What Is Instagram SEO?
Instagram SEO is the process of optimizing your Instagram profile and content to help more people discover you throughout Instagram.
This means taking a variety of actions to improve your Instagram presence helps you show up in places like users’ feeds, Explore, Reels, and Instagram’s search results—without having to pay for ads.
For example, if someone types “interior design” in the Instagram search bar, they may see results for different profiles, captions, and/or hashtags.
Many of the actions you take to improve your visibility on Instagram can also improve your visibility on traditional search engines like Google.
To make the most of Instagram SEO, it’s important to understand how it works and how Instagram decides what content to show in search results.
How Does SEO for Instagram Work?
SEO on Instagram involves algorithms designed to connect you with users who are interested in businesses like yours and/or the types of content you create.
According to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, the platform uses three main factors to decide what appears in search results:
- Search text: The most important factor is the keywords people type in the search bar. Instagram matches these keywords with usernames, bios, captions, hashtags, and locations.
- User activity: Instagram personalizes results based on the accounts users follow, posts they’ve viewed, and their past interactions (likes, comments, and shares)
- Post popularity: Posts, accounts, or hashtags with a lot of likes, comments, shares, and follows are more likely to appear higher in search results
Explore, Reels, Stories, and feeds all have their own ranking signals. They’re mostly influenced by the user, but your brand’s overall engagement levels and content-specific engagement can also affect whether you appear in these places.
How to Increase Visibility on Instagram and Google
Many Instagram SEO techniques are helpful for Google SEO as well—like using relevant keywords.
Let’s go over some Instagram SEO tips that can help you reach your target audience.
1. Optimize Your Profile with Keywords
Instagram considers keywords used in key areas like your handle, profile name, and bio because it helps the platform understand what your account is about.
For example, if someone searches for “fitness coach london,” the top profiles often include keywords like “Coach,” “Fitness Coach,” and “London.”
Using keywords in this way can also improve your visibility in Google search results. Particularly for branded searches.
Like this:
You should choose keywords that reflect your business, niche, and possibly your location.
For example:
- Business type: If you’re a baker, include terms like “Bakery” or “Custom Cakes”
- Niche: Highlight your specialty, like “Vegan Recipes” or “Yoga for Beginners”
- Location: Add your city or area if you’re targeting a local audience. For example, “New York Photographer” or “Toronto Personal Trainer.”
By selecting specific keywords that describe what you do, you’ll make it easier for people searching for relevant businesses to find your profile.
2. Add Keywords to Your Captions and Hashtags
Adding relevant keywords to your captions helps Instagram understand your content and increases your chances of appearing in search results and possibly other areas in the app—depending on the user’s interests and your own engagement signals.
Using keywords in hashtags can also be helpful, but mostly because they help the platform categorize your content and connect it with users searching for specific topics.
You can find the right keywords to use by:
- Looking at your competitors: Check the captions of accounts in your niche to see what keywords they use and which posts perform well in terms of engagement
- Using Instagram’s search bar: Type a topic (e.g., “home workouts”) into the search bar and look at the suggested terms, profiles, and hashtags to find popular keywords. Use the “Tags” tab for more detailed information on hashtags.
To streamline the process, use Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool to identify relevant keywords in your niche.
For example, if you enter a seed keyword (a broad term related to your niche) into the tool, you’ll get a list of potentially relevant keywords.
The “Volume” column shows the average number of searches the terms get on Google each month. And the “Trend” column shows how interest changes over time (e.g., if it’s a seasonal term).
While search volumes may differ for these terms on Instagram, keep in mind that using keywords thoughtfully in your content can also help you appear in Google results.
These terms can inspire your hashtags as well.
As for how to use hashtags, Instagram's creator community account recommends that you:
- Focus on three to five relevant hashtags instead of overloading your posts
- Include a mix of broad hashtags (e.g., #Fitness) and niche-specific ones (e.g., #FitnessCoachLondon)
- Place hashtags in the caption rather than the comments for better recognition by Instagram’s algorithm
3. Add Subtitles to Your Videos
Subtitles make your Reels easier for users to watch without sound, and they also let you include keywords that can grab users’ attention as they’re scrolling.
While subtitles don’t directly increase views, they can increase likes, comments, and shares by making your videos more engaging and accessible.
This extra interaction can help your content reach more people over time.
