Metrics to Consider
What Engagements Are Most Important to the Instagram Algorithm? When it comes to feed performance, we know the algorithm prioritizes content that receives the most engagement. But what are the most important metrics of engagements?
According to Instagram, the most important engagements for feed ranking are comments, likes, re-shares, and views for videos, which is really helpful to know as you plan your content and captions. According to Instagram, there are six key factors that influence the Instagram algorithm for feed posts:
| Factor #1: Interest |
- Your Instagram feed isn’t only based on who you follow, it’s also based on the accounts and types of posts you’ve liked historically. The more the Instagram algorithm thinks you will “like” a certain type of post, the higher it will appear in your feed.
- Basically, what you see in your Instagram feed is a combination of all of your Instagram behaviors. The accounts you interact with the most, the people you are tagged in photos with, and of course, the type of posts that you like and comment on. This is why consistently showing up on Instagram is so important.
- It sends positive signals to the Instagram algorithm — and gives your audience more opportunities to interact with your content.
- TIP: Create a content calendar to plan and schedule your Instagram posts in advance, to identify and select consistent topics, language and hashtag.
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| Factor #2: Relationship |
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The Instagram algorithm wants to prioritize posts from your friends, family, and accounts that you care about. So in order for Instagram to show you what you want, the algorithm uses your interactions to piece together who is closest to you:
- People whose content you like (possibly including stories and live videos)
- People you direct message
- People you search for
- People you know in real life
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- Instagram will try to calculate this relationship (and your interest level) as soon as you follow someone by serving you their content and monitoring how you engage with it.
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| Factor #3: Timeliness |
- Instagram’s algorithm cares about when you posted. Since Instagram is now prioritizing “new” content on people’s feeds, your best shot at getting your content in front of your followers is by posting when most of them are online and scrolling the app.
- And if you post at a time when your followers are online and most active, you give yourself a better chance of getting more likes.
- Every Instagram account has a unique audience with followers located across different cities, countries, and time zones — so it’s important to find your personalized best time to post on Instagram.
- Instagram Insights can be used to find your top time zones and see when the majority of your followers are online
- Spreadsheets can help you keep track of your posting experiments and measure your progress
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| Factor #4: Frequency |
- How often do you open the Instagram app? If you’re a frequent scroller, your feed will look more chronological, since Instagram tries to show you the best posts since your last visit.
- If you check the Instagram app less often, your feed will be sorted into what Instagram thinks you’ll like, instead of chronologically.
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| Factor #5: Following |
- How many people do you follow on Instagram? If you follow a lot of people, then Instagram has more options to choose from, so you probably won’t see all of the posts from every account.
- If a large percentage of your following is inactive, they could be doing more harm than good for your account’s algorithmic ranking. On a related note, it could be worth systematically removing inactive or “ghost” followers.
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| Factor #6: Usage |
- If you spend a lot of time on Instagram, you’re going to see more posts as Instagram digs deeper into its catalog.
- If you spend enough time on Instagram, you can even run out of new content to see. Once this happens, the algorithm will serve you suggested content from new accounts — based on your previous interactions.
- However, if you only spend a few minutes in the app each day, then you’re going to just get the day’s highlights from the algorithm.
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