SEO Strategies to Optimize Your Instagram Content

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:05]:
I am your host, Shannon McKinstrie. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation guesswork and overwhelm so that you can actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good content. Get ready, y'all. We are going in on SEO, keywords, hashtags. What's the difference if anything is quote unquote changed? And this episode is really to help your good content, because now that you've got good content, let's like, let's optimize it, shall we? Again, it always starts with good content, which you guys know, like, I always say, like, what I consider good content is different than what you might consider good content, right? It's just content that resonates and really speaks to people. Make sure if you are new to the podcast that you've definitely binged some other episodes, because at the end of the day, if the content's good, it's going to perform at 07:00 a.m. at 11:00 p.m.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:56]:
right? No matter what day you post it, whatever algorithm, funky or glitches are happening, it's going to go off. So yesterday, I did an Instagram live that I do every other week with my two amazing co hosts. We call it the Instagram chat, and we talked about user behavior is what's changing less than what everyone's saying. Everything else is changing. It's more. The way that we consume content has changed. We're scrolling content a little more passively than we used to because we're following more people. There's more content out there.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:22]:
And the problem is, there's a lot of good content out there. The competition is more fierce than it used to be. Everyone was blowing up during the pandemic and all this stuff. I'm like, yeah, because everyone's kind of new to it, and there were a lot of people new to the space. So you have to adapt, you have to evolve. And that's why this podcast, every week, I give you actionable tips to work right now, because what I might say in six months might be a little bit different. Because the way we're consuming content has changed. And again, not that content has changed.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:46]:
The way we consume it has changed. And that is just the fact that we're busier than ever again. There's more apps than ever. There's a lot to go into, but I won't waste your time with that. But if you even look at my reels from two, three years ago, they look different. My messaging has stayed the same for ten plus years. The tips I share are pretty much the same tips I've shared for ten years. So it's not that, it's just that you have to tweak a little bit.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:06]:
And that's why I love this podcast, because I know a lot of you are just like, Shannon, just tell me what I'm doing wrong and you're not doing anything wrong per se. It's just we have to be willing to adapt in this industry. So let me start there by saying once, you know, like this is something that's going to resonate with my people, here's how to make it stronger. Make sure you listen to any podcasts I have about specificity. I mean, I know almost every episode I mention it. But what's cool about specificity is because keywords are so essential too. It actually helps you get more specific with your on screen text and hook and things like that. So let's talk about keywords, hashtags, SEO, what the fudge does all this mean? What does it mean to you? And if anything is different than it used to be.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:44]:
So I'll first start with a little interesting week over here. A sweet follower sent me a DM from another person in my industry kind of panicking and sent this thread that the person had posted and she sent it to me. She goes, Shannon, is this true? I'm so confused. And here's the reason. I get so upset about clickbait and fear mongering and things like this, because what the person was saying is actually true. The hook itself was there to create fear. So I told the person, yes. The way hashtags kind of like work as far as reach has definitely changed.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:16]:
So let me tell you, years ago when as a social media manager, I mean, I was managing twelve Instagram accounts at one point, you know, for realtors hair salon boutique, a jewelry company, like all the things, right? I relied on hashtags big time before, especially before reels to get reach, because I would, I would be psychotic over the hashtags, right? And testing and tweaking and things like that. And you would see under your insights, hashtags, 10,000 people, right? So it would go to like 10,000 extra people. Because of hashtags, we don't see insights like that as much as we do anymore. I still look at the brewery I managed because we use a lot of local hashtags. We still get that on our static posts and stuff. It'll say like it reached maybe 200 extra people, 500 extra people. So again, even using hashtags, a few of them, what, a couple hundred extra people? That's worth it, right? So the way this person was wording it was that they've changed and hashtags have not changed. They still work the same way, they are still visible the same way.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:09]:
You still use them to search the exact same way. But the only thing that is different now is they're less so used for reach and more so used to help the algorithm categorize your content. So just like SEO, right? We didn't hear the terms SEO when it came to Instagram until a few years ago because it was basically hashtags were your SEO. Okay, which again, hashtags. We used hashtags from the beginning to categorize our content. So when people would search that hashtag, our content would come up. Same thing today.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:36]:
So again, they haven't changed. It's just we kind of rely on them for different reasons than we used to. But you still use them the same way, people still search them the same way and they still help you get discovered. So discoverability goes up and visibility goes up. When it comes to SEO. SEO is short for search engine optimization. And it's pretty clear, right? It's just optimizing your website. Like if you're going to optimize your website, you want to have a lot of keywords in there so that when someone searches your expertise, your product, you are higher ranked in Google, whatever else people use, like don't we all use Google at this point? Okay, so easy. It's simple.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:14]:
That's SEO. It's just optimizing. So how do we optimize on Instagram? We use hashtags, because we want to tell the algorithm what my content is about so that it shows it to people looking for said content because I optimize my reels, my carousels, et cetera, my bio with keywords about Instagram growth, social media marketing, whatever, right? I make sure I'm using those words everywhere I can, so that when someone is actively following or engaging with content about social media marketing, I will hopefully pop up in their explore page, reels, tab, et cetera. Okay, makes sense. So hashtags are part of SEO, keywords are part of SEO, and another big thing is your bio. So let's do the three things you need to do today. Actually, there's four, but they're simple. First thing you I want you to do right now, one of the best ways to optimize your account, your profile, is in your name field.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:03]:
If you're watching on YouTube, I'll show you exactly what I mean. Or just go to my Instagram. That is my username. Shannon McKinstrie. Correct. That's it. Shannon McKinstrie. My name Field.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:13]:
So if you go to edit profile, I want you to go to edit profile, and you will see it says name field and username. Do you see the difference? My username, that's at Shannon McKinstrie. That's my handle. But my name field, you're allowed up to 60 characters that used to be like, gosh, forgive me if I'm wrong, 2030 characters back in the day. Now we have 60. So I have Shannon McKinstrie, social media mentor, trainer, speaker. And I actually just adjusted it to strategist. But since I'm verified, they have to go through the whole process because I think people are more so searching strategists.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:41]:
So, again, test out. But I want you to think what needs to be in that name field to get you found if you're hyper local, like you're Realtor, Ocean City, Maryland, Realtor. Like, that needs to be there. What are they searching? If you are a business coach for introverts, I mean, put that right. Like, you don't have to go super specific, but what are people searching for? That's what you need there. Every single audit I do, I'm like, no one knows what that means, right? They might say, like, business architect. I'm like, that's really clever, and I'm obsessed with that. But add something else, too, so that, like, business coach and you know what I mean? Like, what are they searching for? So those are keywords.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:15]:
Okay, next place to have keywords, obviously, within your bio. But the next big place, if you're doing a reel, is to have keywords on screen. And you guys have heard me say a million times, specificity, specificity, specificity on your reels. And that's what I mean. So if your reel says POV, you live in blank and you love coffee, and you find this coffee shop in blank neighborhood that serves the best oat milk latte around. Well, chances are pretty high that that reel is going to go out to people in that area, in that neighborhood and people who like coffee. See where I'm going with this? Instead of, like, POV, you like coffee and found this coffee shop. But you know what I mean? So not only is it good for keywords and optimizing, but it's also good because it strengthens your hook. So it's a twofer.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:54]:
So onscreen text, keyword rich, Okay, so another place is in your caption. And if you look at my reel from that, I actually talk about the subject. I have the word SEO a couple times or three times.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:14]:
I have the word SEO in my caption. I also have Instagram several times. I also have reels several times. Google and on screen, I had my hook that said, your hashtag and keyword strategy to see more growth on Instagram. So there we go. Phrases. Growth on Instagram. What are people searching? What phrases are they searching? It's not just words.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:32]:
It's just not a word. It's words. It can be a word. It can be phrases. They say, what are they searching? So I have that as my hook on screen. That counts as SEO, keywords, et cetera. Next, I have my closed captions. So this is a bonus.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:47]:
I know not every single reel you do is typically talk to camera, but if you are doing a talk to camera or a voiceover, use the caption sticker. If you are in reels and creating a reel, I'll show you. You just go in, you're in the reel interface for editing. You're going to tap that little sticker, the little post it note at the top, and you're just going to tap captions and it'll start transcribing your video. You're good. So the last one is hashtags. Okay? And that is last, but definitely not least. And I know everyone's trying to downplay hashtags.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:12]:
Like, oh, they're gonna least see your problem. Yeah, I don't want you spending more than two minutes thinking of hashtags for your content. It just have like a bunch of them that you already have saved. I have mine saved as text replacements in my phone. So it's easy. But if I'm talking Instagram growth, my hashtags have to do with Instagram growth, Instagram growth tips, Instagram tips and tricks, blah, blah, blah. If my reel is about content creation, I use hashtags about content creation, content creators, content for business, content ideas, reels, ideas. Do you see where I'm going? Like, I make sure my hashtags align with the content.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:42]:
I've been saying this since I started managing Instagram platforms in like, 2017. Again, hashtags have not drastically changed in any way, shape, or form. Instagram needs you to use hashtags to further categorize your content. But guess what if you don't want to be bothered with hashtags, you do not have to use them. And that's the beauty of the fact that now Instagram has gotten more SEO friendly. So we used to solely rely on hashtags. Now we can also rely on other ways to get our content seen. That doesn't mean anything's changed.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:12]:
It's actually a plus, right? It's. It's nothing to scare you. It's actually makes it better. So if you're like, actually, Shannon, I really struggle with hashtags. Cool. Just make sure you know those keywords and they're in your caption, they're on the screen, et cetera. Know the reels, cover doesn't matter as far as, like, keywords. You don't to worry about that.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:27]:
One last thing before I let you guys go, because I know we're going. I try to get these under ten minutes, but I wanted to set the record straight, um. Cause this person got really nasty with me when she found out I said something on my Instagram stories about this thread she created, even though I never called her out, I never even said anything. So many people say the same thing she does. It got really ugly. I had to block her block, bless, release, right? Because I know what that type of fear mongering, clickbait, the way things are worded, you got to be careful. And no matter what industry you're in, be careful because you. You don't want to scare people.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:57]:
You want to help them. Right? Okay. My favorite place to find keywords is the last tip I use, TikTok, and I literally will type in. Let's. Let's type it in. Let's see. Um. Let's say you are a.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:09]:
Let's say you make signs for weddings. Okay. Wedding signage. Okay. I'm going to type that in, and I'm going to let it populate. And as I go down, others search for. Do you see that? 2024 wedding signage. So those are the key phrases you need to have in your caption on screen.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:26]:
2024 wedding signage I created for a blank couple in Kentucky. Like, whatever you want to say, unique wedding ideas. Unique wedding ideas. And you could say, even make it more keyword rich for the whimsical bride. What kind of bride are you talking to? Wedding entrance ideas. So you can go to TikTok, type in a phrase, or just your niche, scroll down to other search for. And there's your keywords and phrases. Okay, that is it.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:48]:
SEO means hashtags, keywords. Go get them. Love you, friend. Talk to you next week.