Here’s how to add subtitles on Instagram:
- First, create a Reel and tap the sticker icon
- Then, select “Captions,” and Instagram will automatically generate subtitles
- Review the subtitles and edit them for accuracy (by tapping on the text) to make sure it matches your content
Instagram's auto-generated subtitles are a good starting point. But you can use apps like CapCut or Veed.io if you want more customization.
These apps allow you to choose fonts, colors, and animations to make your subtitles visually appealing and more aligned with your brand.
4. Write Alt Text for Your Posts
Alternative text (usually called alt text) is a short description of an image or video explaining what it’s showing, which is useful for making your content accessible to visually impaired users and helping your content appear in Google.
Here’s an example of how a post can appear in Google’s image results:
Writing keyword-rich alt text is the best way to increase your visibility on Google.
To add alt text on Instagram:
- Select a post you want to edit, click the three dots in the upper corner, and select “Edit”
- Then, select “Edit Alt Text.”
- Add your copy and save it
When writing alt text, remember to be concise (no more than 125 characters) and specific (e.g., "Woman in yoga clothes doing a downward dog pose on a beach at sunset").
5. Maintain a Consistent Theme
Posting content that focuses on a specific theme can help you grow brand awareness and build a following that’s more likely to engage—which can lead to better visibility within Instagram.
For example, Etsy uses a fairly neutral palette, lots of natural light, and focuses on creators’ work:
As users become familiar with Etsy’s Instagram content, they’ll be more likely to recognize that it belongs to Etsy when they see it throughout the platform. And they might be more inclined to interact with that content.
As your posts get more engagement, Instagram may recommend your content to even more people.
Further reading: How to Create a Social Media Content Strategy
6. Post at the Right Times
While Instagram doesn’t display content based solely on when it was uploaded, posting when your followers are most active could help you get more likes, comments, and shares.
That engagement tells Instagram’s algorithm that your content is valuable, making it more likely to appear elsewhere.
According to research from CoSchedule, the best and worst times, hours, and days for businesses to post on Instagram are:
- Best times: 9:01 a.m., 7:59 p.m., 9 a.m., 8 p.m., and 7:59 a.m.
- Best hours: 9 a.m., 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 p.m., and 3 p.m.
- Worst hours: 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 11 p.m., and 5 a.m.
- Best days: Wednesdays, Fridays, and Tuesdays
- Worst days: Sundays, Saturdays, and Thursdays
Just know that the ideal posting time depends on your audience and niche, so it's key to experiment and analyze your engagement.
You can start gaining information via your Instagram account.
Go to your profile and choose “Professional dashboard.”
Select “Total followers.”
Scroll to the section called “Most active times” to see when your followers are most likely to engage. So you can schedule posts at the right times.
If you don’t have access to Instagram’s Insights (which requires 100+ followers), use the Social Analytics tool within Semrush Social to analyze when your audience is most active.
This tool also tells you more about your followers’ demographics, so you can cater your content to them.
Plus, the app lets you use Social Poster to create and schedule your content. And Social Tracker to benchmark your performance against competitors.
7. Avoid Watermarks on Your Reels
Instagram says that Reels with visible watermarks from other platforms are less likely to appear in recommendations or on the Explore page (they prefer to prioritize content that feels native), so it’s best to omit them.
This is easy to do if you create content within Instagram or use a paid editing tool that doesn’t require a watermark.
If you’re repurposing your own content from platforms like TikTok, use tools such as CapCut to remove watermarks before uploading to Instagram.
Keep in mind that Mosseri notes using third-party tools to create content won’t negatively affect your reach as long as the final version uploaded to Instagram is watermark-free.
8. Prioritize Engagement with Your Audience
Doing what you can to improve engagement can boost your content’s visibility and performance on Instagram.
After all, how often people see your posts depends in part on how much they and others have interacted with you and your content.
Here are some tips from Instagram on ways to increase engagement:
- Create relatable and authentic content: Grab users’ attention in the first three seconds
- Use high-quality visuals: Post videos with the best resolution possible to make your content look professional
- Tag strategically: Add location tags and use popular formats like Reels to help more people find your content
- Focus on your niche: Use trending audio and hashtags that match your audience’s interests
- Encourage interaction: Ask questions, create polls, and respond to comments to prompt engagement
Further reading: 15+ Ways to Get More Followers on Instagram
Start Posting Optimized Instagram Content
Remember, Instagram SEO is a long-term play. And by implementing the above tips, you can steadily increase your reach and engagement over time.
To simplify the process, use Semrush Social to manage your content, track your results, and keep an eye on your competitors.
Try it today.