights about Instagram’s Algorithm vs. SEO
Although they are separate ideas, they work together to determine your content’s fate and how it is presented on the site.
To sum it up, the Instagram algorithm prioritises users’ interests, the platform’s interaction history, and the quality of user-generated material to serve as recommendations to users.
The algorithm basically makes an effort to guess what kind of material a user would find interesting and engaging, and then displays that stuff to them.
Here are 7 tips to make the most of Instagram.
1. Instagram search engine optimisation
Instagram’s search algorithm reads through users’ handles and bios to find the accounts that best match a user’s query and then displays those accounts to the user.
Instagram employs a number of signals based on your query to provide the profiles that are most likely to be of interest to you. Accounts you follow, accounts you’re linked to, and posts you’ve liked all have a role in how relevant search results are to you.
Instagram users are more likely to see your profile in search results if your username and profile name contain terms relating to your expertise or business.
2. Using keywords to optimise Instagram captions
After you’ve perfected your Instagram page, it’s time to turn your attention to your posts.
You may increase your Instagram profile’s visibility by optimising your captions for specific keywords.
While hashtags and geotags are the sole ways to search the Explore tab, Instagram’s algorithm recommends content based on a user’s preferences and behaviour.
Instagram also scans for related accounts based on shared terms in their captions. To get more attention, you should use keywords and descriptive language in your captions that relate to the content of your account.
3. Use hashtags as keywords to improve Instagram search engine optimisation.
It’s crucial to have a consistent hashtag approach for all of your Instagram posts because very few users will really go to the trouble of searching for you.
These hashtags, which might include your brand name and relevant terms, should be thought of as supplementary keywords.
When promoting its ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s utilise the hashtags #benandjerrys and #icecream on social media. Related hashtags to the image’s subject matter are also included in the posts, such as #raspberrycheesecake and #cheesecake.
4. Emphasise Highlights and Stories
You may increase your audience engagement, brand awareness, and search engine optimisation by using Instagram’s Story and Highlight features.
First, they let you communicate with your target audience in novel ways. You can get more people to interact with your material and boost your profile’s exposure by making use of polls, questions, and quizzes.
In addition, you may promote your business and draw attention to certain offerings by highlighting them in Stories and Highlights. Both brand recognition and website visits can benefit from this.
Your Stories and Highlights will rank higher in search results if you use relevant hashtags, location tags, and mentions.
5. Interact with popular websites that are already ranking for your keywords
Engaging with popular accounts for your target keywords will help Instagram determine which audience segment you fall into.
It’s also a great method to get more people to interact with your posts, which is crucial for your account’s growth in popularity.
Your personal Instagram profile’s exposure and search engine ranking will both increase if you interact with accounts that are similar to yours.
Therefore, don’t be shy about making new Instagram friends; doing so is not only recommended, but also advantageous.
6. Subtitle your Instagram videos
Video content, it is said, reigns supreme.
The quality of Instagram Reels may be greatly improved by including subtitles.
Subtitles not only increase readability, but also search engine optimisation by giving crawlers more information to work with.
You can help search engine spiders comprehend what your video is about by including targeted keywords in the video’s subtitles. As a result, your profile will rank higher on Instagram and in general web searches.
Subtitles are a breeze to add to your Reels.
When editing your Reel, pick the ‘Preview’ button, then hit the sticker sheet, choose the ‘Captions’ symbol, and your video will automatically be subtitled.
Instagram Reels subtitles may be added automatically or edited manually using free software like Kapwing or Filmora.
7. Inspire others to Instagram-tag you
You may also boost your Instagram profile’s visibility by asking your followers to tag you in their photos and videos.
People who see your postings will have the option to click over to your profile, increasing the likelihood of getting new followers.
Encourage users to tag your account in product images by offering them a chance to be featured in your own posts if they do so.
One more way to express your gratitude would be to share those images again. If you’re concerned about the visual cohesion of your feed, you may always publish such images in your Instagram stories.
Instagram’s search engine optimisation (SEO) results should be monitored.
In order to gauge the success of your Instagram marketing efforts and make educated choices about how to raise your profile’s exposure and user interaction in the future, tracking and optimising your account is essential.
Insights, reach, and impressions for individual posts may be tracked with the built-in analytics tool.
