As an online entrepreneur, you likely know that Instagram is a powerful marketing tool. But many people don’t realize that optimizing your Instagram account for SEO can make or break the success of your promotional campaigns. In this blog post, we’re dropping five tips for better Instagram SEO in 2022. Read to learn more! 

Understanding SEO for Instagram

To make the most of your Instagram account, you must focus on your Instagram SEO – there’s no way around it!. Most people associate SEO with Google (or other search engines) and are surprised that social media sites like Instagram have search functions that depend on SEO.

Have you ever…

• Gone to the Explore page and clicked on a post or account? 
• Found a new account to follow based on a suggested post in your feed?
• Connected with a new service provider or brand based on a search?

All of these happen as a result of Instagram SEO. By adequately using Instagram SEO in 2022, you can potentially gain followers, grow in community, and increase business – just by making a few tweaks to the content you already have! 

Five Tips for Improving Your Instagram SEO

1. Optimize your Instagram bio for maximum SEO benefits.
   The top Instagram SEO tip is to optimize your profile for conversions! Hootsuite recommends including one of your top keywords in your Instagram handle so that when people do a keyword search (like “copywriter” or “bakery”), your account will show up underneath the search terms. In addition, you want to make sure your Instagram bio has a keyword or two listed.

   Something to stay away from? Using funky or different fonts in your bio. Using funky characters may look cute, but Instagram won’t recognize the characters, making your content no longer searchable. Make sure to use regular text in your display name and bio for better Instagram SEO and searchable content.

2. Add alt-text to images.
   Did you know you can increase your Instagram SEO by providing a keyword-rich description of images in the image’s alt-text? This blog from Wordstream gives you step-by-step instructions. But, here’s a quick recap: just click “Advanced Settings” on the caption screen and click “Accessibility” to add your image description.

   If you don’t want to go through those steps, you can add the alt-text to the bottom of your caption (example below) – since captions are now searchable also! [image description: describe visual details of image]

Speaking of captions…

3. Use your keywords in your captions.
   This Instagram SEO tip seems like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many people don’t use any of their hard-researched keywords in the captions they are writing! Hubspot says that Instagram SEO bots will pull up relevant posts when people search for keywords, so having one or two in your caption will help you be that much more visible to potential followers.
4. Use the IG analytics tool.
   Instagram’s analytics tool only allows you to see the last 30 days of data, but keeping track of your improvements can give you a clear picture of whether or not your efforts to boost your Instagram SEO are working. Try using

   If the numbers aren’t what you want to see? Well, that tells you it’s time to re-work your Instagram SEO strategy. It’s always better to have all the information possible to make the most informed decisions about your account. 

5. Research keywords for a strong hashtag strategy.
   Here’s what NOT to do: throw a bunch of random, generic hashtags at every post and hope it works. Hashtags are a valuable tool – especially for improving your Instagram SEO – but only when used correctly. You want to make sure your Instagram SEO hashtags include keywords that people are searching for and make sure you use a mix of both general and specific keywords. It’s also a good idea to include short hashtags (like “bakery”) and longer hashtags (like “#bakeryweddingcake”).

   I try to avoid hashtags with a ton of use (over 1M posts!). I find a lot of success with smaller hashtags in the 10,000-100,000 post range. Experiment and see what works best for your page.

2022 Instagram SEO Tips

Improving your Instagram SEO in 2022 is an attainable goal. You’ve already done the hard work of creating your content with photos and captions – now you just need to tweak it to include a strong SEO strategy! If you’re curious about how to optimize your Instagram account for better SEO for your next launch, get in touch with me! 

And, of course, hang out with me on Instagram @ByMikaylaTaylor.

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