Guide 3 of 8 in Level 5: Grow
How to turn Google searches into Instagram post ideas
To turn Google searches into posts in Blackbox (blackbox.plus), connect Google Search Console for your brand’s website. After it syncs, the brand’s Inbox shows one Search demand card for the biggest search your site shows up for but rarely wins: below the top three results on average over the last 90 days, seen on at least three days, and never a search for your own name. The card names the search, where you show up, such as around position 9, and its impressions. Click Approve, and Studio’s Google search tab opens with that search ticked; nothing is made until you click Make ideas. Tick up to six searches for one batch, which takes about a minute. Then click Make this on an idea marked From Google search to write its brief. The post answers the question and never quotes your numbers. Once an idea is saved, the card says Done. Not now snoozes it for a day or dismisses that search for 30 days.
- You'll need
- Time
- About 4 minutes 9 steps Updated
- You'll end with
- A post idea that answers a real Google search, with its brief written and the card marked Done
How to turn Google searches into Instagram post ideas in Blackbox
Step 1:Find the card
Click Inbox in the left menu, then your brand.
You'll see: A Search demand card titled with the search, such as People search "how long does cold brew last".
Open this in BlackboxStep 2:Read where you show up
Read the line under the card’s title.
You'll see: Where your site shows up, such as Around position 9 · on page one, with the searches and impressions in 90 days.
Step 3:Approve it
Click Approve.
You'll see: Studio’s Google search tab, with that search ticked.
Step 4:Tick more searches
Tick any other search worth a post, up to six in all.
You'll see: The button counting what you ticked, such as Make ideas (2).
Step 5:Make the ideas
Click Make ideas.
You'll see: A bar showing the batch at work, then Ideas are ready after about a minute.
Step 6:Pick one
Click Make this on an idea marked From Google search.
You'll see: The brief for that post — the plan Studio writes it from.
Step 7:Check the card
Open your brand in the Inbox again.
You'll see: The card marked Done, with See the ideas.
Open this in BlackboxStep 8:Or put it off
On the card, click Not now, then Snooze or Dismiss.
You'll see: Snooze and Dismiss under the card.
Open this in BlackboxStep 9:Or start from Studio
In Studio, click Make one from an idea, then open Google search.
You'll see: Every search worth a post, with its Impressions and Position.
Open this in Blackbox
Good to know
- A search makes the list when your site’s average position for it is 4 to 60 over 90 days, with at least 5 impressions on 3 or more days. At 1 to 3 you already win the click.
- Searches that name your brand or your website are left out.
- On page one means position 10 or better; close is 11 to 30; Google links you to it is further down.
- Impressions end in + because Google leaves out very rare searches, so every total is a floor.
- Related searches share a row. Click 3 searches ▸ on a row to see each one’s numbers.
- A brand has one card at a time. A bigger search replaces a card you haven’t approved; an approved card stays until an idea is saved.
- Snooze brings the card back after a day. Dismiss asks why, and keeps that search off the card for 30 days.
- For ideas from your pages, a topic or photos, see Get Instagram post ideas from your own website.
If something doesn't work
There’s no Search demand card in the Inbox
No search clears the bar yet, or Search Console hasn’t synced. Open Google search in Studio: it says why the list is empty, such as No searches above 5 impressions in 90 days yet.
The Google search tab is missing
It shows only when Search Console is connected for that brand. Connect it from the Data page — see Connect Google Search Console to Blackbox.
It says none of this login’s Search Console properties is my site
The Google login you connected can’t read the brand’s website. Reconnect Search Console with a login that owns it, or fix the website on the brand page.
The card still says In Studio
It turns Done once a batch saves an idea for its search. Click Open in Studio, then Make ideas. If the last batch says no idea for that search, run it again.
It says a search isn’t on the list any more
An idea already covers it, or Google stopped reporting it. Tick another search on the list.
Previous: Act on the Inbox’s suggestions
Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 5: Grow