46: Instagram + Google → The All-New SEO Duo for 2025

Big update: Google is now indexing Instagram posts from professional and creator accounts.

That means your Reels, photos, and carousels can show up in Google Search results.

In the first episode of our new format on Practical Rebels, Logan and Ramsey break down what this means, why it matters, and what you should be doing about it.

 ✅ Why Instagram posts are now part of your SEO
 ✅ What kinds of posts are most likely to rank
 ✅ How to repurpose your existing content for search

Our goal with this and future Practical Rebels episodes is to give you more industry insider tips with a shorter run time that is easy to listen to in one shot on your morning commute or coffee routine. We hope you enjoy it!

🎧 Listen in wherever you get your podcasts. Now streaming!

🎙️ And don’t miss this:
On August 14th, here at Hatchmark Studio, we have our live podcast with Red Iron Design, and we are going to be talking about everything social, how to grow your presence, how many times to post, and all the things that may keep you from showing up online.

This is the first live Practical Rebels podcast (maybe the last, who knows), but we’re going to give it a shot and make it happen.

 📍 August 14th | 6 PM–8 PM | Doors open at 5:30 PM
 📍 Hatchmark Studio | 1201 Barrancas Avenue, Pensacola, Florida
 🎟️ Tickets are $10 + tax, and you can find them here https://lnkd.in/gX3y3QeF

Transcript

Podcast Return and Live Event Announcement

Ramsey 0:00

Welcome back to Practical Rebels. It's been a while and I don't know how to use this microphone anymore, but I got our friend of the podcast who is actually he's more of a host Logan with me to help me to guide through this.

Logan 0:17

Yeah, friend of the show and now part of the show. At this point it feels like I keep ending up on here, which I'm not complaining, it's great. But yeah, I don't know. I've upgraded from friend to the show.

Ramsey 0:27

Yeah, yep, next time you'll probably be producing the show.

Logan 0:32

I mean, how do these buttons work?

Ramsey 0:36

I'll figure it out. So, yeah, we like to batch record and we batch recorded like six months, so it's been a while. So breaking it out. But, with that being said, we do have something special coming up.

Ramsey 0:48

On August 14th here at Hatchmark Studio, we have our live podcast with Red Iron Design and we are going to be talking everything social how to, you know, grow your presence. You know how many times a post you know, don't get imposter syndrome. Just all the things that you know may keep you from wanting to post and grow on social media. We got you live the first live Practical Rebels podcast, maybe the last, who knows, but we're going to give it a shot and we're going to make it happen. So that's August 14th, 6 pm to 8 pm. Doors open at 530 at the Hatchmark Studio, which is 1201 Barrancas Avenue, pensacola, florida. So go to Eventbrite or follow us on socials. You can check out the link in bio on our about section. We have post up in our LinkedIn, you can find it, and in bio on our about section. We have post up in our LinkedIn, you can find it. And if you can't find it, just hit me up and I'll send you the place to get tickets it's $10 plus some tax.

Instagram's New Google Indexing Feature

Logan 1:56

So, with that being said, logan, what are we getting into today? Yeah, today we are going to be talking about Google and Instagram and how those two things are very similar right now, or they're not similar, but it's important to know that there's a connection, now that's stronger than ever, between Google and Instagram.

Ramsey 2:13

And that's really big. So can you tell us what exactly changed with Instagram and Google as of July 10th 2025?

Logan 2:21

Yeah, so on July 10th, like you said, instagram sent out an in-app notification telling users that professional and creator accounts, if they're public, are now eligible for indexing on Google by default. So that means you actually have to go and turn this off or opt out of it if you don't want it.

Ramsey 2:39

Oh, wow, ok, so is that for every account, because I haven't seen that on my account.

Logan 2:43

Are they?

Ramsey 2:43

testing it right now or no, they're not testing it.

