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Social SEO: What is it and why should you care?

Once upon a time, Social SEO was all about hashtags and captions; helpful little tools to boost your visibility within a platform. But things have moved on. Fast.

Instagram’s recent update means your social content isn’t just being seen in app, it’s being surfaced in search engines too. Google, Bing… your next guest might discover you while searching, not scrolling.

That’s big news. It means every social post now has the potential to improve your search engine visibility, shape your brand voice and inspire bookings, all in one go.

For hoteliers, it’s a shift worth paying attention to. Social media is already a driving force behind travel decisions, especially for Gen-Z. In fact, over a third of Gen-Z travellers say it’s their number one planning tool (Travel Weekly), with other demographics increasingly following suit.

Instagram posts being indexed in search means your social feed matters more. It’s no longer enough to be present. You need to be compelling, consistent and on-brand. Because a beautifully curated, story-led social presence doesn’t just help you stand out – it helps you show up.

So, what's actually changed in social SEO?

In short: Instagram profiles now behave more like mini-websites.

• Captions, bios, usernames, and posts can be indexed by search engines
• Reels titles and overlay text are all searchable
• Alt text and geo-tags can help you rank for local queries

In other words, the content you post today has the potential to work for you long after it's been published. Evergreen visibility? We’ll take it.

Two (separate) examples of Instagram posts being indexed in search:

7 Ways to Optimise Your Hotel's Instagram for Search

A few small but effective adjustments to your Instagram strategy can help you best leverage this update. Here’s how to maximise visibility while staying true to your brand.

1. Make sure you’re eligible
   You’ll need a business or creator profile, set to public, with the “Allow public photos and videos to appear in search engine results” setting enabled (see right)

2. Optimise your captions for keywords
   Consider descriptive, location-rich, language. Think: “Luxurious rooms in Edinburgh with dreamy castle views” Not: “Dreamy rooms 😍”

3. Refine your username and bio
   Keep your handle consistent with your hotel name. In your bio, consider adding your top-performing terms: “5-Star Hotel Edinburgh | Boutique Stays | Spa & Dining”

4. Audit older content
   Legacy posts now have lasting value. This is an ideal time to refresh captions and add alt text where relevant. Evergreen doesn’t mean unchangeable.

5. Geo-tag everything
   Especially key landmarks or destinations. Your hotel isn’t just a property – it’s part of a place.

6. Use alt text strategically
   Great for accessibility. Now, great for SEO. Describe your images with accuracy and intent to increase the likelihood of showing in search results.

7. Build a content plan around search volume
   Leverage your website’s keyword research to help guide your content calendar. If you’re noticing upward trends for certain keywords, then you can create focused social content to match that demand. This ensures your content stays relevant, discoverable, and is aligned with user intent.

Reel booking opportunities - Optimising Social Video for Search Engines

Your hotel's Reels, TikToks, Shorts – they’re all showing up in Google results. That means your social video content can drive organic traffic and those all-important bookings, not just on-platform engagement.

To better optimise your hotel’s videos for search engines:

• Prioritise quality
  Before even considering SEO optimisations for your video content, it is essential to start with a strong foundation. Your content must be relevant to your target audience and high quality, showcasing the best of your hotel or resort. Investing in a high-quality camera and editing software, or enlisting the help of a dedicated content creation team, can help ensure your visuals are polished, professional, and compelling.
• Utilise keyword research
  Just as you should use data-driven keyword data to shape your website content, it should also guide your video content. Incorporate target keyword into your script, tags, captions, text overlays and alt text to improve discoverability.
• Include transcriptions for accessibility (and crawlability)
  While once mainly used for accessibility, video transcriptions are now extremely valuable for SEO. Uploading a transcription of any spoken parts of your video helps search engines understand the video. There is now a wide range of tools that can automate this process, saving you time and effort.
• Optimise metadata
  Make sure that your video’s alt text, title and description are all keyword-optimised and compelling. Each element should give a clear indication of the context of the video.

Where Social Meets Search, Alignment is Everything

At 80 DAYS, our SEO and social teams don’t just co-exist, they collaborate. From shared content calendars to real-time insight exchange, we make sure that what ranks also resonates.

Here’s some top tips to ensure your collaboration is just as successful:

• Shared goals:
  Before a single post or page goes live, we define what success looks like. KPIs like social referral sessions, branded search uplift and direct bookings all offer tangible ways to measure impact.

  Clear goals. Shared dashboards. Regular reviews. These aren’t just operational must-haves, they’re the glue that keeps strategy aligned and performance on track.

• Shared insights:
  Keyword research from our SEO team often uncovers the content gaps ripe for storytelling. This data directly feeds our social strategy and helps us create posts that are both discoverable and engaging.

  Meanwhile, our social team brings real-time intel from the frontlines: what people are asking, watching, sharing. These insights shape our on-site content, ensuring it’s not just optimised, but relevant.

• Shared assets:
  Blog post? Local guide? Limited-time offer? If it’s worth publishing on your website, it’s worth amplifying socially. Repurposing SEO-driven content across social not only increases visibility, it also gives both teams a chance to contribute to rankings and revenue.

• Shared tone:
  It’s not just what you say. It’s how you say it. That’s why our teams work from a shared tone of voice to ensure brand consistency across every channel, from H1 headers to hashtags. And it’s this consistency that builds familiarity, trust and, ultimately, loyalty.

Looking Ahead

The growing influence of social media on hotel bookings and revenue is not one to be overlooked. Instagram’s indexability update is a sign of a move towards a digital landscape where alignment of social and SEO strategies will not just be a desirable extra, but a necessity.  

At 80 DAYS, we’ve already embraced this integrated approach by bridging creative social storytelling with SEO driven strategy to ensure our clients are at the forefront of this evolving digital landscape.  

The future of hotel marketing is social, searchable, and strategic. Talk to our team to see how we can help position your brand ahead of the curve.