Influencers and business owners who are already popular on Instagram often refer to the Instagram algorithm like it’s one monolithic thing. In fact, there are multiple algorithms at play each time a post gets boosted up or down users’ feeds. The good news is that this set of algorithms can still be used to bring extra attention to Instagram accounts as long as site users understand how it works.
What Are Algorithms?
Before discussing how, exactly, users can hack the Instagram algorithm and find the best site to buy Instagram likes, let’s start at the beginning by defining terms. An algorithm is, in its most basic form, a sequence of instructions given to a computer program to allow it to solve specific problems or perform computations. In the context of Instagram, the specific problem is what content each user will find most interesting and engaging.
Key Signals
Figuring out what posts to show each user requires a complex set of algorithms capable of acquiring and analyzing huge amounts of both personal and general data. Although the code and the processes it carries out are both quite complicated, all of this information boils down to three key signals that users should heed if they want their posts to be seen.
- Who
The first consideration is whose post a user is interacting with. Regularly interacting with the same person’s content will boost their posts to the top of a feed.
- What
Instagram’s algorithms also take into account what types of content each user seems to prefer. People who engage with a lot of health and wellness posts, for example, aren’t going to get suggested content about muscle cars. They’ll see posts that use related keywords and other content indicators.
- When
Finally, the algorithms pick and choose what to prioritize for each user based on when they tend to scroll through content on the app. That’s part of why most content creators try to post their best stuff when their audiences are most likely to be online.
Types of Interactions
When it comes to a user’s home feed, there are also five interactions that help to determine how high to rank posts. The algorithms use data from the individual user and others with similar interests to determine:
- How much time someone is likely to spend on a post.
- Whether they will like the post.
- How likely the person is to leave a comment.
- Whether they are likely to save the post.
- How likely the user is to check the creator’s profile.
Basically, the more likely a user is to take an action, the more heavily weighted it will be by the Instagram algorithms. That, in turn, drives the post higher up on the user’s feed.
Understanding Signals and Predictions
The ways that the Instagram algorithms determine how to interpret interactions change over time as the site alters signals and predictions. In 2023, the most important signals seem to be information about the post, information about the poster, a user’s interaction history, and a user’s typical activity preferences.
The Basics Stay the Same
While signals and predictions constantly change and each section of the Instagram site uses different algorithms to determine what content to prioritize, there are some things that creators will always be able to rely on. Follows, likes and shares will always be key signals that show the algorithms what users like.
