Understanding how Instagram’s algorithm works is key to successful promotion on the social network. It allows you to understand why you should buy instagram followers, what content works best, how to show the publication to the maximum number of users, gather as many likes as possible and correctly insert hashtags. Questions regarding the workings of the algorithm began to arise especially sharply when Instagram abandoned the chronological order in the feed. A lot of rumors and theories emerged in the wake of the update. We have tried to understand the peculiarities of Instagram’s algorithm in detail, and are ready to share our knowledge.
Ranking factors
Instagram’s intelligent algorithm takes into account 7 key factors when selecting the best publications to show to users.
- Engagement. Posts that garner more user interactions are ranked higher in the feed. But this is not a priority factor.
- Relevance. The algorithm tracks user interests, such as cooking, tourism, and fitness, based on the content viewed and the hashtags. Content relevance to user interests is a higher priority than engagement.
- Interactions. The posts of friends, colleagues and those people the user likes and comments on more often are higher on the feed. And since Instagram and Facebook share the same owner, interactions on that social network are also taken into account. Priority in the feed is also given to the publications of those people to whom the user writes most often.
- Timing. Many posts get lost in the feed because when ranking, the algorithm also takes into account the age of the publication, comparing it to the user’s last and current visit.
- Profile Views. To make the search for interesting content not take much time, the algorithm shows immediately the posts of those people that the user was persistently interested in.
- Viewing time. The logic of the algorithm is simple: if the post made the user hang around, it means the topic is interesting to him.
- Reposts. The algorithm takes into account the content shared by the user and tries to show him similar content in the feed, and also ranks the posts of those with whom the user often shares publications.
Based on these indicators, the Instagram algorithm tries to select the most interesting content for users and hide old, unnecessary, or considered as SPAM posts from the feed.
How often the algorithm changes
The Instagram algorithm is constantly improving. The system works based on machine learning and instantly reacts to all the actions of users and those who try to cheat the algorithm. Chances are the algorithm is changing even as you’re reading this article. Sometimes this is the reason why content stops working. But if you look globally, constant change is a good thing. It ensures that users are always getting interesting content and a more enjoyable experience using Instagram.
Does account type affect ranking?
Before the algorithm, regular and business profiles are equal. Account type is not taken into account when ranking. And even official accounts marked with a blue check mark do not have any privileges. Therefore, you can safely choose the type of account that is convenient to work with. At the same time, it is important to note that personal accounts do not have any additional options for promotion, while accounts of authors or business profiles can offer more advanced functionality.
Video is preferable to photos?
No. The algorithm is not based on content type. The feed is generated individually for each user depending on what content they view and interact with more often. So you can attract 10k instagram followers by posting only photos and no video content.