How Instagram’s Search Engine Update Can Help You Get Found and Grow Your Business

Episode 78: How Instagram’s Search Engine Update Can Help You Get Found and Grow Your Business

Hey y’all, welcome back to The McClain Method Podcast! Today, I’m bringing you some amazing information from my YouTube channel and adapting it for the podcast. If you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube yet, check out https://www.youtube.com/@mcclainjohn for more content with visuals!

In today’s episode, we’re diving into a game-changing shift happening on Instagram: it’s becoming a search engine. Instagram isn’t just for scrolling photos anymore—it’s a powerful discovery tool for businesses, products, and services. I’m going to walk you through how Instagram’s search features have evolved, what this means for your business’s visibility, and how you can optimize your content to make sure you’re showing up in those search results. Plus, with AI now pulling from Instagram, your posts could show up in AI search results too!

You’ll learn how Instagram’s search engine evolution can increase your visibility and grow your business. I’ll share practical tips for optimizing your profile, captions, and hashtags, and explain why Instagram’s object recognition and alt text are key to getting discovered.

So, stay tuned and get ready to leverage Instagram’s search engine evolution to boost your audience reach. Don’t forget to share this episode with a friend or business owner who needs to know this!

TO DO: After listening, take 15 minutes to audit your Instagram: update your bio, optimize a post’s caption, and add location t

Learn how to build a profitable, polished interior design business—without burning out. In this free training, John McClain shares the 3 secrets that took him from overwhelmed to booked out, including pricing tips, service structure, and mindset shifts that actually work.

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Learn how to build a profitable, polished interior design business—without burning out. In this free training, John McClain shares the 3 secrets that took him from overwhelmed to booked out, including pricing tips, service structure, and mindset shifts that actually work.

CLICK HERE to watch now at https://mcclainmethod.com/dbft-video-optin

Transcript

 This just in Instagram, is rapidly transforming into a search engine for the next generation. In fact, a recent report found that 67% of Gen Z prefer Instagram when searching for local businesses. And Google's own internal data reveal that almost 40% of young people now turn to Instagram or TikTok instead of Google.

When looking for places like lunch spots for entrepreneurs, this is huge news. It means Instagram isn't just a photo sharing app anymore. It's becoming a primary discovery platform where customers search for products and services and experiences, and today I'm going to bring you an update on exactly how Instagram is functioning, more and more like a search engine and what that shift means for your business's visibility.

Hey y'all, you're listening to the McLean Method Podcast, episode number 78./

 

Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the McLean Method podcast. Today's a little bit different because I'm going to give you some really great information, it is information that I actually put on my YouTube channel, so I've taken my video from YouTube, condensed it down, edited it for the podcast, and using it here because honestly, it is really good flipping information that I want you to know.

And I'm not sure if a lot of you are watching my YouTube channel, It is just McClain John over on YouTube.

And I would love to have you subscribe over there because I'm really trying to put more content over there that's a little bit different, and sometimes it's nice to have visuals. So this podcast is living there now as a YouTube video, so I do invite you to go over, but today's episode is really great, as I said.

because we're talking about a major shift that's happening on Instagram. Did you know that Instagram is now evolving into a search engine? Yes. It's no longer just a platform for scrolling photos. It's becoming a powerful discovery tool for business products and services.

And in today's episode, I'm going to walk you through how Instagram search engine features have evolved. what this means for your design business, and how you can optimize your content to make sure that you're showing up in those search results. Because also, remember, AI is also pulling from the same database, so when AI is crawling the web and your Instagram page is part of that crawl, you are going to show up on AI search results As well. So this just keeps going and going and going. All right, here we go. I hope you enjoyed this fun episode about Instagram and SEO and searchability on there. And I know that there's a lot of things to take away from this, so if you need to rewind it, please do and remember too, if you like this episode, share it with a friend.

Share it with another business owner that you think could benefit from it as well. All right, let's dive back into the  📍 episode.