Logan 2:47

It's, I mean, it's 100 percent live. So this is something that's happening, like I said, since July 10th. So as we're recording this right now, it's July 28th. So this is in progress, it's live, it's happening, it's not hearsay, it's, it's a real thing.

Ramsey 3:03

And for those who might be confused, hasn't Instagram always been visible on Google in some kind of way? Kind, of.

Logan 3:11

Yes, essentially Instagram posts have shown up on search, but it's primarily been through third-party links. So if your Instagram post shows up on another website, that's how people find that. But now Instagram has explicitly told Google index this content. We're ready for it. So come crawl. Basically, our website and our content that's being put on there again by professional accounts. So you don't have to worry about your like your personal Instagram account showing up with the content that you're creating, unless you have that business account or a professional account.

Ramsey 3:46

Okay, Okay. And so why? From a business or marketing perspective? Why is this update such a big deal and why should people jump on it?

Logan 3:59

It's a big deal because Instagram is now really it's playing a key role in your overall SEO strategy. I mean a lot of times, seo and social media. Although they are hoping to accomplish a lot of the same goals, they're usually working separately in their own silos, right. But now there's some serious overlap between SEO at least SEO and Instagram and how that plays a role now, and we're definitely going to be talking about that.

Ramsey 4:29

Okay. Okay, so you mentioned in the article that this shifts, how Instagram fits into a larger marketing strategy. Excuse me, can you talk more about how Instagram is becoming part of the SEO now?

Logan 4:43

Yeah, this changes things a lot because, you know, since Instagram has this SEO component to it, the content that you're putting on Instagram might need to change too. You know, like this can kind of look like how-to videos, tutorials, educational content, anything like that, and you'll need to be optimizing the content for search so that you can actually give yourself a better chance at ranking.

Ramsey 5:07

Oh, wow, okay. So for marketers who want to take full advantage of this, what steps should they take? How do they get going? How do they figure this out?

Logan 5:18

Yeah, it's a great question. So first you need to make sure that you're actually eligible for indexing, and this is one of those things. Like we said earlier, this is something that should happen automatically, and even though it is supposed to be automatic, I would go in check your settings just to confirm it. And then next, you kind of want to just take a look at your content overall right. Does it lend itself well to search? You know, is it answering questions people are asking on Google? Start brainstorming whether you're just a small business owner or you're a social media manager in a larger department. Start brainstorming ways you can shift your content strategy so that you can dovetail into Google search.

Ramsey 5:57

Okay. Okay, now in case y'all don't know, we do have a blog ad about this, and in the blog, logan writes our blog. He's our guy, thank you. Pretty soon he'll be a podcast producer. That's a team effort, right? No?

Logan 6:11

it is.

Content Strategy for SEO on Instagram

Ramsey 6:11

It is. It is Um. You know you made a great point in the blog about not needing to create brand new content. Can you explain how repurposing plays a role here?

Logan 6:23

Yeah, so I think you brought up a good point. I think a lot of people are going to look at this and think I have to do all of this new work and I'm already feeling overwhelmed. Well, in my opinion, this is the good news is that, for a lot of content creators, you're probably already doing some of this just by design, right? So go back and look at your content and see if there's any opportunities for tutorials, educational content, and see if you can repurpose it in a new, refreshed way using the latest best practices for search. Okay, okay, I'm a big fan of repurposing old content Like I think that there's an opportunity for it. I think that if you can put a new spin on something, even if you archive something or even if it happened two or three years ago, go back and redo that content and do it best for a 2025 audience.

Ramsey 7:15

Yeah, and you got to think, like some people, their Instagram is 10 years old, eight years old, like you said, two or three years old. Like you can go back and grab that content and be like okay, how, and like Logan said, just you know, reimagine the same content in a different way and then use it as a real, use it as a static post, use it as a carousel, use it as a story and then post it all over all the platforms. And you can even use it as a static post, use it as a carousel, use it as a story and then post it all over all the platforms. And you can even use it as a blog. You can use it for all of it. So you know, you don't have to come up with a bunch of new stuff, even though that's great, we're all creative.

