When was the last time when you scrolled your Instagram feed? I believe that it was an hour ago, or two, or maybe three. But in any case, it was not so long ago. However, did you pay your attention to the order of the publications in the feed? If not, please, don't be lazy and open your Instagram app once again. Do you see that the posts there are not placed according to the chronology of their publishing?
Yes, the secret of the Instagram feed today is that the posts are ordered and re-ordered by the special system that automatically puts the most interesting posts to the most noticeable places. It means that you scroll the feed from the most interesting posts to the less interesting ones. However, how IG defines the level of interest may seem a little bit weird.
How is the order of posts in the Instagram feed determined?
According to the information provided by Instagram, it uses three main parameters to determine the order of posts. The posts are higher in the Instagram feed:
- if they are similar to those that you've liked or are interested in;
- if you often interact with the author of the post;
- if it has been published just recently (however, quite often this parameter is fully ignored).
The system analyzes all these criteria separately and to guess which will be considered as the key one in this or that case is absolutely impossible.
Moreover, there are many factors that may also influence the order of posts in the feed, such as:
- popularity of the account (the more people like your posts, the more chances your posts will be shown to all the users);
- relevance of the topic (it may be considered to be a rather subjective point, however, if a user has liked a number of posts with some hashtags, Instagram can decide that a user is interested in the posts with such tags. That's why the system may not only show such posts in recommendations but also in the Instagram feed).
Instagram won't fully hide any posts or delete them from somebody's feed (at least it claims that it won't). However, it may place it somewhere far away from the beginning. And a user may get really tired to scroll and scroll the feed until he or she finds all newly published posts. So, to ensure better visibility for your publications, you should try to reserve a place among the first posts shown.
Sometimes, when I look at the order of the posts in my feed, I am not quite sure why some of them are placed higher than others. I am pretty confident that you have just the same feeling. That's why sometimes it's very difficult to influence this ordering mechanism, but we can at least try to. Right?
Let's use hashtags to climb higher in the Instagram feed
Of course, hashtags play an important role not only in your attempts to be seen in the feed of your followers.
They are also needed to let your posts be found by your potential audience. I am sure that you've already heard about it. And it's highly probable that you've already tried to use hashtags for your promotion. But can you say that you've noticed any real results of their usage? If not, the reason may be the usage of inappropriate hashtags.
You know, you should add not only those tags that look funny in your captions. You should use trendy tags that are popular among your target audience.
Today, to find the most popular hashtags you do not need to analyze thousands of posts and accounts on your own. It can be done for you by a special AI-powered algorithm. Sounds interesting? Then, please, meet our Hashtag Generator. It is not a new tool but it has been recently upgraded and it has already proven its efficiency. It all means that you need to try it out as soon as possible.
Just a few clicks and you will see a list of the most suitable hashtags for your posts on your display.
Don't believe that it is so simple? You need to test this tool right now!
What should you do to get your best hashtags ever?
- Visit the Inflact website;
- Find the Tools menu;
- Choose the Hashtag generator;
- Decide on the most appropriate variant for looking for hashtags: to use a keyword, to upload a photo for your future post, or to add the link to your already published post;
- Wait a couple of seconds;
- Look through the list of the shown hashtags;
- Choose those that you like most of all (1-2 popular, 4-8 less popular and 10-15 rare #);
- Tick them, copy and paste them in the captions;
- Come back with another post and repeat all the steps :)
The procedure is absolutely simple and it won't require long hours to be executed. But there is one key principle that you should remember:
The more diverse hashtags you use, the more people can see your posts. The more people see your publications and like posts, the more people can join the list of your followers. And if they like your posts, the Instagram algorithms will definitely decide that your publications deserve to be shown higher in their feeds.
Though many people still believe that chronological order is more suitable for Instagram, Instagram developers have a different opinion. And we have nothing to do with it. However, the logic of placing posts in the feed is obvious and we can do our best to stay in the highest positions.
Quick Conclusion
Yes, as you see, there is no direct connection between hashtags and the place of your posts in somebody's feed. However, the popularity of your account does have an influence. That's why to make sure that your posts are seen by your followers, you need to stay visible for Instagram and its community. And in that situation, hashtags can be extremely useful.
Good luck! And I hope that your posts will never get lost in the Instagram feeds of your numerous followers.