/Why the shift consumer behavior is evolving. Social media is overtaking traditional search engines as a discovery tool. For users, and Instagram has taken notice of this, and it's doubling down on the features that make search-based discovery even easier than ever on the platform.  Today, we're going to dive deep into Instagram's current search features, the algorithm's behavior, and the latest discovery trends that prove Instagram's pivot towards search-based visibility.

More importantly, I'm going to give you practical tips on how to optimize your content and profile. So that your business can ride this wave and get discovered. So stick around because you're going to know exactly how to leverage Instagram's search engine evolution to grow your audience. Let's get started.

Instagram's leadership and recent updates make one thing. Clear search and discovery are now central to the platform's strategy. Even the CEO of Instagram, Adam Zai has admitted that Instagram's content search needs improvement. He said the ability to search for content on Instagram is not satisfactory at the moment.

Searching for the content itself, not just finding an account is becoming more important. In other words. Instagram knows that people want to find information and ideas directly through posts and videos just like they would via a traditional search engine. This marks a significant shift from the early days of Instagram, which were all about following friends and seeing photos and a feed.

Now discovery is king or queen. Users are actively searching for Instagram, for answers, for inspiration, and for businesses. What is driving this shift? User trends and competition are younger users love visual immersive searches. They don't always just Google just by typing in anymore. Instead, they search Instagram by keywords or explore visually on the app.

For example, someone might search Instagram for cozy cafes at LA or Spring fashion trends. Scroll through the results for ideas. Instagram is capitalizing on this behavior by expanding its search capabilities. More on that in just a minute. Notably, meta, which is of course, Instagram's parent company, is also responding to competitive pressure from TikTok and emerging AI search tools.

Social media as a whole is becoming a search engine for discovery, and Instagram wants to stay ahead of the curve. In short, if your business isn't discoverable on Instagram search. You risked missing out on future growth of your business. Now let's talk about the new features that make Instagram a search engine To better understand Instagram's evolution into search engine.

Let's look at the features and product updates driving this change. First of all, keyword search, no hashtag is required. In late 2020, Instagram rolled out keyword search to users in select countries, which was honestly a game changing update before you can only search for hashtags or locations or account names on ig.

Now, Instagram search bar at the top works a lot like Google's. You can type in a phrase, let's say, healthy recipes and Instagram will show you posts that feature healthy recipes, even if those posts don't use the exact hashtag. Pretty smart. The platform uses machine learning, an array of factors like captions and content type, and posting dates to determine what a post is about and whether it's relevant to what you are searching for.

This means Instagram is actually reading the content of posts like the captions, and also analyzing the images and video to some extent, to server up results, much like a true search engine. By allowing users to search keywords themself, IG vastly broadened the scope of discovery on the app. Because you're no longer limiting yourself to searching only by tags or by account names.

Now let's talk about comprehensive search results. When you search on Instagram, the results page looks surprisingly like a mini Google. According to Instagram's own help center. A search for a keyword will return of a variety of result types, relevant posts with that keyword in the caption. Accounts with a keyword in their name or bio related audio with sounds or songs with that keyword in it.

Hashtags containing that keyword, of course, and even places that have been tagged with that term. So let's go back to the healthy recipe search, for instance. So that might show you recipe posts, accounts named healthy recipes daily, a trending song named Healthy, the hashtag healthy recipes, and maybe a restaurant called Healthy Recipe Cafe.

In essence, Instagram search aggregates different content types around your search, just like Google shows you images, articles, maps, et cetera. For a search, the goal is the same to help users find exactly what they're looking for. But fast Instagram's head of product has even likened Instagram's search to Google's noting that they share the goal of quickly matching users.

To relevant content just like Google. Now, moving on to integration, how does this integrate with Google search in a breaking development? Just this July, Instagram is now allowing Google and other search engines to index public Instagram content. By default, this is. Huge. And it's also a major change in policy because historically Instagram content was largely kind of walled off from Google's crawlers.

