Instagram SEO: 7 Tools and Tips to Enhance Your Business Exposure

Instagram is one of the major social media platforms for business right now. More than 1 billion users check out the platform every month and 88% of them use Instagram profiles to research products and services. That’s why it’s vital to optimize your Instagram business account and have a robust Instagram SEO strategy to boost your business performance.

Instagram SEO is an unusual combination of words: we are not really used to thinking about Instagram as a platform for search optimization. However, there are many reasons to build a robust SEO strategy for Instagram.

Why should you pay attention to Instagram SEO tactics?

The aim of Instagram SEO, just like any other SEO techniques is to get your content in front of your audience by displaying it in search results. When we talk about Instagram optimization for search we mean search inside the app through hashtags and keywords. Instagram SEO techniques include using relevant keywords for your hashtags, taking care of Instagram alt text, and optimizing your Instagram account. 

Instagram as a platform heavily relies on keywords (in the form of Instagram hashtags) for search. Thinking of keywords as hashtags and Instagram as a search platform can give you a new perspective and useful tips for Instagram profile optimization. 

Perhaps, Instagram SEO strategy is not a part of your Instagram marketing plan yet, but you probably have a hashtag strategy in place.

Moreover, recently Instagram has started testing a new search option among users in several countries, including the US, Canada, and the UK. People from these countries can use Instagram keywords for search, not only hashtags.

Previously, if you put keywords in the search bar on Instagram, you’d been able to discover Instagram accounts with either Instagram name, username, or bio that matches your target keywords.

Now people living in the countries mentioned above can find Instagram posts that include their keywords.

It’s only logical to expect this feature to become available worldwide, which makes Instagram SEO even more relevant. 

The aim of Instagram SEO is to increase your discoverability both through search results and other Instagram features such as Instagram feed or the Explore tab. That’s why any Instagram optimization should target keywords you use in your profile and posts, your Instagram profile in general, special features such as Instagram Reels and Stories, and pay attention to your Instagram analytics to help you analyze your Instagram account.

In this article, we’ll go through all the possible Instagram SEO tactics and tips and recommend tools that can help optimize your Instagram profile. And if you like the topic, read our guide on outdated seo tactics as well.

Instagram SEO tips and tricks

According to Instagram, it takes into account a number of factors when deciding what content to show in the search including the type of content, captions, when it was posted, and more. It also uses machine learning to “find the highest quality content that’s relevant to you.”

Here are some tips to optimize your Instagram profile:

• Make sure your Instagram handle and bio include all the relevant keywords. Of course, in most cases, your handle is your brand name, and your bio should include keywords and hashtags related to your profile.

• Write descriptive captions which feature keywords people are likely to use when searching for a product like yours. Instagram considers captions when choosing your posts from search results and the Explore tab.

• Use hashtags as keywords. Apply the same logic you have with keyword search to your hashtag strategy: research how often they are used and choose the most profitable.

• Add your own Instagram alt text through the Advanced Settings when uploading a post.

• Encourage engagement: create awesome content, upload Instagram Reels and livestreams. Instagram’s algorithm favors the accounts that use all their features. Don’t know what are Instagram reels and how to use them? Check out this article.

Fortunately, there are some useful Instagram tools that will help you comply with these requirements, enhance your user experience and get more out of the mobile platform. These apps will help you:

So let's have a closer look at each of the tools.

1. Awario

As mentioned above, hashtags are an important part of Instagram SEO. Awario does hashtag research for you and offers you the best hashtags to go with your posts.

In its essence, Awario is a social media monitoring software that collects and analyzes your keywords and keyword combinations online. It can be used as an Instagram analytics tool to monitor your own brand or your competitors.

You can use Awario to see:

You can do the same for your competitors. All you need to do is add your brand name (or their brand names) as keywords in Awario, and the tool will find every Instagram post mentioning your brand and analyze it. 