Ramsey 7:54

But you can go back and get your creative juices by looking at some content you posted a long time ago. That's like Whoa, I posted this, this is crap. But then you're like hold up, I know what to do now. I know how to make this even better. So you know it's a lot easier than you think to actually get this ball rolling. Yeah, absolutely All right, let's talk captions. What should social media managers be doing differently when writing captions now that Instagram content is getting indexed, or social media accounts?

Logan 8:24

Yeah, I think that captions are going to be a big piece of this, right Along with alt text, but captions are going to play a massive role. For a while I feel like captions were hot, you know, back in the day. More recently, I feel like captions have kind of fallen off. You know you don't really see people airing out in the captions like they used to. Um, but now, more recently, with this change, I think you're going to see longer form captions start to come back. I think you know you're going to want to look at like what people are searching for and answer those burning questions in the caption. I don't think you're going to want to let that be wasted space on your post. Google is going to be crawling the content and if you only have a couple of random emojis in the caption, that might be the reason your content gets passed up and the next person's content actually gets indexed and ranks higher than yours.

Ramsey 9:13

So you know you definitely want to get back into your captions. Is what Logan is saying and almost kind of I don't know, maybe like a micro blog for your caption.

Logan 9:24

Yeah, and I would think of it that way too, where it's like, if you're repurposing some article content from your blog, have like a very short snapshot of what's in the content. Just don't let it be wasted space. Think of it as another opportunity for your content to rank in Google search and go from there.

Caption Writing and Keyword Research

Ramsey 9:45

All right, let's get into another part keywords. Logan, can you explain to people what's the difference between keywords and why you want to have them in your captions and SEO? Just real quick, please.

Logan 10:00

Yeah. So keyword research I mean I know that it's going to play a huge role in this, this change, because I and I also I want to realize that for many social media managers, content creators, keyword research might not be something that's part of your daily routine, right that's, it's always been more of like a blogging slash seo thing. But I think instagram users should start adding it in and see what people are searching for, check search volumes, keyword difficulty and all that, and look for opportunities for engaging content and let keyword research be the thing that helps you come up with that new piece of content that maybe you weren't thinking of beforehand but now you're like like oh, there's an opportunity there. I know, if I post this on Instagram, I have an opportunity to rank on Google.

Ramsey 10:48

Okay, okay. And how can someone who's never even done that get started?

Logan 10:55

I mean, I think that if you need to, if you've never done keyword research, I would start by just doing it the free way and just type stuff into Google and see what the question. Sometimes you'll see like the question come out of the Google search, like what people are searching for. But if you want to take a more sophisticated approach, there are platforms you can sign up for. We use SEMrush, there's Ah hrefs, there's all these different types of platforms. There's a platform coming out every other day, but use any keyword research platform you can um to start, you know, researching keywords and getting some more analytics behind and more purposeful content that you can actually track all right, um, thank you for that, because I think some people get a little confused.

Ramsey 11:42

They're like keywords and captions and SEO and captions and alt text. It's like you know you can Google all this stuff and how to do it. Yeah for sure. Excuse me again, is there anything businesses should not do in response to this update and are there any mistakes you're already seeing some businesses do should not do in response to this update, and are there any mistakes you're already seeing some businesses do?

Logan 12:07

This. I mean it might sound corny, honestly, but I truly think the worst thing you could do is the same thing you've been doing, right Like. By that I just mean like ignoring the change entirely. I think users who take advantage of this early on and put the effort into it are the ones who are going to get rewarded. I mean, I was reading I know this number changes all the time, but I think it's estimated that there are like 2.6 billion Google searches per day in the US alone. Jeez, and I mean, do you not want a piece of that traffic, even a sliver of it, for your business? If you don't, I guess business is good and you just don't need it. I guess I look at numbers like that and I'm thinking to myself if I'm posting on Instagram and there's that many people using Google every single day, I'm going to do everything I can to be part of that. That's really what this boils down to for me definitely want to start integrating this soon.