But now if you have a public professional account, like a business or a creator account, your post in reels are appearing in Google search results for those searches that people are doing. Huge, huge deal. The criteria is the account must be public, it must be a professional account, and the account holder must be over the age of 18 for the content to be crawled.

Essentially, Instagram is dropping the barriers and saying yes to letting its content show up on external search engines. Wow. This move underscores how Instagram sees itself, which is part of the broader search ecosystem. By making IG posts discoverable via Google, your content gains an entire second life outside of the app, potentially reaching people who are searching on Google for keywords that match your IG captions or alt text.

For entrepreneurs, this is big, big news. An Instagram post optimized with the right keywords can now snag you. Visibility on Google's first page as well, something we have all worked for. With the old fashioned SEO that we all know so well, it blurs the line really between social media marketing and SEO, because Instagram's update basically invites you to treat your IG content, like website content in terms of search optimization.

But don't worry if you don't want your IG post indexed. There is an opt out in settings, but most businesses will likely want that extra exposure. Like if you don't want that, why would you even be putting your business out there to begin with? This change also signals that Instagram is playing the long game in the search arena, ensuring it wasn't left behind.

While TikTok and YouTube already have content, which surfaces on Google, and of course Google owns YouTube. Other discovery features that we should discuss, Instagram has been steadily adding subtle features to enhance their search based discovery. The Explorer page itself is heavily driven by algorithm that shows users content related to what they engage with acting like a personalized search results page.

Ig also auto suggests search queries just like Google's auto complete, when you start typing in the search bar, this can reveal trending searches are popular keywords on the platform. Wow. Just like Google for example, if you type in, let's say skincare, you might see suggestions like skincare routine or.

Skincare for acne indicating those are frequent searches happening. On top of that, Instagram's object recognition technology can actually identify what's in your photos and likely uses that data to improve content relevancy. So everything's important. All these features layer together to make Instagram a robust search and discovery engine.

Users get suggestions. They can search keywords directly. Browse visually through explore, and even rely on Instagram's algorithm recommendations to stumble on things that they weren't actively searching for. The bottom line for us entrepreneurs is that Instagram is no longer just about who follows you.

It's about who can find you. The platform is increasingly designed to help users discover new content and accounts. Through search like behaviors. Now let's look at how Instagram decides what shows up on these searches, and then we're going to dive into optimizing for it. So how does Instagram decide which posts or accounts to show when someone searches a keyword?

Just like Google has an algorithm for ranking websites, Instagram has a search ranking algorithm for content within the. Ha ha. Instagram has publicly shared that the key ranking signals it uses are one text matches the query itself. The search what the user types is the most important signal. Instagram tries to match it with relevant texts in content.

It looks at things like captions, post descriptions, account usernames, profile names. Bios, hashtags, and even location names to find matches that work. A user searches handmade candles. Instagram will comb through its index for posts and profiles that contain those words or words closely related to that.

This means that the keywords you use in your content really matter for search visibility. Unlike the old age, were only hashtags counted. Now regular words in your caption or bio. Can make you show up and search result. More tips on leveraging this in the tips section. If you have interacted with an account or seen a post before, that content is more likely to rank higher for you.

For example, if I often like posts about fitness and I search home workout, Instagram might show me fitness creators that I've engaged with or content similar to what I've liked from a business perspective. This means that your followers are people who have engaged with your content. Might see you prioritize in their searches.

It emphasizes building a loyal, engaged following. Those people are more likely to have your post surface when they search topics in your niche. It's Instagram's way of making search results more personally relevant, much like Google might use your past searches or click. To customize results there as well see the connection, popularity, and engagement.

The algorithm also looks at how popular and engaging a piece of content or an account is as a proxy for quality content that has lots of likes, comments saves, or a profile with a large following, and a lot of strong activity has a better chance of appearing at the top of its search results. It's just the way it goes.

