How in the Three Hells Do I Reach More People on IG?
Start by finding and using trending SEO keywords.
Odds are pretty high that you started your account to grow an audience of readers.
Not many of us get into the bookish content game to share our content only with our close friends and family. In fact, you may not even want your friends or family to know about your account. (I still get nervous when I see an IRL friend or auntie like my posts).
That’s why it’s so important to know how to attract the right people to see the content you work so hard on.
Thus arises the age-old question, “How in the three hells do I reach more people?”
There are a lot of ways, but today we are going to take a peek into SEO and keywords.
What is SEO and How Does It Work on Instagram?
SEO (search engine optimization) may sound intimidating or like something only web designers need to know about. But trust me when I say it’s not as complicated as you might think. And it is very, very helpful to understand and use.
Instagram SEO involves optimizing your Instagram content, including your profile, bio, captions, and hashtags, to increase its visibility in search results. (This is important on your website as well, but we can talk about that another day.)
The whole goal is that when someone searches for a specific keyword or hashtag in the Instagram search box, your account or content appears near the top of the search list.
Attract the Right People
Increased visibility from using SEO keywords and key phrases can lead to more of the right followers (hello target audience) and overall more discoverability on Instagram.
Recently, I got a DM from someone who was so excited to have found me. They said they were looking for an Instagram coach who focuses specifically on the bookish niche.
They typed related keywords into Google (Instagram coach, books, bookstagram…), and one of my reels came up as #4 in their online search.
That means the keywords and key phrases in my reel copy were spot on to attract my target audience.
They then commented on that reel, went through my DM automation, signed up for my newsletter, and joined Bookstagram 101 and my masterclass bundle. All while I was asleep!
The Power of SEO Keywords at Work
One effective way to find trending keywords for Instagram SEO is by utilizing the search bar on the Explore page.
Here’s how you do it:
- Start typing a word related to your niche in the search bar and let IG auto-fill the rest of the word. This will quickly show you the most popular related words searched.
An error I keep seeing is that people are typing in whole words. Don’t do this! Start typing in a keyword, like “boo” (instead of book) or “fanta” (instead of fantasy), and see what comes up.
- Observe the suggested words and phrases that appear. These suggestions are excellent keywords to incorporate into your content, profile, bio, and captions.
Even if “popular” isn’t under the resulting words that come up, they are still highly searched keywords/phrases.
- Pay extra attention to suggestions with the word “popular” below them.
The keyword “bookstagrams” was popular in May, and it was pretty exciting! When a keyword or key phrase has a popular label, it indicates that that keyword/phrase is currently trending, making it even more valuable for your SEO efforts.
- Repeat this process multiple times to compile a specific list of keywords or key phrases relevant to your account. Having this list will make it easier to create content that incorporates SEO seamlessly (and keep it up to date).
Using SEO Keywords and Phrases Seamlessly in Your Copy
For the best SEO results, be sure to mix these keywords and key phrases seamlessly into your copy (reel copy, bio, profile, captions…). You can simply add a list of keywords or phrases like you commonly see with hashtags, but the SEO results will likely not be as successful. This is especially true for Google SEO, which favors value packed copy keywords.
So instead of this:
- Enemies to lovers
- Bookstagrams
- Romantasy books
Try this:
“Follow these bookstagrams if you love romantasy books with juicy enemies to lovers plotlines.”
SEO keywords and key phrases are a powerful way to find and attract your target audience on Instagram. Make a list of keywords that Instagram suggests and recommends as popular in your niche, and then start using them seamlessly in your content copy to get that power working for you.
To learn more about SEO and optimization and so much more, join the 350+ authors, book businesses, and bookstagrammers in Bookstagram 101.
Bookstagram 101 community members are getting out of their content slumps, seeing their brands grow, discovering how to market and monetizing their accounts, creating content that reaches their target audience, and (here’s the kicker) having a blast while they’re at it.
And you can, too!
Tap here to join B101 today. I’ll see you inside.
