Earlier this year Adam Mosseri mentioned on the Build Your Tribe podcast that improving content based search is a priority for Instagram in 2025. Here are a few notes on what he said:

“There’s so much amazing content [on Instagram] and what we call “content search”as opposed to searching for an account, actually searching for a type of content, is not very good on Instagram. That’s not a knock on that team, that team has been small for a very long time so we’ve strengthened that team recently and I’m pretty excited about some of the ideas and improvements that are going to go out over the next few months and years.”

Later he also mentions the benefit of this for creators, that it would “allow content to resurface so you don’t get all the value in those first 24 or 48 hours”. For anyone who is using Instagram in a commercial sense, this is a huge leap forward in how Instagram search could help you content to be found more frequently, for a longer time.

As part of this movement, where social media channels act more like search engines, it’s important for brands and content creators to optimise their content to be seen in social search results pages.

In this post we’ll dig into how you can use search engine optimisation to ensure your Instagram content gets found in the, newly improving, Instagram search function. 

How does Instagram’s search ranking work? 

At current the Instagram search bar prioritises content based on a few key search ranking factors including exact keyword match, account proximity (your history of interaction with the account owner), and account popularity. Here’s a deeper look at how those three search ranking factors work: 

1. Exact keyword or phrase match

As of yet, Instagram doesn’t appear to have developed its ability to understand context other than what is obviously shown on the surface. This means that content is heavily matched to search terms based on direct keyword matches. When someone enters a search term the platform will look first and foremost for accounts that contain that search term. You can see this in action below, when I search “Kinesiologist” you can see the immediate search results are all accounts where that term is used within the account name. 

The next results under the heading “Posts” also seem to contain the word, or at least very closely related words i.e. “kinesiology”. Currently, Instagram’s ability to understand the context behind a query is limited. It also can’t analyse image content or captions deeply for synonyms or related concepts. This shows why it is so important to use the exact words and terms that match what you’re hoping to be found for in key places:

  • The account name
  • The account bio
  • The caption of the video
  • The text on screen on the video (particularly near the start or as the title screen)

2. Account proximity 

Two people could enter the exact same search term or keyword into Instagram and they would both see a different results page. The reason? Instagram considers proximity of accounts when delivering search results. This includes both geography and engagement. This means if I were to search for a “birthday cake” I’d be likely to see accounts that are near to where I live and/or accounts that have been interacted with by my friends or close contacts. 

3. Account popularity

Within search results on Instagram you will also see popular accounts higher up on the search results page. This is because the popularity of an account is another search ranking factor. Instagram looks for engagement on posts and accounts to understand if an account is popular, and therefore is more likely to surface that account in search results especially for competitive keywords. Having an account that’s verified is also said to help with this. 

How to build an SEO strategy on Instagram

To build an SEO strategy for Instagram you need to consider the keywords you want to be found for, the searches that users are making, and how you optimise your content to be found for those searches.

According to a study conducted by social media tool Hootsuite, Instagram posts optimised for SEO see 30% greater reach and twice as many likes as posts that aren’t optimised”. Here’s how you can ensure that your content and profile is optimised to be found within Instagram’s search function (particularly as this gets more refined over the next six months!). 

1. Ensure your keywords are within your account name and bio

This includes both the account name (first signal) and the bio. If you were comparing this to traditional SEO, the account name would be your site title and the bio would be your site’s meta description.

Within the account name include a clear keyword that reflects your niche for example, instead of just “Michaela” use “Michaela – Plant-Based Nutrition”. 

The bio should explain what you do and/or what people can expect from your account, with keywords included. 

Think of this as your SEO “homepage.”

2. Find relevant keywords that users are searching for

Instagram doesn’t give API access to its rich keyword function so it’s best to do keyword research in Instagram itself, in order to find the most relevant results.

Search autocomplete

Start typing a word into the Instagram search bar. Instagram will automatically suggest popular queries. These are real-time insights into what people are looking for.

For example, if you type “vegan,” you might see suggestions like “vegan recipes,” “vegan snacks,” or “vegan skincare.”

Create a keyword bank to spark content ideas

Keep a running list of all relevant keywords and phrases you discover. Use them to generate post ideas, Reels, and even captions. A keyword bank can live in a spreadsheet or a notes app. When you see a post that is “suggested” or trending in your field you can also analyse this to see which keywords it includes, then reverse engineer the same for your own content. 

Look at the top content for your terms

When you search for a keyword, Instagram shows you the most relevant content first. This is essentially Instagram’s version of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Try searching for a keyword related to your niche then see what the top posts are within the search page. 

For example, if you search “morning routine” and all the top posts are related to skincare, this tells you Instagram associates the keyword with that intent.

You can also use this to see some data on views or engagement which will give you a benchmark for how well that type of content resonates. 

3. Create search-optimised content

Now that you know what your audience is searching for, it’s time to create evergreen content for your Instagram page that links back to those topics. There are a few key things to remember when optimising your content: 

Use keywords naturally: Add them to your captions, alt text, and even on-screen text in Reels but don’t stuff them in as it may reduce the engagement of your content. You also don’t need to list keywords at the end of your post (like you would have used hashtags in the past). 

Match search intent: If someone searches “easy smoothie recipes,” they want quick, practical ideas. Your content should match that intent rather than using “easy smoothie recipes” as your post title to describe a single complex recipe that involves a café-grade juicing machine. 

Think about content types: Experiment with using Reels as part of your evergreen content strategy and carousels (supposedly the two best content types for engagment). Even within the carousel format you can experiment with different types of carousels, for example carousels with text overlaid on the images vs carousels using images with the post used to label what each image relates to. 

The goal is to create content that answers the exact needs of the user who typed in that keyword.

Where to add keywords in your Instagram content

It’s important to strategically add keywords to your content in areas such as the caption, subtitles and even audio, in order for it to be surfaced in relation to searches made within the app. 

1. Account (account handle, name)

As mentioned above, you first need to optimise at account-level for your keywords and category terms. Ensure your niche area is mentioned in your account name if it’s not already obvious in the brand name itself.

2. Bio (description, location)

Optimise your bio with keywords that share your niche, but also remember to include your location if you’re a physical business. This will help with Instagram SEO, as when a user searches “restaurants in London” your account can be surfaced if the location is already in your account name and bio.

3. Captions

The caption is very important to share the context of what an individual post is about. It’s not clear as of yet, if Instagram can understand from the post audio or subtitles what the context of a video is, so you need to optimise your caption as much as possible. Use the specific keyword your content is about at the start of the caption and then add related semantic terms.

For example, if you were creating a post teaching your audience of Mums how to style their outfits the title of the caption may be “Cool girl outfits for Mums – come this way”. The rest of the caption could describe how and why you’ve put together easy outfits / fashionable outfits / cool outfits for Mums etc.

4. Other? (Alt text, subtitles, audio)

In Instagram’s own explanation post Breaking Down How Instagram Search Works they only state “Account details, bio and captions/hashtags” as signals for how content is ranked in Explore’s search results.  

Other areas that could be signals, but likely aren’t (at least right now) are:

  • Alt text
  • Video cover photo 
  • Subtitles
  • Audio
  • Music

It certainly won’t hurt to use your keywords in those areas, but it’s far more important to ensure your bio and individual captions are optimised first.

Hopefully this has been a helpful guide on how to be found in Instagram’s search function, to ensure your content has wider reach and remains evergreen. If you have any questions, then contact us here or on Instagram.