Instagram for businesses: SEO and visibility



Instagram and SEO have been oxymoronic for quite a while. Even now, most social media users relate Instagram with pictures and flashy filters. Search engine optimization is not new for Instagram, but it is underrated.Today, we are here to find out how you can use Instagram for SEO and social media marketing. Instagram provides a great user experience based on hashtag search, location, and user based searches. 

Why Instagram?

Google is already showing their preference for mobile websites. Your Instagram presence will have a positive impact on your search engine rankings. This will contribute to high organic traffic and more revenue too.Successful and struggling businesses are saturating Facebook. They keyword system in Facebook is not as rewarding as Instagram. Facebook helps new businesses find a dedicated audience. However, Instagram offers quicker responses thanks to less niche competition and easy filtering (hashtag) systems.

Instagram presence affects your SERP

Think of Instagram as a search engine. If you search for a celebrity like Beyoncé or Emma Watson, their Instagram profiles rank within the first ten search results. In fact, Emma Watson has her Instagram profile sandwiched between her Twitter and Biography.com profiles on the Google SERP.

Search engines drive traffic to social media sites, even though most of these social networking options come as native apps. This is why; you need to be sure about your Instagram presence. Once you start thinking like a user, you can fully optimize your profile for search engines and garner more followers for Instagram.

What do most Instagram users search for?

  1. Name or username
  2. Places
  3. Products and brands
  4. Hashtags

How to start Instagram SEO?

Having too many platforms and too little management is never an option. You need a well-fed social ecosystem for thriving on search results. Your website content needs careful winnowing and rearranging if you want to publish on Instagram with panache.

Start with a simple profile. Include your business name or featured product name on your profile name. Include all live links to relevant places and a current logo.

How to do keyword research for Instagram SEO?

Keywords for Instagram are hashtags. All you need to do is add a “#” in front of your target keywords. These are powerful guiding systems for users who are looking for specific products, blogs, pictures or profiles. The correct use of “#” will bring you increased search volumes.

You may not have a Google Keyword Planner for Instagram; you do have some hashtag suggestion tools. Websta offers an excellent collection of the latest trending hashtags that will rock your Instagram profile.

Capitalize user-generated content

Instagram’s most significant advantage is user generated content. You can hold contests for prizes. This is an excellent way to populate your profile and become more visible on Instagram. According to SEO guru, Neil Patel, "Adding prize money to a contest can take your business profile to great lengths." He has confessed using giveaways to score more than a couple of thousand followers on social media.

Instagram is fertile ground for user-generated content since it makes use of the “Selfie fever." You can ask people to submit images based on a theme. The images your creative team selects will get the prize money. Do not forget to ask competitors to tag the images with given keywords (preferably a theme, business name, product name, and name of the contest).

When you do not have time

If you do not have a dedicated social media management team or you simply do not have the time, you can buy a ready-to-use Instagram account. This idea comes from KISSmetrics. The blog mentions the rise of tailor-made Instagram accounts. These accounts have their followership. 

This is a unique solution to a persisting problem. To fully enjoy the benefits of a ready-to-use account –

  1. Make sure your audience is right
  2. Verify that the account belongs to your niche
  3. The name of the account should work for your business

The third point is of particular importance. When Neil Patel bought a ready-made account with about 131,000 followers, he was quite content with the traction. Then he changed the name of the profile and dropped about 110,000 followers in a fortnight. Followers stay for a brand name and products. Once you change the name of your profile, you end up raising red flags that cause your followers to drop out.

However, getting your hands on a profile with 20,000 followers on board is still better than starting an account and garnering audience from scratch.

Instagram followers love a bit of sugar now and then. They love to shop, and they love attention. For creating the most faithful battalion of followers, bedazzle your presence on this social media platform.

Author bio:Harris is a leading blog writer and content marketing professional with thousands of real Instagram followers for his postings.


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