INTRODUCTION
How does Instagram work? Whether you have a Personal, Creator, or Business Instagram account, it won’t affect how the algorithm will rank your content. According to Instagram, its algorithms have one goal: to make your stay on the app longer – if not forever – by delivering content you’ll find relevant and exciting. “Instagram doesn’t have one algorithm that oversees what people do and don’t see on the app. We use a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and processes, each with its own purpose. We want to make the most of your time, and we believe that using technology to personalize your experience is the best way to do that.”
Knowing about the latest algorithm updates is a huge advantage because you can tailor your social media strategy to what the algorithm prioritizes, letting you reach more users, build a community of engaged followers, and convert sales. Instagram algorithms rely on three key concepts:
Audience: What kind of content are people attracted to? When someone frequently interacts (likes, comments, shares, saves, etc.) on someone’s content, it’s more likely that Instagram shows them similar content related to it.
Engagement: What kind of content do people engage with? For instance, if someone likes sports content, the Instagram algorithm will continue serving that type of content to the person who’s interested in that. The same thing happens when someone follows or searches for content.
Relevance: The algorithm focuses on when a post has been posted to decide if it’s relevant to the audience. It also considers how often people scroll on the app to choose what to prioritize.
Keep reading for a more in-depth breakdown of how each Instagram algorithm works, depending on the content type.
TLDR SUMMARY
1. How The Instagram Algorithm Works For Feed Posts
2. How The Instagram Algorithm Works For Instagram Stories
3. How The Instagram Algorithm Works For Instagram Reels
4. How The Instagram Algorithm Works on The Explore Page
5. 7 Best Practices For Instagram Algorithm
6. How Boosting Posts Affects The Instagram’s Algorithm
7. Conclusion
1. How The Instagram Algorithm Works For Feed Posts
“The more likely you are to take an action, and the more heavily we weigh that action, the higher up you’ll see the post. We add and remove signals and predictions over time, working to get better at surfacing what you’re interested in.” – Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram.
The Instagram algorithm monitors every interaction people make on the app, from the posts someone likes to who someone interacts with, to serve you content it believes you will interact with. This includes:
Type of Posts: Is it a photo or a video? How many likes does it have? When was it posted? What is its quality and/or originality?
Poster’s Profile: How interesting are they to you? Do you follow them? How often do people engage with their content?
Your Activity: What type of content do you typically engage with?
Your Interaction: Do you typically like or comment on the poster’s posts?
Instagram monitors factors impacting where a post lands in someone’s Home Feed, like if the content violates Instagram’s Community Guidelines or is reported. Also, it takes into consideration five main interactions when deciding how to rank a post on someone’s Home Feed:
Time Spent: Are people going to spend time on the post?
Likes: How likely are people to like the post?
Comments: How likely are people to comment on the post?
Saves: How likely are people to save the post?
Taps on Profile: How likely will people tap on the profile after seeing the post?
Keeping this in mind, when you plan your content and captions for your Instagram Feed posts, create content that will encourage your audience to take action and engage with what you offer.
2. How The Instagram Algorithm Works For Instagram Stories
Unlike Instagram Feed posts, the Instagram Stories algorithm prioritizes content from the accounts people interact with the most rather than the specific content posted. Due to the short-lived nature of exposure, timeliness is less critical for stories, but it can slightly impact ranking once a story gets to 10+ hours. With this in mind, we recommend regularly sharing Instagram Stories that encourage engagement. Poll, questions, versus, and quiz stickers are all great ways to drive interactions with your audience.
3. How The Instagram Algorithm Works For Instagram Reels
Much like Instagram Feed posts, Instagram prioritizes Reels based on what it believes a viewer will most likely interact with. It uses every information they can get from the interactions on the content to help rank Reels.
According to Instagram, creators should create Reels that are original, entertaining, inspiring, and experimental — and use creative tools like text, camera effects, or filters. Sharing Instagram Reels to the main Feed, using relevant Keywords and Hashtags can increase discoverability, and including on-screen captions to make your content more accessible and relevant. In analysis, short-form videos will see the most growth this year. According to the latest statistics, this marketing format is the most effective and has the highest ROI, so we expect to see more 9:16 (full-screen vertical) content coming our way.