If you want to use Awario for hashtag research, you can add your hashtag as a keyword and see how many times it was used, which accounts used it, and the hashtags that are used most often along with yours.

Basically, you can plan a whole Instagram strategy for your hashtags and get access to vital Instagram analytics with this tool. 

In addition to that, Awario is able to identify influencers and rank them by popularity so it’s a perfect Instagram influencer marketing tool.

Awario is not a free Instagram tool, but it does offer a free 7-day trial, so you can test it out before deciding to invest in it. The pricing starts at $24 a month. You can learn more about different plans and features here.

2. Iconosquare

Iconosquare (previously Statigram) is another cool Web Interface for Instagram. It is popular with users mainly because of the statistics it provides.

When you sign in, you will see the latest photos your friends uploaded.

You can either view all pictures at once, or you can go to My Following and create groups of your friends there by clicking on the circle icon. Groups then will work as filtering options on your main feed. This feature will let you unclutter your newsfeed and view only the images you need.

Statigram offers perhaps the largest set of options to interact with your following. If you click on any picture, you can like or comment on it, as well as sharing that image on various social networks.

But what businesses love most about Iconosquare is the statistics.

Jump to the Statistics tab, and you will see a brief overview of your Instagram activity plus the information for any activity within the last seven days.

In the left part of the window you can find a navigation menu that will let you view:

At the moment Iconosquare offers the most advanced analytical data for Instagram on the market! With the app you can learn:

This is invaluable data for shaping an efficient Instagram promotion strategy!

On top of that Iconoscquare lets you receive Snapshots of your Instagram statistics to share with your IG community. That is a great way to enhance interaction with your following and tighten the bonds with your network.

And finally, the app lets you manage your correspondence with your followers. Iconosquare is one of a very few apps that let you send private messages to other Instagram users.

Visit the company's official website to learn more about the app.

3. Unfollowgram

Unfollowgram is a very basic Web-based app that lets you manage your Instagram following.

As you know, in Instagram you have to visit each user’s profile to follow/unfollow them. But with the help of Unfollowgram you can clean up your friend list, and delete all users with whom you don't interact with a mouse click.

Also, you can use Unfollowgram to set up reciprocal connections and report abusive users.

The app's interface is baby-simple. When you login, you will see:

To check out the app, follow the link.

4. Followgram

Followgram is an elegant Web interface that lets you manage your Instagram presence. The tool comes in 3 versions:

Below is the pricing for each of the mentioned plans:

After you sign in with Instagram account, you will get to the dashboard filled with your friends' latest photos along with quick stats about your account.

By clicking on an image you can like it or leave a comment. Additionally, you can share the image on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or embed its code on your website or blog.

Another cool option Followgram offers is saving the pics that you liked to your private Albums. Free users are limited to 5 albums only.

The app not only provides you with a public interface but also generates a dedicated web address (the so-called vanity URL). It enables you to share your Instagram photos with others outside of the mobile app.

As for Search options, they are not as advanced as in Gramfeed. However, the app lets you run searches of users and photos:

Followgram public profile also includes an RSS feed as well as a QR Code. That enables you to download, share (on your website/blog) or direct people to your public Followgram profile.

As for Instagram stats, Followgram provides different types of data for free and paid users. With the Free account you can view some basic stats on your photos, following and engagement.

But in order to use the extended navigation and browse by top tags, top filters, top venues you need to upgrade to the paid account.

Also, paid users have an option to download the archives of their photos sorted by month, PM other Instagram users, remove any type of ads from their profiles, access Followgram API and enjoy some other privileges.

Summing up, Followgram a great tool for managing Instagram content, enlarging following and analyzing Instagram stats. However, some important functionality is available to users only on a paid basis.

To test this tool, sign up here.

5. Instafy

Instafy is a free mobile app (available for iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod touch®) that lets you check how popular your Instagram pics are.

The main advantage of this app is that it lets you quickly check the basic Instagram stats right from your mobile device.

Once you sign up with your Instagram credentials, you will see your profile pic, number of photos, followers, and those accounts you're following.

