Understanding Instagram's Algorithm to Optimize Your Strategy in 2024

The Instagram algorithm is a complex and constantly evolving system, crucial in determining the visibility of content on the platform. This article explores the mechanics of this algorithm to help you optimize your presence on Instagram.

First of all, you need to know that there is not 1 but several Instagram algorithms. There are: 1 for Feed & Stories, 1 for Search and Explore and 1 for Reels.

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Feed and Stories: The Keys to Visibility

• Instagram's algorithm for feeds and stories focuses on content from friends, family and loved ones.
• Three main views are available: Favorites, Follows and Default.
• The algorithm uses various signals to rank posts, such as the number of likes, publication timing, and user interaction with the content.

Once they have all these signals, they will establish a series of predilections based on :

• Time spent on the publication
• commenting
• to like
• to share
• check the person's profile

By the way, if you really want to understand why you see a post in your feed, just go to the 3 little dots and click on "why I see this publication".

It really helps us understand how the algo works and why this publication is so important.

Search and Explore

Explore is designed to help us discover new designers and brands.

The grid is made up of recommendations - photos and videos that Instagram will fetch for us - which is very different from Feed and Stories, where the vast majority of what we see comes from the accounts we follow.

• The Explorer section is designed to help you discover new content, based on personalized recommendations.
• Reels, inspired by the success of TikTok, focus on entertainment and the discovery of content from unfollowed creators.
• Signals used include past interactions, content popularity, and Reel quality.

For example, I often like the posts "les pepites de france".

Well, the Instagram algorithm, will extract all the people who also interact with their post, to look for similar accounts that everyone follows.

Because, if we interact with them, we're likely to have common interests.

And then Instagram will realize that there are also accounts like Gregsway, for example.

So if you want to be highly recommended by Instagram, you need to nest.

This way, Instagram will understand much more quickly the type of content you're putting forward.

Control what you see

• You can influence your Instagram experience by interacting with the content you like.
• Actions such as muting accounts or marking posts as "Not interested" help personalize your feed as you send a direct message to Instagram about certain posts.

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The Shadowban

Many people accuse Instagram of "shadowbanning" them. That is, Instagram mutes you by stopping pushing your content onto the platform. In fact, it's a term used by many people, to describe different experiences they have on Instagram.

Already to get started, you can check if your account has been shadowban. To do this, go to your settings → account → account status.

Now, I'm going to explain what really happens when you have much less reach. Instagram actually does a lot of testing with their algorithms, and depending on how your audience reacts, they will or won't, show your content to more people.

Finally, with Instagram you're never sure how far your posts will reach!

The truth is that most of your subscribers won't necessarily see what you share, and to overcome this, you should invite your community to use features like bell activation, favorite mention etc. to be informed of your news.

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To maximize your visibility, there's nothing better than interacting with your audience on a daily basis, and also with people who don't yet know you. To help you grow on Instagram, call on My name is Bond.