4. How The Instagram Algorithm Works on The Explore Page
The Instagram Explore Page algorithm delivers content that it thinks the audience will be most interested in based on their prior interactions. It also considers the visual content along with the words used in the captions.
While your Instagram Reels, Stories, and Home Feed is mainly made up of content from accounts you already follow, the Explore Feed consists almost entirely of content from new accounts. People can search by Keywords and Hashtags to discover feeds of relevant content. According to Instagram, “The most important actions we predict in Explore include likes, saves, and shares.” — So by continually sharing engaging content with solid captions, relevant Keywords, and Hashtags, you’ll optimize your posts for Explore Page potential.
5. 7 Best Practices For Instagram Algorithm
#1 Use Instagram Analytics
Monitoring your content’s performance on Instagram is one of the most reliable ways to take on the Instagram algorithm. Understanding what’s working and how the content performs will help you develop a finely tuned social media plan. And to truly understand how your content performs, we recommend you track key metrics over time to avoid perception concepts and focus on what Instagram tells you.
#2 Add Hashtags and Keywords
Adding relevant Keywords and niche Hashtags to your copy is an effective way to reach more people and rank content, which means more views for the Instagram algorithm to take into account. Instagram has confirmed that Feed posts with 30 hashtags get the highest level of engagement on average.
#3 Drive Conversations With Engaging Captions
Comments and Likes are essential for Feed ranking, so it’s a great idea to encourage as many as possible for your posts. Ensure to write good-catching captions that will drive engagement. This could be asking your audience to comment, double-tap, tag a friend, click the link in your bio, etc.
#4 Encourage More Interactions
Instagram Stories Stickers (like Poll, Emoji Slider, Question, etc.) are one of the best ways to encourage your audience to interact with your content. The more engagement your posts get, the higher they’ll be boosted by the Instagram algorithm.
#5 Share Instagram Reels
Instagram across the entire app experience is heavily promoting Instagram Reels. They also get twice as much in the Instagram Explore Page, making them an effective tactic for discovery and growth.
#6 Deliver Quality Content
If you want to improve your ranking with the Instagram algorithm, the best thing you can do is drive as many interactions as possible. As we explained at the beginning of this article, Instagram pays attention to how people interact with your content. You must think about your target audience while creating your social media plan. Your content should be relevant to your audience and follow Instagram’s best practices to take full advantage of it.
#7 Cross-promote Your Content
To help boost your Instagram algorithm ranking, cross-promoting your content is a great place to start. Instagram Collabs posts — with co-shared authorship — are an incredible way to reach new audiences. You’ll be able to share views, likes, and comments, allowing you to leverage and engage with each other’s communities. Posting ads on Facebook and Instagram is also one of the main ways to promote your content, and it requires different practices to get it right.
6. How Boosting Posts Affects The Instagram’s Algorithm
Each time a user opens Instagram, its algorithm instantly combs through all available content and decides what content to serve them and in what order. The way Instagram determines which posts to suggest is by analyzing the posts the user has interacted with, the history of interacting with an account or similar accounts, and the popularity of a post to determine whether or not to suggest it. And when you boost a post on Instagram, you pay the platform to amplify the existing post’s reach to your target audience, giving your social media presence an extra push. In simple terms, promoted posts and stories on Instagram help you reach out to a customized audience segment, and you’re paying publicity for Instagram to prioritize your content to the right people.
CONCLUSION
Ready to Get More Engagement on Instagram?
At this point, you know the best way to gain an advantage with the Instagram algorithm. Know your audience target, create engaging and high-quality content and copy, and be consistent. The Instagram algorithm will do the rest. Planning your social media strategy and calendar content, it’s also a huge part of your success. Need help? Trust Estes Media digital marketing experts! We are a content creation agency that allows you to manage your social media channels effortlessly, make the best of your digital channels, and explore all features that could help you increase engagement and sales. We specialize in social media marketing for construction companies and all kind of businesses. Get in touch with us!