This does not mean by the way that only magnet influencers get shown. The relevance is still critical and you won't see a random celebrity in a search unless that content matches the keyword that you typed in. But it does mean between two equally relevant posts. The one with the higher engagement are from a more established account, may rank higher.

Instagram, essentially crowd sources quality, if you will. If many people found a post interesting, then they were engaged with it. The algorithm is much more confident showing it to other people in their searches as well. Content quality and guidelines, although not a signal per se. It is important to note that Instagram does filter out content that might be low quality.

Spammy or against their guidelines from search suggestions, posts that violate community guidelines, of course, will not show up in these search results at all, so don't even try that. And then also, certain hashtags or keywords that may have been associated with misinformation or abuse can be blocked or hidden from search.

For example, the hashtag beauty blogger was once hidden because some of the posts under it violated guidelines. As a result, even legitimate content using that tag wouldn't appear in searches. The takeaway. To maintain visibility, you must play by IGS rules, which means avoid banned hashtags and misinformation or anything that could be deemed harmful.

If you suspect a keyword that you're using is not getting the reach that you want, it is worth checking to see if Instagram has restricted that word. Here is an insider tips straight from Instagram's team, so listen. If you want a post to be found in a search, put keywords and hashtags in the caption, not in the comments.

Instagram's head, Adam Mazzer clarified that the search index prioritizes the original caption text versus the ones in the comments. Many users used to hide their hashtags that are comment for neatness, but those hidden tags might not count toward search, so make sure that you put the imported keywords for that caption inside the actual post.

Instagram will index them and crawl the page. Instagram also applies machine learning to improve search results. What does this mean? This likely means that it's learning from what users click on or search for and refining which results seem to satisfy them. It may also use image recognition, which is object or seen detection in photos to figure out content relevancy.

Instagram has automated their alt text generator for images using ai, suggesting that it quote knows what's in your image, which could help it decide if your post is about, let's say, a beach sunset, even if you didn't caption it as such. While we don't have time to dive into the technical weeds, it is safe to say that Instagram's algorithm is getting smarter and smarter at connecting the dots between a user search intent and the content on the platform.

Wrapping this all up, if your content is on topic, which means it has the right keywords. Engages people and doesn't break any rules. You've checked all the major boxes to be discoverable. Okay. With all of this in mind, let's get to the part that I know you've been waiting for. How can you, as a business owner or a creator, capitalize on Instagram's search engine feature to boost your visibility?

RIL Entrepreneurs, it's time to turn this knowledge into action. How can you optimize your Instagram presence? So that you appear in search results and get discovered by new audiences. Here are some practical research-backed tips to make your profile and content more search friendly. Number one, use keywords in your profile name and your bio treat your IG profile, like your website's SEO title.

Honestly, the words in your username and name field are searchable on Instagram. Do not forget that if you're a hairstylist having just. Jane Doe as your name might not attract searchers, so you should consider Jane Doe dash bridle hairstylist, or include key terms like hair artist in your profile name.

Similarly, weave a couple of important keywords into your bio, like location, niche, product types, et cetera. This isn't about stuffing random terms in your bio, by the way, but it's about being very explicit about what you do offer. Why is this important? Because if someone searches bridal hairstylists, NYC accounts with bridal or hairstylists in their profile are likely to show up.

One hygiene growth expert calls, adding keywords to your profile, the most underrated way to improve discoverability, noting that your personal name alone isn't searched as often as industry terms are. So remember that industry terms. Over your name unless you're a celebrity. So don't be shy about including words that describe your business.

Think of it as Instagram's, SEO for your profile. Number two, write descriptive keyword rich captions. Every new post is a chance to be found via the keyword search that we've talked about, so make your captions count. Write very clear descriptive captions that naturally include the key terms someone might search for to find content like yours.

For instance, if you're posting a DIY furniture video. A caption like refurbishing an old wood dresser into a rustic chic centerpiece hashtag furniture makeover is going to be far more searchable than look at this with a few random emojis after it front load important keywords toward the beginning of the caption if you can.

