SEO is no longer the exclusive territory of websites. With Google’s decision to crawl and index public Instagram posts, the game has changed for good. If you run a business or manage a brand, this affects you directly, and at AKROLIH we want to explain why and how you can make the most of it.
The big change: Instagram now appears on Google
Since July 2025, the world’s most widely used search engine has been indexing public content from Instagram profiles. This means your posts, your Reels and your profile description can appear in Google search results when someone searches for terms related to your business.
This is no minor change. It is a profound transformation in the way social media content interacts with the search engine, and it opens up a channel of organic visibility that simply did not exist before.
What kind of content from your profile can Google index?
Not all of your Instagram profile will be crawled in the same way. According to the information available to date, Google can show the following in its results:
- The text of your posts and Reels, especially the first words of the caption.
- Your bio, particularly the first 120 characters, which act as a kind of meta description for your profile.
- The hashtags and keywords you use regularly in your content.
- Certain highlights from your account if they are set to public.
Requirements for your profile to be indexable
For Google to be able to crawl your Instagram content, you need to meet two basic conditions. The first is to have a Business or Creator account (it does not work with personal profiles). The second is to manually enable the indexing option within the app itself:
- Open the Instagram app.
- Go to Settings and privacy.
- Find the Account privacy section.
- Turn on the option “Allow public photos and videos to appear in search engine results”.
Once this is done, Google can start crawling and showing your content in its results.
How to adapt your Instagram content strategy
Knowing that Google reads your Instagram changes the way you should write. Here are the practical keys to adapting your content:
Start your captions with the keyword
Google gives more weight to the first words of a post’s text. If you sell web design services in Tenerife, start your caption with something like: “Web design in Tenerife: this is how we built the website for [Company]”. Direct, clear and search-oriented.
Optimise your bio as if it were a landing page
Your bio is one of the most visible elements for Google. Include your value proposition, your area if you offer local services, and the keywords that define your business. Avoid poetic or ambiguous text: prioritise clarity.
Speak your potential customers’ language
Before posting, ask yourself: how would someone search Google for what I offer? The answer should guide the vocabulary in your captions. If someone searches for “digital marketing agency in Tenerife”, make sure those words appear naturally in your content.
Local SEO also counts on Instagram
If you have a physical business or provide services in a specific area, mention your location in your captions and bio. Google favours local visibility and may show your profile when someone runs location-based searches.
Consistency and topical depth
A profile that posts regularly on the same topic with consistent vocabulary is more likely to rank than one with scattered content. Topical specialisation is an SEO advantage on social media too.
What this means for your brand’s digital strategy
Instagram is no longer a closed channel where content lives and dies within the platform. It is now part of Google’s search ecosystem, which means that every post can attract traffic from the search engine, not just from the feed or the app’s algorithm.
This does not replace your website or your blog, but it does add an extra layer of visibility that, if worked on properly, can become a significant lead generation channel. Brands that understand this shift and adjust the way they create content will have a clear advantage over those that keep posting without an SEO mindset.
Is your brand ready for this new landscape?
At AKROLIH we have been working at the intersection of SEO and social media for our clients in Tenerife and the rest of Spain for some time. If you would like us to analyse your current Instagram presence and help you design a content strategy that has an impact both on and off the platform, get in touch and let’s talk.
