SEO for Social Media: How Discovery Has Changed

In this episode of Cinch Academy, Mandy, Shyan and Michaela discuss how SEO is evolving inside social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. The conversation explores how hashtags are becoming less important, how semantic search and AI are changing discoverability and why businesses need to think about keywords differently across social platforms.

The team also discusses video captions, short-form content, Hootsuite listening tools, algorithm changes and the role of authenticity in social media marketing.

Main Takeaways:

• SEO is now about visibility across search engines, AI and social platforms

• Social media platforms increasingly use semantic search instead of relying on hashtags

• Keywords in captions, bios and usernames influence discoverability

• Short-form video continues to dominate social engagement

• AI-generated captions still need improvement for authenticity

• Hootsuite listening tools help identify relevant social keywords

• Consistency remains one of the most important social media strategies

• Businesses should maintain active profiles across multiple platforms

• Social media content heavily influences consumer trust and decision-making

• Authenticity and personality matter more than polished perfection

The Abridged Transcription (Listen for full content!)

Mandy: Welcome back to Cinch Academy. Today, we’re talking about SEO for social media. I’m here with Shyan and Michaela.

Michaela: Hello!

Mandy: Shyan, for the tenth time on this podcast, explain SEO to us again.

Shyan: What’s funny is that the definition of SEO keeps evolving. At its core, SEO is visibility. It’s about showing up wherever people are searching — whether that’s Google, Bing, AI tools or social media platforms.

Mandy: Michaela, you work heavily in social media. How has SEO changed there?

Michaela: A few years ago, social media SEO was mostly hashtags. On Instagram, for example, people would search hashtags directly like #sprayfoam or #graphicdesign. Now platforms use semantic search instead.

They analyze caption text, image descriptions, alt text and overall content themes to determine what posts are relevant.

Mandy: So it works more similarly to Google now?

Michaela: Exactly. Social media platforms are becoming search engines themselves.

Mandy: How do you actually figure out what people are searching for on social media?

Michaela: We use tools like Hootsuite’s listening feature to identify trending keywords and topics. We also manually search platforms to see what kinds of content appear around certain keywords. That helps us understand audience behaviour and discoverability.

Shyan: We do similar things with Google Trends and other analytics tools, but social media is trickier because every platform has its own separate analytics ecosystem.

Mandy: Once you have keywords, where should businesses actually place them?

Michaela: Everywhere that makes sense:

• captions

• bios

• usernames

• location tags

A newer trend is using vertical pipe separators instead of large hashtag blocks at the bottom of captions. It keeps things cleaner visually while still helping discoverability.

Shyan: We actually use pipe separators all the time in SEO metadata as well.

Mandy: What about short-form video captions and AI-generated subtitles?

Michaela: Honestly, AI captions still have a long way to go. Sometimes they work well, but sometimes they’re hilariously inaccurate or obviously AI-generated.

The technology is improving, but authenticity still matters a lot.

Shyan: Even imperfect captions still help because they create additional keyword signals for search systems to recognize.

Mandy: Hootsuite actually has an SEO checklist for Instagram that’s pretty straightforward:

• use keyword research tools

• optimize captions

• include keywords in bios and usernames

• use audio

• keep videos short

• avoid watermarks

Michaela: Hashtags still technically work, but they’re nowhere near as important as they used to be. Now platforms care more about the overall context and meaning of your content.

Mandy: Years ago, there was actually a fascinating tool called Bottlenose that visualized trending conversations in real time across social platforms.

You could literally watch topics trend across the internet as they happened.

I still miss that software.

Shyan: Social media trends move unbelievably fast now. Trying to completely rebuild a content strategy every time something trends would be impossible.

Consistency still matters more than chasing every viral moment.

Mandy: What social platforms are you all personally using right now?

Shyan: Honestly? TikTok. That’s where I hear about everything first now.

Even major news stories often show up there before I see them elsewhere.

Michaela: I’m all over the place, but Instagram has become a huge research tool for me lately. Especially for things like wedding planning or local services where visuals and personality matter.

Mandy: I’m still on Facebook mostly because that’s where all my old cat photos live now. But I don’t think any platform feels the way it used to anymore.

Shyan: Businesses absolutely still need social profiles, though. Even if users aren’t actively engaging every day, people still research businesses through Instagram, Facebook and TikTok before making purchasing decisions.

Michaela: Exactly. People want to understand who they’re hiring. Whether it’s a photographer, designer or local business, they’re looking for personality and authenticity as much as products or services.

Mandy: That’s why showing real people, humour and behind-the-scenes content matters so much now. People connect with businesses that feel human.

Shyan: Also, we need more dog photos on our socials immediately.

Michaela: I’ll handle that ASAP.

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