Ramsey 13:08

This is kind of like I guess it's kind of like when Instagram came out or when TikTok came out, like you know, like Whoa, this is something I need to hop on on, but I might be too scared. Don't be too scared, hop on it. Take a little piece, little bite size, which actually that's what this podcast is.

Logan 13:25

The bite size version.

Ramsey 13:26

Oh yeah, we'll talk about that in a second. And just get to work. Don't, don't, don't paralyze yourself by perfection. Just get to work. Get a little piece of that pie, because you know how it goes when something happens new in the social media realm you don't jump on, you'll be behind.

Evolution of Social Media and Search

Logan 13:43

Absolutely, and that's why I said I think the worst thing you can do is nothing at all. Just get in there and try it, be part of it, have it top of mind whenever you're making content. Keep in mind you know, and you don't have to do. Don't just throw everything out. Keep doing the things that have made you successful on Instagram, but think about this too, and think about different ways that you can get creative.

Ramsey 14:06

And finally, I know you guys are saying finally, we'll get to that in a second. How do you see this evolving over the next six to 12 months, and do you think this is just the beginning for more crossover between social media and search? I know that's two questions in one, but I know you can handle it.

Logan 14:24

I do. Let's hope so. I do think this is the beginning of a trend of more crossover and more integration. But, to answer your first question, I think we're going to see an increase in educational content on Instagram, that how-to stuff. I think we're going to see an increased focus on the quality of caption writing on Instagram. I think that's going to be a big deal and I really think that we're going to see SEO and social media teams start to collaborate more than they ever have before.

Logan 14:54

A lot of stuff. It's changing in the digital marketing landscape lately. I mean, it seems like in this past year, everything is changing month to month and yeah, so there's really no way to tell for sure, but it's really exciting. And again, I think the people who are tuned in, the people who are staying current with the latest tactics and strategies, those are the people who stand to win, those are the people who stand to get a leg up on the competition, and the people who are just kind of doing it you know, the same way they've been doing it are going to be the ones who are behind, the ones who like don't get it or whatever. So, like I've said I guess, probably like seven times already. Just just do something. Don't be the one who does nothing at all.

Ramsey 15:40

Well, logan, thank you for all your information. Thank you for all that knowledge you just dropped. We greatly appreciate you. Yeah, you're welcome and I know this is short and you guys are probably like what the hell is going on. Well, we're going to start going into a little bit more bite-sized podcasts. Logan, can you elaborate on?

Moving to Bite-Sized Podcast Format

Logan 16:02

that, yeah, and I think that and we might talk about this in our next episode but just kind of like the on-demand, you know content and I feel like everyone wants stuff a little bit quicker now, the way we search, the way we get information, and, um, it was our part of our, our goal to switch things up and to give people something that's just a little bit easier to listen to on the commute to work. You don't have to break it up, maybe just you know these little 15, 20 minute sessions at most and hopefully you all like it and hopefully it's a way for you guys to be able to engage with the content and not have to invest too much time.

Ramsey 16:42

Well, I like it already because it cuts my editing time, the editing time down probably two thirds.

Logan 16:48

So this is easy. I know we can do this all day. Yeah, we can, but we're not, but we're not. That would not be good, because that's the opposite of what we want.

Ramsey 16:57

And with that, ladies and gents, thank you for listening. Make sure you check out the live podcast brought to you by Hatchmark and Red Iron Design House I always say Red Iron Design, I know it's house August 14th, 1201 Varangas Avenue, Doors open at 5.30pm. 6pm to 8pm is the live podcast and if you do happen to miss it, it will be up so you can listen. But we're going to drop a lot about the socials in there. So, with that being said, logan, you ready, I'm ready Practical Rebels out.