Instagram SEO for Small Business Owners
Instagram is a free to join social media platform for individuals and businesses. While some users keep their profiles private and enjoy sharing to their feed for their friends and family, creators, sole traders and busineses can use Instagram to reach and engage with their target audience, showcase their brand and add to their social media search engine optimisation (SEO).
Instagram icon is a camera, click to head to our Instagram
With over one billion active users, it's crucial to understand how to navigate the world of Instagram effectively – especially if you’ve been out of the loop for a while.
In this blog post, we will cover the basics of Instagram, getting started on the platform, optimising your posts for better visibility and Instagram SEO, and a freebie for you to get started (or restarted) on Instagram and DIY your own social media planning and strategy.
Getting Started on Instagram
If you're new to Instagram, the first step is to download the app on your mobile device or visit Instagram.com on your laptop. You can create your account and then start your compelling profile. Follow your business branding documentation to reflect your business' identity and values.
Use a clear logo or branding photo that is consistent across your platforms for business use so your audience can recognise and trust your accounts belong to you. Use concise language for your bio – replace the word ‘and’ with ‘&’, ensure your unique business offer is there with your best link first (e.g. directly to website specials or main offer, or to your website’s links page).
Once your profile is set up, it's time to start posting content that resonates with your target audience. You can post stories, static posts, carousels and reels, so test a variety of post types to get familiar with the platform. You'll start to notice what content and types your audience resonates with, as well as content that you enjoy creating and posting.
If these different types of posts are confusing to you, you'll want to check out the freebie further below!
It's essential to work on your social media strategy and plan how your content can work towards delivering your marketing and business goals. But you also need to practice the platform if you’re going to be DIYing your content and business social media - especially if you're new around here.
Analyse trending posts and reels and consider: what makes these posts engaging, high quality in visuals and writing, and where are the calls-to-action being implemented?
See which posts and reels make you stop and engage, comment, or even follow.
And now you are beginning to analyse content and posts. So let’s optimise what is currently posted on your business socials and what is (and isn't) working for Instagram SEO.
If you don't know what's what on Instagram posts, and struggle to share a reel with a friend - you're going to want this download.
How to Optimise your Current Posts & Reels for Instagram SEO
You can edit your existing posts to do more for you. Optimising your existing Instagram posts and reels is essential to ensure maximum visibility and engagement. Our feeds aren't chronological, and social media posts are searchable too - if you have written content with it. In fact, social media posts have been appearing in Search Engine Results Pages (a.k.a. SERPs) way before 2025. It just wasn't official until then.
So optimising the keywords and written content on your social media adds to your SEO as well!
Search engines LOVE helpful, useful content like this blog post you're reading right now. And social media posts that people have saved, shared and engaged with also add to your online presence. And because it's 2026, everyone is used to high quality content -so unfortunately, blurry video and images, and hard-to-hear audio isn’t going to be helpful or engaging for your audience.
Check through your last few Instagram posts and consider:
- Is this clear and quality work to see, read, and have a call to action?
- Can you hear audio – and are subtitles added too with the Instagram captions sticker?
- Are there captions with this post/reel that people can read through?
- Add the hashtags. Just do it. The max is now 5 hashtags, so make them super relevant
Successful reels and trends will change over time – they are fun to create, but you do not have to do them everyday, or every week if they don’t match your aims for your business social media. But they are fun to watch!
The social side of social media is key to views and engagement - the strategy and planning comes in with the conversions side of social media.
Incorporate these insights into your own content strategy to improve the performance of your posts, and actually CHECK your numbers, engagement and click throughs to your links in your dashboard on Instagram. See how your content performs over time, and if something’s working really well for engagement AND your business aims – consider doing more of that. That’s a simple way to understand part of your social strategy for improving over time for your business aims.
Save Yourself Thinking of 50 Content Prompts for Your Small Business - Freebie
Use my free PDF download below to inform your Instagram strategy, as well as for blog posts, stories, and more.
This comprehensive resource is perfect for business owners new to Instagram and those who have been out of the loop for a while refresh on their post types, the anatomy of an Instagram post AND getting 50 free content prompts for your small business.
Mastering Instagram requires a combination of creativity, strategic thinking, and optimisation techniques over time. And then ensuring your Instagram SEO is on its way up is a whole 'nother task to your digital presence.
It is easy to be disheartened when content that you have put your heart and soul into creating isn’t engaging your audience – but if you don’t analyse why something isn’t working over time, and test changing little aspects to optimise further – you won’t learn why it isn’t working either.
You can also book in your free Discovery Session to discuss your business needs and the services and strategy bookings that I offer too.
By leveraging the insights from existing and current successful posts, and utilising my freebie download, you can take your Instagram presence to the next level and re-strategise your social media goals to work for you.
Start implementing these strategies today and watch your Instagram (or whichever social media platform you're working on really) thrive!
