Whenever you listen to the word “Instagram”, what comes first in your mind? Posting? Chatting? Stories? And, what else? But, little do you know about Instagram being one of the most popular tools to enhance the digital presence of a brand too. Instagram is much more than random scrolling and chatting. This social media platform has been a go-to tool for strong presence of numerous brands all over the world.
According to HubSpot, in 2019, there were more than one billion active monthly Instagram users all over the world. And with the numbers rising every day, Instagram is undeniably the best platform to boost your online presence.
But, how do you ensure a high reach of your content on Instagram? Obviously, like you, thousands and millions of users are striving to create a strong Instagram presence. So, how do you stand out? A simple answer is Instagram SEO.
Have a look at some tips which can help you out in boosting your digital presence on Instagram.
1. Avoid Black Hat SEO: We understand that if your posts don’t get much engagement and results even after following an efficient strategy and being patient, you tend to think of implementing the illegal ways and yield the quick results. But, the results from these tactics are temporary.
You need to know, Instagram algorithm is entirely intolerant towards activities like spams. Thus, ensure you don’t follow any Black Hat SEO tactics by any means. It can severely degrade your reach on Instagram. And, once down, increasing the reach will be a tough nut to crack.
2. Crisp & Clear Captions: Captions define your post. To avoid any sort of disengagement, ensure you write a crisp, easy to understand, and an extremely clear caption.
Remember, even a slight disengagement from your post will turn off the user from your post and will significantly impact your campaign. Ensure you use relevant keywords in your captions. Your caption must make the users understand your post to the fullest.
Avoid writing an awfully long caption. No one likes to read a caption which is long and tiring to read. Remember, you are writing a caption and not a blog. Keep a short or a medium sized caption. Writing a crisp & clear caption can actually boost your reach to a great extent. Also, don’t hesitate to start your caption with a short quote. It will create a positive impact on the reader’s mind.
3. Effective Use of Hashtags: The most effective use of your keywords has to be in the hashtags you use. Whenever a user searches for a keyword, your posts will pop up with the hashtag. The users are allowed to use a maximum of 30 hashtags with a post. Onus is on you to decide the most effective hashtag to ensure the maximum reach of your post.
But, it might be your point to know, you might require a huge engagement if you wish Instagram to rank your hashtags. Thus, the success of your hashtag is directly proportional to the amount of engagement you get.
4. Alt Text: Like WordPress website, the option to insert Alt Text is available on Instagram too. If you insert the Alt Text, Instagram will read out the same if any visually impaired user is using the app.
Using the Alt Text will enhance the user experience to a great extent. To insert the Alt Text of an image, perform the following steps:
A. Before you post, hit the Advanced Setting option.
B. Then, click “write alt text”.
C. Submit the alt text and click the Save button.
D. After you are done with it, submit your post.
5. Analyze Results: Like web SEO, the Instagram SEO is also an evolving thing. You need to keep checking on the results at the regular intervals to ensure your efforts are paying off.
Analyzing the results at the regular intervals will give you insights on what you need to do to yield the desired results. And, if you are working to boost the digital presence of your brand, we recommend your account to be a business one. Having a business account will give you an option to check the progress of your digital presence on an analytics tool.
Also, don’t hesitate to change your tactics if you feel your efforts are not paying off. Experimenting new things is always a flexibility with Instagram. But, don’t go with the Black Hat SEO at all. It can disrupt your digital presence forever.
6. Your Profile: Optimizing your profile plays an important role in inviting a large amount of traffic. You can follow the tricks like keeping your profile public (business account), an attractive profile image, and creating a relevant and inviting username. Also, use both, the primary and secondary keywords in your bio effectively.
Instagram SEO Benefits
But, why do I even need Instagram to make my online presence strong? Why is a website alone not sufficient at all? And, most importantly, even if I create an Instagram page, why do I need to invest my sweat behind Instagram SEO? The answers to these questions lie below. Have a read:
1. As mentioned before, in 2019, there were more than one billion active monthly users on Instagram. Thus, we have to believe, among all the social media platforms, Instagram is worth investing sweat and time at.
2. Instagram allows you to be more creative. You need not copy anyone or keep on analyzing anyone to yield the results. Instagram is extremely flexible in terms of the SEO strategy you follow. Plan and execute your own strategy and follow it in an efficient way to get the results.
3. If your SEO approach works out, you can stay ensured of a very wide reach and engagement.
4. The customers are able to find you faster on Instagram due to a very efficient Instagram algorithm. Thus, just a search related to the keyword of your page may lead them to visit your profile.
5. Instagram is a fun tool to use. The easy to use interface makes it easy for even newbies to ensure they are able to promote their business and get some fun simultaneously. After all, who doesn’t like to post pictures and videos on Instagram? Thus, you need not invest any extra efforts to make your online presence on Instagram strong.
We hope this clears your doubts regarding Instagram SEO. Also, you might be clear with the importance that Instagram SEO comes with. To devise a strong strategy for your business, do reach out to Pat’s Marketing, Toronto SEO Agency at 888-488-7287 (toll free).
