Caption craft · 6 min read
Two captions, rewritten for Google: a café and a brand coach
One photo post and one Reel, taken from a caption written for followers to a first line people can find. Every step, and why.
Short answer
Pick the one search a customer would type, put those words at the start of the caption, make the point before Google may cut the title, and keep the rest in your own voice.
- What changes
- The first line
- Time per post
- About 5 minutes
- Works on
- Photos, carousels, Reels
- Title space
- About 50–60 characters
On this page
The two posts
Take a Melbourne café we’ll call Ember & Oak, and a Toronto brand strategist we’ll call North Studio. Both post often, both have loyal followers, and both write captions the way most of us do: for people who already know them.
That works in the feed. It doesn’t work in search, where a stranger decides in a second whether your post answers their question. Here’s the café’s post as it went out.
What a searcher sees
When Google shows a public Instagram post, the caption’s first line usually becomes the result’s title. Here is the café’s original line in that spot, and the line it became.
Happy Monday everyone ☕✨ new week, new vibes #coffee
Best flat white in Melbourne? Here’s how we pour ours
Double ristretto, milk at 60°C, poured thin. Come by Fitzroy before 10 and try it.
The original tells a searcher nothing: no drink, no city, no reason to click. The new line answers the search before the reader has finished reading it.
Step 1: find the search
Before writing anything, list the searches this post could honestly answer, and pick one. The best one matches what the picture shows and what a customer types when they’re ready to visit.
Pick one search per post. A first line that tries to answer three searches answers none of them clearly.
Step 2: write the line
Put the searched words first, then give the reason to keep reading. Check it fits: Google measures titles in width, not letters, and usually shows about 50 to 60 characters on desktop.
BeforeHappy Monday everyone ☕✨ new week, new vibes #coffee
AfterBest flat white in Melbourne? Here’s how we pour ours
The search comes first, the question invites the click, and the emoji and hashtag move out of the title.
The first line has two jobs: get the post found, and get it read.
From our guide to writing a first line for Google
The same steps for a Reel
North Studio posted a Reel about rebrands. The caption started the way many talking-head videos do.
BeforeSo today I want to talk about rebrands…
AfterBrand strategy coach in Toronto: 3 questions before you rebrand
Clients search for the service and the city. The number promises something specific, and the topic is still the same Reel.
For video, the same words should be said in the first seconds and shown on screen, so the caption, the audio and the picture all point at the same search.
Step 3: keep everything else yours
Only the first line changes. The rest of each caption keeps its usual tone, words and sign-off, because that’s what followers come back for.
Do
- Keep your usual sign-off and the words you always use
- Mention the place again lower down, such as Fitzroy or Toronto
- Keep a few specific hashtags, at the end
Don’t
- Open with a greeting, emoji or hashtag
- Stuff several searches into one line
- Change your tone to sound like an advert
Tips from rewriting captions
- Tip 1. Read the first line out loud as if it were a search result. If it makes no sense on its own, rewrite it.
- Tip 2. If two searches fit, save the second for your next post on the same topic.
- Tip 3. For carousels, the first slide and the first line should promise the same thing.
- Tip 4. Old posts count too: fix the first line of your best-performing posts first.
Step 4: check before you post
- 1Search words firstWould a customer type the opening words into Google?
- 2Point before the cut-offDoes the line make sense within about 55 characters?
- 3Nothing wastedNo greeting, emoji or hashtag in the first line.
- 4Still youRead the whole caption: does it sound like your other posts?
Questions
Will changing the first line hurt engagement?
It shouldn’t. A clear first line tells followers what the post is too, and the rest of the caption keeps your voice.
Can I edit old captions?
Yes. You can edit the caption of a post that’s already published, with no need to repost. Search engines pick up the change the next time they visit the post, which can take a while.
Does this guarantee the post will rank?
No. Google decides positions. A clear first line removes one common reason good posts get missed.
