Since its launch in October 2010, Instagram has rapidly grown to become one of the most important digital marketing platforms. Today, most major brands realize the importance of establishing an Instagram presence. The intense competition has ensured that getting the desired traffic on a business page is a challenging task. The Instagram algorithm is constantly evolving, and this makes things difficult for marketing professionals.
In such a noisy social media environment, it requires detailed strategizing to leverage the true potential of the Instagram business. If you are keen to drive organic traffic to your brand page and improve your discoverability on the platform, you need to focus on SEO optimization. In this article, we will discuss tips on Instagram SEO.
Leverage Instagram Video
Video is the most absorbing form of digital content, and Instagram provides you ample opportunities to leverage the power of video. If your video is less than 30 seconds long, you can post it in your Instagram feed. Alternatively, you can post longer videos on IGTV and share the same as your Instagram story or feed post.
IGTV videos are an excellent opportunity for brands to attract new customers. Since you have the luxury of posting longer videos, you will be able to convey the brand message more effectively. While sharing the IGTV video on Instagram, you need to realize that the user is shown a 15-second preview of the video wherein they take a call on whether to ‘Continue Watching’.
To ensure that most viewers tap on this option, focus on creating engaging content in the preview section. Leaving the viewer on a cliff-hanger is another approach that you can choose. IGTV videos need titles. For the best SEO results, try to come up with engaging titles that have keywords in the initial part.
You can also consider incorporating keywords in the caption of the video where you mention the key highlights of the video in bullet points. Instagram allows you to add as many as 30 hashtags to your image or video posts, and the appropriate choice of hashtags will help your video reach the target group.
Optimize Your Profile
Irrespective of how great your Instagram content is, it is likely to go unnoticed if you do not optimize your profile. Start with the basics and ensure that your profile is public. Next, check the profile image to ensure that it is clear and attractive. If you have a brand logo or any specific brand colors, it is a good idea to incorporate that in your profile picture.
While deciding on the Instagram username, your focus should be on ensuring that it is easily recognizable and brand appropriate. In the bio section, you can add a link to your brand website or a specific landing page on the website.
While designing your Instagram business page, proofread the content to ensure that it is free from any spelling or grammatical errors. Make sure that none of your posts or comments violate Instagram’s community guidelines. A small miss in this regard may be a cause of major embarrassment in the days to come.
Make the Most of Hashtags
Treating hashtags as mere afterthoughts is a common mistake made by many amateur marketers. To make the most of your Instagram initiatives, you need to work on the Instagram SEO targets of your uploaded content. This means that you need to dedicate your efforts to researching the appropriate hashtags.
Treating hashtags as mere afterthoughts is a common mistake made by many amateur marketers. To make the most of your Instagram initiatives, you need to work on the Instagram SEO targets of your uploaded content. This means that you need to dedicate your efforts to researching the appropriate hashtags.
The research should be carried out, keeping its relevance to the post and the hashtag’s popularity on Instagram as the primary metrics. Understand that hashtags are like secondary keywords for your Instagram posts, and their careless usage will cause your post to get lost in a sea of social media content. You don’t need to update 30 hashtags in every Instagram post, and under no circumstance should you consider uploading a hashtag that is not relevant to your post.
Use Secondary Keywords in Your Captions
If you allow an Instagram post to go by without a caption, you are losing out on some major marketing opportunities. Scroll through your competitors’ Instagram pages to identify witty, creative, or thought-provoking captions to the posts. Then, brainstorm your way into adding such original captions for your Instagram posts.
It is a good practice to add secondary keywords to the caption as your IGTV video title will already have the primary keyword. If you are uploading the image or video directly on your feed, then you can use the primary keyword in the caption section. Ideally, the caption to your posts should be such that it connects the ideas and helps the post fit into the larger scheme of things (aka your brand’s Instagram feed). The role of captions in enabling continuity is especially important when you are making a carousel Instagram post.
Make the Most of Alt Text
Alt-text is a unique Instagram feature wherein you describe your image in detail, and the app reads it aloud with the help of a screen reader. Originally, this feature was launched to help visually challenged Instagram users make the most of this platform.
However, this feature also helps Instagram understand the contents of an image. That way, the app’s algorithm can ensure that the image comes up in the feed of people who are looking for similar content. The algorithm of the platform is such that Instagram automatically generates alt texts for any photo that you upload.
You need to edit this section to ensure that the description is detailed. To do that, click on the ‘Advanced settings’ option at the bottom of the screen that comes just before you share a post. A popup will open where you can select ‘Write alt text’ and type in the contents before you tap on the ‘Save’ option.
With the Instagram video editor, you can come up with high-quality video content that will strike a chord with the audience. The tips discussed above will enable you to SEO optimize your post so that it reaches the target group.