As of July 10th, public business/creator Instagram accounts are now indexed by major search engines.
This means feed content including Photos, Carousels, Reels and Videos from January 2020 onward can now appear in search engine results like Google and Bing.
Here's a sample:
This does not apply to personal accounts, only business/creator accounts.
This change means your social content isn’t just for your followers anymore, it’s part of your SEO footprint. Instagram content can now drive organic search traffic, akin to blog posts or YouTube videos.
What action should you consider taking to optimize your social media presence for search engine indexing?
Optimize captions with keywords: think “Downtown LA plastic surgeon” instead of vague descriptors.
Add descriptive alt text: This boosts both accessibility and search visibility.
Use geo-tags: Add consistent locations/naming to enhance local search relevance.
Refresh your posts: archive off-brand or low-performing old content.
There have always been shortcuts to try to boost SEO- things like buying backlinks or manipulating site structure to outsmart the algorithm. But these tactics rarely hold up over time, and they often come with risk. The most effective long-term strategy is, and always has been, creating high-quality, relevant content. Google’s recent decision to index Instagram posts from business accounts reinforces this. When your content is informative, intentional, and aligned with what your audience is actually searching for, it earns visibility organically.
This update also underscores why our paid media strategy across programmatic display and paid search is designed to work with your organic content, not separately from it. High-quality social posts can now support SEO, which in turn strengthens the performance of your paid campaigns by improving relevance, quality scores, and conversion likelihood. When your organic and paid efforts align, your brand shows up more consistently and credibly across the full customer journey.
Note: If you don’t want your Instagram content indexed by search engines, you do have the option to opt out via your settings by toggling off the “Allow public photos and videos to appear in search engines results” section.
At Group 241, we’re always happy to help you cut through the jargon and make confident decisions. Contact us at hello@group241.com or schedule a free consultation here.