Why? Because the search engine might weigh the early text heavier. Also include relevant hashtags in the caption. As I said, not as a comment. Hashtags are essentially keywords. As you know, people do still search by them and follow them. Instagram has recommended using a handful of meaningful hashtags around three to five is often the recommendation despite the 30 tag limit that you might have.

So this is much different than what we've learned in the past. Next, mix your popular hashtags with niche ones. So for instance, a local bakery might use hashtag bakery hashtag croissants, and. Hashtag Seattle Bakery to cover both broad and specific searches. The key is to organically layer keywords. Do not keyword stuff unnaturally as it could turn off readers and possibly the algorithm if it looks really spammy.

A good caption should be reader friendly and search friendly. If you have a brand phrase or pun that's not common, that's fine for branding, but also include a more commonly searched term in the mix, like coffee shop. If your cafe's name is not obvious that it's a cafe. Number three, leverage alt text and image text.

Instagram allows you to add alt text to your photos. A feature meant for accessibility, but it can also double as an SEO tool. You can manually write an alt text description for every image that you post describing what's in it. This description could be another place to include keywords, right? So you can have a photo of a handmade ceramic mud made by pottery by Jane.

Put that into the alt text, right? To tell what it's about, even if you don't add it yourself. Instagram does use auto recognition ai. To auto generate alt text, so you're gonna get some, but it might not be what you wanted. By writing your own, you'd possibly help Instagram classify your content correctly because we don't know how much alt text influences igs internal search.

But given that it's essentially telling Instagram what your image contains, it can only help. Also consider text within your images or videos. For example, if you make reels or carousel infographics include keywords in the on-screen text as well. Instagram can likely read the text in images to some extent 'cause their algorithm is pretty advanced.

And in any case, if you capture your reels with subtitles or texts, overlays your catering to viewers and reinforcing context for the algorithm. In short, use every channel of communication. Caption alt text on image text to signal what your content is about. Number four, include location tags and stickers.

If you have a local or location based aspect to your business, use the location tagging feature on posts and stories. For example, a boutique in Miami should tag their post Miami or the neighborhood that they're in. A tourist attraction could tag the city plus. Use location specific hashtags. Also encourage customers to tag your business location in their post and in their stories too.

Those user generated posts will then show up for your location, and this will only increase your visibility. Here's another tip. If your content itself is about a place, let's say you're a travel lottery posting about Paris, you can tag Paris as the location, but still use travel hashtag. People will often search IG by place names to see what's happening in that location.

Instagram search will even show you relevant locations if you search a city or area and explore. Don't miss out on the eyeballs, right? A quick location tag to put you on the map, literally. Number five, boost engagement and popularity. Why I'll create great content is generic advice. Here's my angle on it.

Creating content that drives likes, comments. Shares and follows can indirectly improve your search visibility. Remember, Instagram ranks popular content higher in search results as well. So focus on quality and interaction with your audience. Ask questions and captions to encourage comments used visuals that get you likes and engage back with your audience.

The more you foster a vibrant community on Instagram, the stronger your content's performance metrics will be. This signals to Instagram that your posts are worth showing off to more people. For instance, if you have two different accounts and both post about vegan baking tips and one gets 500 likes while the other gets 50, the higher engagement posts is more likely to appear on search engines for people in Instagram searching for vegan baking.

This doesn't mean that smaller accounts can't rank. Of course they can, especially on specific or those long tail searches, but what it does highlight the importance of genuine engagement. One thing you can do is respond to comments right away and encourage a conversation by asking questions. More comments that you have can not hurt and your comments count towards that as well.

Also, consider timing your posts when your audience is most active, so they gather engagement quicker. Early engagement on your posts will help post trend in explore or search. Number six, research and use relevant keywords. To optimize for search, you need to know what terms people actually search for.

Use Instagram's own tools to your advantage. Start typing keywords in the search bar and note how the auto complete makes suggestions for you. Those are the popular searches. For example, typing fitness might show fitness tips, fitness motivation, et cetera. And in relation to that, check wish hashtags related to your niche might have high followings or usage.

