Changes to IG and What it means for you
What a time to be alive…
Instagram has begun letting Google, Bing and other crawlers index public posts from professional (Business or Creator) accounts run by users who are 18 +. Captions, alt-text, on-image text and even Reel transcripts can now surface in open-web search results, so social copy also functions as SEO copy.
| Changes | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram posts are now indexed by Google and Bing. | ✅ | Roll-out started 10 Jul 2025 for eligible new posts; older content will be crawled “over the coming months.” |
| Captions can now show up in search results. | ✅ | Google/Bing read the caption field and may show the first ~100 chars as the snippet. Alt-text and hashtag text are also indexed. |
| Professional + public + 18 + requirement. | ✅ | Meta confirms eligibility is limited to adult-run Business/Creator accounts whose profiles remain public; others are excluded. |
| Social and SEO just merged. | Largely true | It’s an integration, not a full merger. IG links are still nofollow (so they don’t pass PageRank). But visibility and click-through potential are very real. |
Nuances & caveats to keep in mind
Opt-out exists. Professional users can toggle Settings ▶ Privacy ▶ Search-engine visibility. Personal or private accounts remain invisible by default.
Roll-out is staged. New posts are indexed first; the back-catalogue is being recrawled in batches, so some older gems won’t appear immediately.
Ranking isn’t guaranteed. Posts still have to earn their place like any page — via relevance, engagement signals, freshness and other SEO factors.
Stories & DMs stay walled. Only feed posts, carousels, Reels and profile pages are included; ephemeral Stories and private messages remain off limits.
No link juice (yet). Outbound links in captions/comments are marked nofollow; they can drive traffic but not direct SEO authority.
Practical next steps for you (and any social team)
| Quick win | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Add alt-text with descriptive keywords (Advanced settings ▶ Accessibility). | Google reads it verbatim. |
| Front-load key phrases in your first 100 characters. | That chunk often becomes the SERP snippet. |
| Use consistent geo-tags & product tags. | Helps “near me” and shopping queries. |
| Embed high-value IG posts on your blog or newsroom. | Creates extra crawl paths and context. |
| Update content calendars so copywriters treat captions like micro-landing-pages. | Ensures every post both engages and ranks. |
Instagram SEO + Brand Health Audit checklist
https://ramdindigital.com/s/IG-seo-audit-checklist.pdf
What you get
A clean, four-column table that walks through every checkpoint, from profile setup and search-engine visibility to visual branding, engagement, cross-channel integration, and analytics.
“What Good Looks Like” criteria and a quick “How to Verify” column, you can tick off while reviewing your account.
Section dividers (A–G) so you can assign each block to different team members if needed.
