Hot off the press – Google is now indexing Instagram! This is an exiting development for businesses and offers some great opportunities to increase reach and improve SEO. It’s still early days, it only came into effect in July 2025, but as an expert Social Media marketing agency, Blue Bee can start to break down what this means for you and how we can help.
What we know so far.
The simple answer to this is, not too much. We know that there has been the opportunity for Google indexing Instagram for a few months, but it is something that you have to opt-in to. Since 10 July 2025, this has been automatically switched on for all business and professional accounts.
As it is still so new, we aren’t completely sure what content, types of post, or kinds of accounts are ranking best. It’s still early days. However, early evidence suggests that influencer and ecommerce businesses, but this can change and if you can get the content right and follow some simple rules you should start to feel the benefits.
The advantages for businesses
There are several obvious and immediate benefits that Google indexing Instagram can bring to businesses both big and small;
- More visibility on search engines which can be especially beneficial if you don’t have a website or do regular blogs
- A greater reach, with increased opportunities to reach potential customers, and increase followers
- An increase in organic traffic to both the website and Instagram account
- It makes your content even more evergreen, meaning that a social post has a longer shelf life
What works well
So, what sort of things do you need to be doing to make the most of this new opportunity?
First things first, your profile needs to be right. Make sure it looks professional, and the information is up to date. You can also include keywords and terms in your bio. It’s all very well driving more people to your Instagram account, however if it doesn’t give off the right impression or has inaccurate information, it isn’t going to do you any favours.
For the posts themselves, educational and evergreen content works best. Things like; top tips, featured products, completed projects, ‘about us’ posts are the best. These sorts of posts don’t lose their relevance so you can be safe in the knowledge that they still deliver accurate information whenever it appears in a search. You need to treat each post if it’s the first time that person is seeing your brand. As a social media marketing agency, these sorts of posts are something that Blue Bee specialise in, so if you choose us to deliver your digital marketing agency, you’ll be in good hands.
Use your SEO strategy and keyword research, to help construct your captions. Choose your keywords and content carefully to maximise the chances of your post ranking. The same rules apply to social media captions as to web content. But it is important to keep captions, short, snappy and informative. It’s also a good opportunity to go back and consider your target audience, looking at where and how they search.
A couple of other things to consider are to add alt-text to your images on Instagram. This is standard SEO practice for websites, but with this new development it is worth starting to do so for Instagram as well. Also, it has given a new lease of life to hashtags. Google indexing Instagram posts makes hashtags more relevant and important for broader visibility. Hashtags can act as keywords that help Google understand and rank content.
The blurred lines between social and search
The lines between search and social have been getting increasingly blurred over recent times. Studies have shown that 41% of Gen Z now use social platforms as their primary way to search online, ahead of traditional search engines. So, this recent development by Instagram isn’t too much of a surprise.
This is a new and major consideration for businesses. The landscape of search is evolving with the use of social and AI by younger audiences. Blue bee have included more information about this in one of our recent blogs.
Things to bear in mind
There are a few things we would recommend being wary of, with this latest change to the social media landscape. Not every post will rank, and as mentioned earlier, we’re still learning what sort of content works best. This something that needs to be absorbed into your SEO strategy, not replace it.
It’s also a good opportunity to go back and look at historic posts, to make sure you are happy for them to show up in search results. If you feel the post will be beneficial to appear in a search, it could be giving it a refresh with SEO in mind.
At Blue Bee we feel that it is still important to post more human and personal content. Showing the team and including behind the scenes content is still going to perform well and gain more interaction. It also helps improve your relationship with your dedicated audience and followers. Not all posts to need be maximised for SEO, it’s important to strike the right balance.
This whole feature is optional. If you don’t want your social posts to rank in Google for a whatever reason, it can be opted out of.
How Blue Bee can help
The recent development of Google indexing Instagram posts offers great opportunities for businesses to enhance their online visibility, reach new audiences, and drive organic traffic. By optimising your Instagram profile and content with SEO best practices, focusing on evergreen and educational posts, and strategically using keywords and hashtags, you can make the most of this new development.
Blue Bee can help you navigate these new opportunities, ensuring your Instagram content is optimised for search. To learn more about how Blue Bee can take your social media to the next level and integrate it with your overall digital marketing strategy, contact us today.
