Instagram Reels Optimization: How To Promote Your Brand Through Short Videos

Intro

It's well known that visuals have been one of the breakout trends in the brands’ marketing activities for the past decade. But now it’s the video’s turn. These days, a comprehensive brand content strategy includes 30-60 seconds short-form vertical videos. They are called TikToks on TikTok, Shorts on YouTube and Reels on Instagram and Facebook. But in this article I’ll focus only on Instagram Reels, because Reels are having a major moment right now.

Here are some statistics. On average, adult Instagram users spend 30 minutes watching Instagram Reels every day (Insider Intelligence). The average engagement rate for Instagram Reels is 1.95% (Socialinsider). On the contrary, YouTube videos’ engagement rate is 0.63%, usual video posts’ on Instagram is 0.39%, and 0.20% for Facebook Reels. What is more, Instagram Reels has 675.3 million users daily (Reels Statistics). And finally, I have a question for you. How often do you find yourself scrolling Instagram Reels while eating, being stuck in traffic, or even while watching TV series? I bet that it happens all the time. So, are you still unsure about whether to start creating Instagram Reels or not? I don’t think so.

And with the rise of Instagram Reels comes the need to optimize them for search. But how does Reels SEO work? What are the major steps you need to take to optimize them? There are some important tips and tools below.

What is Instagram Reels SEO?

Instagram Reels optimization is all about tailoring these short videos, so they appear in front of the right target audience. It's an important tactic for improving your visibility on Instagram search. The more users who view and engage with your Instagram Reels, the greater chance to be at the top of the search bar and reach a wider audience.

Instagram Reels SEO and regular on-page SEO have no differences. The exact formula to grow your following and build a strong community is all about relevant keywords. Despite the fact that there are not many spaces to place these keywords on Instagram, they’re still a proven ranking factor for Instagram Reels algorithms. The list is truly short, including Reels’ cover photo, title, description, and hashtags.

Why is Instagram Reels SEO important?

With over 1.44 billion daily active users on Instagram, SEO impacts greatly on both the reach and discovery of your brand on the platform. Moreover, there is a separate result page for only Reels on Instagram, while photos, video posts, IGTVs, and other content types are shown all together.

And the main ranking factors for Reels are not the total amount of views, likes, or shares. It’s relevant, which means that everyone has a chance to grow the number of followers and build a strong Instagram community.

How to choose your target keywords?

Analytics tools will help you find relevant keywords. For example, use Google Analytics to see what keywords drive traffic to your website right now. They are likely the best candidates for optimizing your Instagram Reels.

Keyword Finder powered by Ranktarcker is another useful tool for keyword research. Use this online SEO tool to discover common words related to your brand, niche, or competitors.

How to increase your discoverability on Instagram search bar?

1. Include your target keywords in the Instagram Reels cover photo

With keywords on Reels’ covers, you can ensure your videos are surfaced in relevant search results page. Thanks to Instagram, Reels’ covers are available to everyone – even to accounts with 0 followers. Plus, you can even edit the cover photos of already published Reels – so you can optimize them for Instagram search and give it the visibility it deserves.

Your search keywords should be just 1-3 words and take up no more than a half of the cover photo. Moreover, it’s better to place them in the center of the cover to make them attract users’ attention faster. Cover photo optimization definitely helps you to rank higher on Instagram search. But it might also give the opportunity to increase the click-through-rate of your video even if it doesn’t appear on a top-10 on search bar.

Extra tip: If you want to get additional views of your Instagram Reels, optimize your video’s cover photo itself. There are a lot of stock resources that offer free illustrations, photos, and clipart images. If your video is about planning, place a calendar clipart image. If your content covers the tips for growing on YouTube, place a YouTube’s logo, and so on.

2. Insert your keywords naturally in the title of your Instagram Reels

Your Instagram Reels title is the next place to include search terms and relevant keywords. Unlike videos' description, hashtags and comments, only the title is staying visible while the Reel video is playing. So optimizing your title helps both users and search algorithms to decide whether your content is relevant or not.

Reels title makes the first impression on users. A strong one will drive more traffic to your account, while a weak title can send this traffic away. That's why you have to spend time getting it right. First, make sure to keep your title short. I recommend limiting it to 7 words to avoid getting your title cut off. Second, give users a reason to open Reels description and read it. One way to start is to shortly describe a user's potential problem and its solution in the description, as well as in the video itself. It can look like this: “5 simple ways to make money» or «How to reduce anxiety». Finally, be sure to include numbers in your title. It’s known that numbered titles usually get more clicks.

3. Optimize your Reels caption

According to Google, the official characters limit for Instagram Reels description is 2,200 characters. And while it's incredibly easy to use all this space, remember that you’re working with short videos. Their viewers most likely came to Instagram to quickly watch them to entertain themselves, not to read an essay. If you would like to write a longer caption, keep in mind that the text will appear above your video on a transparent background. So, adding a long text in your Reels’ caption is unnecessary in terms of both user engagement and user experience. 90% of your viewers will definitely not read this long text, another 10% will not be able to do it because of poor text readability.

You might be wondering how to use captions for Reels optimization. Fortunately, the process is very simple. 2-3 sentences with the right keywords will be enough to appear at the top search results and provide value to the viewers.

4. Include up to 30 hashtags with relevant keywords

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, suggests using hashtags to let viewers find the content in the search bar. But there's no way to cheat. You can’t add hashtags with a high search volume to get more views. Only relevant keywords will help to put your video in front of your target audience.

Let’s say you have created a video about growing strawberries at home, which is not in the interest of millions of people. And you added a popular «cat» tag to put your content in front of billions of people. Of course, these one billion people will watch your video, but none of them engage with your Instagram account. On the contrary, you can put your video in front of 20-30 people with relevant hashtags. And all of them will drive engagement.

That’s why it’s crucial to have a clear hashtag strategy for Instagram Reels — without it, you could be missing out on the opportunity to find people who’re truly interested in your content, and product or service.

5. Be consistent with your optimization

Instagram search results are also based on the consistency of your Reels optimization. That means the more you follow the tips described above, the more the algorithm will learn what your videos are all about.

Keep in mind that this type of consistency tells Instagram who you are and what you offer. So your content, including Reels, will be served to a relevant audience as they search for what they need. If you chase the number of video views and optimize for irrelevant keywords, your content will still appear on the search bar, but in front of the wrong audience.

By implementing a consistent SEO strategy for your Instagram Reels, you’ll be rewarded with increased discovery and views in a couple of weeks! With just a little effort, you can quickly take advantage of Instagram Reels and get more quality views, followers, and therefore, gain more profit from your content!.

So do you want to win in content marketing? Start sharing optimized Instagram Reels right now!