Here are some essential best practices for optimizing your Instagram profile and posts to help you boost discoverability and engagement!

1. Include if you can your primary keyword in your display name and @Username. ...

2. Use your secondary keywords in the bio.

3. Treat your hashtags as keywords.

4. Use secondary keywords in your image captions.

5. Take advantage of Instagram alt text. ...

6. Track everything with analytics.

Today I would like to point the Instagram Alt text

Instagram alt text is a new-ish feature that allows you to write custom alternative text so you can add a richer description of your photos.

And while the feature was mainly designed for Instagram users who have visual impairments, it can also be used for SEO.

At the moment, Instagram creates automatic alternative text so you can hear descriptions of photos through your screen reader.

The feature uses object recognition technology to generate a description of photos for screen readers so you can hear a list of items that photos may contain as you browse the app.

But you can also create custom alternative text when you upload a photo to create a clearer description of what your post is about! Here’s how to do it:

To see and edit alt text for a photo before you post it on Instagram, tap Advanced Settings at the bottom of the screen before posting. Next, tap Write Alt Text.

Here are 8 tips on how to write ALT text:

1. Describe the image as specifically as you can.

2. “Imagine someone is sitting next to you as you scroll through Instagram and they point at a photo and ask what it is. Chances are, you’ll give them a one or two sentence description that is perfect for writing as alt text”

3. Make sure you focus on what you want people to remember about your image.

4. Is there an important text on your photo (like a signage or quote)? Write out the text.

5. Keep it (relatively) short.

6. Write who is on the picture (especially if you have a personal account). For example: Alex and Andrew smiling and sitting on the sofa.

7. Colors: As Perkins School said, “don’t be afraid to share what colors are in a photo, if color is important. However, don’t get caught up trying to explain what color is to someone who can’t see it. A photo can be described as being in black-and-white, having warm or cool colors, or being tinted a certain color. Someone wearing clothes that are the main focus of the photo can write that they are wearing a black and white lace dress with yellow earrings.”

8. Use keywords (for example, if you are a travel blogger, use the keyword “travel blogger” in your alt text to increase your chances to reach people who love following travel bloggers).