Businesses on Instagram may not have an SEO specialist, but they implement search engine optimization (SEO) intuitively. Moreover, SEO is a number one concern for those who want to win the race for attention and representation. But what about how to get Instagram followers using SEO tricks? Here is a checklist of tips for you! But first, let us learn more about the system.

Instagram SEO Peculiarities: What Does Instagram Appreciate?

Instagram search works similarly to Google’s: You enter a keyword (or a hashtag), and the system suggests the most suitable content. The only distinction is that there is no intermediate page with web results. 

Instagram’s system is most attentive to three constituents determining if your content deserves to be in the top 10 rankings. And here are those factors:

• Relevance – That is the most influential component! The more relevant your content to a particular inquiry is, the higher your chances of popping up on top are.
• User activity stats – Suppose you have published a post about makeup, and that post has 20K likes and 5K comments. A resembling piece of news from another user has 19K likes and 4K comments. Instagram’s system will “think” that your publication is better and will show it first.
• Account’s popularity overall – Sometimes there are waves of content under one hashtag. Of course, that turns everything into a race for the system’s appreciation. Instagram is likelier to prioritize pages with constant social activity and better stats.

The Instagram SEO Tricks To Boost Your Business

You have already understood what Instagram demands. And knowing the rules adds to more specific planning! So, here is an Instagram SEO checklist for your ease.

1. Listen, Listen and Listen Again

Social media listening is more like a separate science, not a mere trick. Apps for that purpose also have social customer care tools and novel systems to track, pinpoint, analyze and enhance your Instagram performance. All that contributes to you making more an informed decision about what step to take next. But if you have no intention of purchasing a social media monitoring tool, you can also do it yourself!

“Yourself” means you must set up Google Alerts for your brand name, competitors’ names, industry news and related keywords. Then, save all the information in a separate document. Sure, it will take some time to comprehend and learn how to use Google Alerts. But this is how you can stay in touch with what happens in your industry and learn about changes.

You will conduct social media listening even without a tool. Yet again, it might be an intuitive process for you and, regardless of the method, remember that your business needs information about:

• Sentiment, or the ratio of negative and positive posts concerning your brand
  
• Volume, or the number of mentions
  
• Your brand’s reputation
  
• Local and foreign reach extents
  
• Competitors’ names, plans and techniques
  
• Industry news
  
• Related keywords and most significant hashtags
  

2. Write Concise Captions With at Least Three Keywords

Hashtags remain significant, but that does not mean you can ignore captions. Moreover, there is a keyword search in the app, and many people use it. So, analyze the most popular materials of your niche to fish out the most-used keywords.

Remember that there must be balance! Your captions should not consist of keyword spam. There must still be a readable sentence with a relevant semantic load.

3. Add Keywords to Your Profile Name and Bio

This significant Instagram SEO step can affect your profile’s position in search results. If you want to be easily found, add related keywords to both places! But, of course, it must still look appealing and trustworthy for your followers and potential customers or partners.

You may also use hashtags in the bio. Yet note that you might have to change all that when the niche trend switches to something else. Sure, those alterations will be minimal. Still, do not forget to refresh your keywords and hashtags systematically.

4. Your Post Can Have Up to 25 Relevant Hashtags

If you have a business account, hashtags are 100 percent obligatory. That is compulsory for all your posts unless you are a niche celebrity. Moreover, all those hashtags must correspond to what you do in different aspects. So, there must be:

• Narrowly focused hashtags – Those hashtags explain your current post with maximum specifics. Those might be a bit complex and consist of up to three words. For instance, you present your brand at an event. Suppose it is a series-related craft piece, and you are at a media festival. Your narrowly focused hashtag will look like #festivalnamecity/country2022 (#sandiegocomiccon2022). Plus, you can add a narrowly focused tag for your creation. If your piece has a Game of Thrones aesthetics, include that component too!
• General hashtags – Those explain what you generally do. General hashtags usually consist of two words and have the biggest volumes. Continuing the craft story, you may use simple hashtags like #craft, #art and #papercraft (depending on what you use, of course).
• Alternative hashtags – So, you have added hashtags like #thisismyhashtag, but why not add the same one in alternative forms? Many people use extra symbols when searching for content. So, take your hashtag and break it up like this: #this_is_my_hashtag. They may come near each other and will not hinder the post. But now you also have more chances to attract people who enter the tag in their manner!

You may add up to thirty hashtags, but twenty-five usually suffices. It’s also not recommended to create a 50×50 canvas with them. Users who visit your Instagram page look at the pic for two seconds and scroll. If they open the caption and see only tags, they might get irritated immediately.

5. Write Alt Texts for All Posts

Advanced settings allow users to create alt texts. Those details are usually invisible to casual observers. Yet, they become indispensable when technical issues and photos do not load. So, users see the alt text instead of pictures and still do not miss your content. So, why not optimize those texts for SEO?

Extra Tip: Consistency Is Not Even a Tip

Though this guide is about SEO, we still should mention what influences the Instagram search position on a broader scale. It is vital to be consistent in both post frequency and quality. If you upload once a week and once every two days, that will send mixed signals to the algorithm! So, better stick to a chosen posting schedule.

The same goes for quality. If you regularly post high-quality masterpieces and then switch to reposts from the Internet, that will also look suspicious – don’t neglect either side of the medal!

Conclusion

SEO is a must, and there is no debate in 2022 about how necessary it is. You have already been doing SEO work. But now, you have a checklist for more specific task formulation that should help you gain more followers and engagement!