Below you can see your stats starting from the day you joined Instafy. Alas, but there’s no option you can adjust the starting date. The only thing you can do is to regenerate the report at a later point in time.

To see more detailed stats, tap on the Instafy button. Thus you will get to the menu with 3 options: Badges, Collage and Facebook Cover.

The Badges view will get 7 different image types for you: 1 hybrid with your four most popular photos, 1 image of your stats, and 5 images of your stats only. Stats include information about the total number of likes, average number of likes per image, comments and average comments.

When your beautiful brief report is generated, you can share it on Facebook or via Twitter. Thus you will draw more attention to your Instagram account and can potentially attract more new and free Instagram followers.

In the Collage feature you can create a photo mix of your best pictures. When done, you can also share on most popular social networks.

And finally, you can get more exposure for your Instagram, if you create a collage of your most popular images and use it as a Facebook Cover photo. The Facebook Cover feature lets you easily do that.

Yes, Instafy is not as powerful as many other Instagram tools, however, it lets you the basic stats on your Instagram popularity and engagement right from your mobile device.

Here you can download this app for free.

6. Copygram

Copygram is perhaps the most beautiful Web interface for your Instagram content.

The home feed has a rather attractive modern design, placing photos in neat rows of three.

The best thing about the feed is that it’s not cluttered with data and lets you enjoy Instagram images to the fullest. To check user's info, number of likes and comments, you need to mouse over a particular image. Thus you will reveal the photographer and community feedback, as well as find the options to add a new 'like' or comment.

By clicking on the CPGR (Copygram) button you will get into the main menu. Here you can find all the app’s features.

I can't say that the app is fitted with an impressive list of advanced features. However, the tool's Search facilities and the Backup option definitely deserve your attention.

The Backup feature allows you to create an archive of all your Instagram images and the images that you liked. The archive is then sent to your email.

With Copygram you can search for any tagged photos, Instagram users, and places.

Click the link to check out Copygram Search Guide to learn ways that will make your searches even more precise.

The other features include viewing your latest liked photos, featured galleries, settings, and some other.

Follow this link to test the tool.

7. INK361

Ink361 is a free Web interface that allows you to view all types of Instagram content and engage with other users of the mobile platform.

Once you login, you will see your main Instagram feed. Below each pic you can see how many likes and comments that photo has and how many people are tagged in it. By clicking on a pic, you can leave a comment, like it, add that image to your Albums or embed on your website or blog.

In addition to the neat, well-organized interface Ink361 can boast outstanding sharing abilities. You can share both your and your followers' content on a wide range of social media websites, such as: Facebook, Twitter, VK.Com, Pinterest, and StubmleUpon.

To share images, just hover over a pic and select a social website to submit it to. That will let you get more exposure for your images and also help in building your following.

Also, since Ink361 lets you get maximally full info about each user, it is a great tool for building relations on Instagram. By clicking on any user's name you can explore their profile in detail: check how many followers they have, how much content they submit, learn their email and website address (if they provide this info. Thus you can easily figure out whom you will follow and follow back, with whom you can build relations (e.g. build links) outside Instagram, etc.

Like Gramfeed, Ink361 provides you with a list of the most popular users in a particular niche. Jump to the Popular menu to discover the most popular people and brand, tags, filter, albums, and featured users.

The official Ink361 website also has a Marketplace section where you can buy photo accessories for your smartphone or even order different prints of your favorite Instagram images.

As a bonus, INK361 has a great niche blog. It is divided into several sections that are dedicated to:

Striking the balance, Ink361 is a great tool for managing Instagram content and building an audience.  Visit the company's official website to check it out!

Bottom Line

No doubt, Instagram is a great mobile platform for business.  And these 7 supplementary apps will help you turn the app into the most powerful tool for managing your visual content.

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Have you ever used any of the apps? Do you know any other tools that can manage your Instagram content?

Share your experience in the comments!