Those will indicate popular topics. If you run an online makeup store, for instance, searching a broad term like makeup could lead you to more specific ideas like makeup tutorial, natural look or makeup hacks that you can create content for. So you're learning from it. Essentially, do a bit of Instagram specific keyword search on your own.

This can also spark content ideas that you might not have had before. If you see people searching for DIY home office, they decor and you're an interior designer. You might create a post or a reel around that topic because you know that there is a demand in the search for that. Keep an eye on trending topics as well within your own industry on IG and incorporate those keywords when relevant.

Being proactive here means that you are aligning your content with what users are seeking in real time on Instagram. Number seven, avoid restricted or spammy practices. This is more of what I'm not to do, but it's also very crucial. Do not, of course, use band hashtags or violate the guidelines of IG in hopes of some quick reach that you want to get.

Instagram can shadow, ban, or down rank the content that it deems low quality or rule breaking, making you virtually invisible in the searches at all. For example, certain health or finance keywords might be sensitive and Instagram has said it won't recommend content with misinformation or extreme claims.

Likewise, buying followers or engagement might actually hurt your visibility. Instagram can detect inauthentic activity and may limit your reach if they feel that you've bought some followers. The best strategy is transparency and authenticity, making sure that your account status is in good standing.

You can always check your account status and your settings to see if any posts are flagged by Instagram. Staying on Instagram's good side ensures that you are not excluded from those discovery features. By bringing these tips into your business, you're essentially doing Instagram, SEO, optimizing your presence so that people who are searching for you can find you.

It's about making it as easy as possible for Instagram's algorithm and real users to understand what you offer and why it's valuable. And remember, this is not a one-time hack, but it's an ongoing strategy. Monitor how changes impact your reach. For example, do you notice more profile visits when you adjust your bio wording?

Do certain keywords and captions lead to more followers finding you Use Instagram's insights to see if you're appearing in search or explore for new audiences. Don't forget to use insights. Over time, you'll get to a sense of what's working best for you, and you can keep doing that and making adjustments as you go along.

Instagram's evolution into a search engine for discovery is truly a game changer for anyone building an online brand. The line between social media and search is blurring. People are searching on Instagram like they used to search on Google and Instagram is actively improving to meet that demand.

These are concrete steps that you can take to ride this wave from tweaking your profile and captions to using the features like Alta text. What's the payoff for you? Your business could be discovered by your ideal audience right at the moment that they're searching for what you offer. This is your opportunity to get ahead of the curve, treat your Instagram content with the same care that you treat your websites, SEO.

And by doing that, you're going to tap into this growing stream of organic visibility on the platform. Imagine someone in your city searching IG for a product or service, and your name pops up. That's the new reality if you optimize smartly. Instagram is telling us loud and clear that discovery and search are their future.

Their own CEO's words underscore this, and those who adapt to this strategy accordingly and in the right ways will reap the benefits and followers and customers and in community growth. So.  Here's my call to action for you. Put these steps into practice today. Take 15 minutes after you watch this video to audit your ig.

Edit your bio to add one strong keyword. Adjust your latest post caption to be more search friendly, or add a location tag to an important post. These small changes will make a big difference in whether you appear in the next search by a potential customer. 

I'm here to help you get ahead of the game by practicing this on my own. Now it's your turn. Go out there and turn Instagram search evolution into your business's advantage. Happy optimizing, and here's to your increased. Visibility./

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 Thanks for tuning into this episode of the McLean Method Podcast. I'm so grateful you made it all the way to the end because that tells me that you're ready to do the work that truly transforms your brand, your business, and your life. If you want more tools, trainings, and behind the scenes looks at what I'm building next.

Head over to McLean method.com and don't forget to follow along on Instagram at the McLean Method for even more drops of brilliance. And remember, my friend, your brilliance is your brand. Don't dim it, design it. I'll see you next time.