Want to grow your personal brand and become an influencer on social media? Or are you hoping to promote your business via social networks? One way or another, Instagram can be a powerful marketing tool that pays off your effort, though getting started with it can feel rather confusing.
Probably the toughest part of getting out there and growing your following is ensuring good visibility among millions of accounts. This might feel like an impossible task for a beginner. But there is a way to pave your way to success—do it like influencers do!
The majority of popular bloggers have achieved their current status thanks to consistent SEO Instagram efforts. In this guide, we’ll tell you what it’s made of and how you can recreate their paths and achieve visibility!
What Is Instagram SEO?
Instagram SEO mimics the traditional search engine optimization approach but without the “search engine” part. It’s a tactic aimed at discoverability. It’s about optimizing your profile and all publications so that they are easy to find for the audience.
The purpose? It may not be a basic strategy for running your social media accounts. But it’s essential if you are interested in how to get more followers on Instagram. Optimization makes people find you in search more easily—so, more visibility, more engagement, and, hopefully, more followers.
How the Instagram Algorithm Works
Algorithms shape the platform’s heart. They dictate what content people see in recommendations and searches. And creators can use them to amplify their efforts and stand out from the pack.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, provides a clear explanation of how search works to help creators achieve greater results. There are three core signals affecting rankings:
- Text in search—Algorithms look at keywords users enter in the search bar to understand what they are currently looking for and what intent they have.
- Past activity on the platform—The algorithm analyzes past interactions, such as comments, saves, likes, sends, and so on, to see what a particular user might be interested in.
- Information about the results—Algorithms match the info from your profile to user intent and query. Additionally, they assess your popularity and engagement rates to decide whether to show you higher or lower in search. Respectively, your rankings grow in progression with the number of followers and engagement.
Based on these three signals, the platform decides what you see. And it works pretty well in 2025. For example, if your feed looks like a fashion runway, chances are that you follow models and fashion brands, regularly consume fashion-related content, follow relevant hashtags, etc.
According to Adam, there are three primary tactics to hack search algorithms and get noticed:
- Optimize your handle and profile name for being relevant to what you do.
- Insert the right keywords and locations in your bio. Algorithms look at the bio to index results, so keywords must match the intent and interests of your target audience.
- Add keywords and hashtags in captions thoughtfully. They tell algorithms what your content is about for more accurate matching to users’ needs.
Is there anything else? In fact, yes. In 2025, an important thing to know is that the algorithm is different for each part of the app. That is, there are separate indexing and ranking systems for the feed and search, as well as for recommendations.
7 Growth Steps in SEO for Instagram
1. Create a Handle & Profile Name
Optimization begins with small, yet most prominent things—the account’s handle and name. The first one is the login name, which is placed at the very top of your page. The next one is the full name of your profile, placed under your main picture.
You need to come up with a handle that’s easy to read and memorable. Feel free to use dots and underscores to separate words for readability. Then you need to create a profile name that also aligns. If you are a blogger, it can be your real name or a pseudonym. For example, Adam Mosseri uses his full name for his profile and just his last name, “Mosseri,” for his handle. You can also integrate your primary keyword in these elements.
2. Optimize Your Bio
Before moving to this step, conduct in-depth research to detect the best keywords for Instagram. You can make this process straightforward with the right marketing tools. Find them on platforms like Top 10 SEO Software that review, compare, and evaluate different tools. There, you can find handy keyword research, analytics, SEO backlink tools, and much more.
Write a bio that details who you are. Feel free to write whatever fits your personal brand, and integrate your target queries.
In case you are wondering how to use keywords on Instagram, the 2 main rules are: 1) make them fit naturally, and 2) bring value rather than doing keyword stuffing.
3. Write Your Captions Wisely
Whenever you publish a picture, Reel, or carousel, you need to add some captions. These are needed to draw attention and engage the audience. But they are also handy for SEO.
Here’s how to craft killer captions step by step:
- Detect the right tone of voice that will resonate with your audience. It can be casual and fun if you’re focused on entertaining content. If you are a brand or an industry expert, it can also be more formal, etc. Ideally, conduct audience and competitor research to find the right tone.
- Create detailed content guidelines. It should help you adhere to the same tone across all publications.
- Inside the caption, provide a brief explanation of your publication and deliver value. Just like you need expert content for your website, it helps to establish yourself as a credible expert in your niche on social media, too. This will increase your trust level and help you grow faster. So, focus on value and quality first.
- Integrate your target keywords naturally.
4. Leverage Alt Text
Alt text is a crucial accessibility feature. It ensures that screen readers can read the description of your image to users with visual impairments. Add it to boost user experience and expand your influence. And don’t forget to integrate keywords naturally in your alt text to help algorithms learn more about your content and rank it higher.
5. Don’t Forget Hashtags
Many people overlook this thing in their SEO Instagram efforts. Indeed, hashtags come from the time when it all started. Respectively, many people feel like they are quite outdated today. But they still work.
Hashtags are similar to keywords. They also help users find relevant content more easily, and they are also clickable, which simplifies search. Another reason to continue using them in your strategy—there is a separate search tab that lets people look for hashtag-linked content, in particular. Thus, using them can help you become visible both in standard search and hashtag-based search, which means greater discoverability.
To do this, start inserting hashtags relevant to you and your content when creating a publication. Pay attention to the reach volume of each hashtag to pick the ones that will help you become more visible.
6. Leverage Location Tagging
Location tag, among other details, is one of the things from your bio that algorithms use to rank you. Adding it is important for local discovery and driving audiences from specific countries. So don’t hesitate to add your location to a bio.
Also, use location tags when doing SEO for Instagram Reels and other publication types. This will help you get even more visible in the local community. And it might be especially important if you plan to promote your own products or services within a specific area.
7. Focus on Engagement
As you already know, the popularity of your account directly impacts rankings. So if you are looking for an instant algorithm trigger, focus on engaging the audience and growing your following. Basically, there are three components of this:
- Publish regularly and be active;
- Deliver value to your audience;
- Embrace the most promoted content formats, such as Reels and carousels.
Also, consider how you use different formats. A social media expert, Lucas O’Keefe, recommends leveraging Reels for trends, storytelling, entertainment, and explainer videos. Carousels, in turn, are great for tutorials, case studies, how-tos, and photo dumps.
Conclusion
Instagram SEO is a marketing tool influencers and businesses use to become visible and grow their following. When you optimize your profile for it, Instagram algorithms will find it easier to index and rank it in search. More people will be able to see your content.
Now, with this article, you have a step-by-step guide to success. Use the optimization tips we shared with you here, and don’t forget about continuous analytics and improvement for securing the best output.