According to Instagram, there are 6 key factors that influence the Instagram algorithm for feed posts:
Interest
Relationship
Timeliness
Frequency
Following
Usage
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: Use Later to plan and schedule all of your Instagram posts, captions, and hashtags in advance so you can be more consistent with your posting strategy.
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, reshares, and views for videos, which is really helpful to know as you plan your content and captions.
Factor #2: Relationship
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 (what you really, really want), the algorithm uses your interactions to piece together who is closest to you.
Thomas Dimson, a software engineer at Instagram, shared how Instagram could theoretically figure out who you care about the most, based on how you use the app:
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
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.
Factor #3: Timeliness
Not only does the algorithm pay attention to how much engagement your Instagram post gets, but it also looks at how long ago the photo was posted.
Instagram’s algorithm cares about when you posted, because it always wants to serve you the latest, most interesting posts.
By finding your personalized best time to post on Instagram, you can hack the algorithm to increase your reach and get more likes and followers.
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.
TIP: Use Later’s Best Time to Post feature to automatically calculate your 7 top posting times based on how much engagement your posts have gained historically!
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.
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.
On a related note, it could be worth systematically removing inactive or “ghost” followers.
If a large percentage of your following is inactive, they could be doing more harm than good for your account’s algorithmic ranking.
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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