A is for… Algorithm

Successful networking on Instagram is all about engagement and getting yourself out there and making yourself more visible. Part of the strategy for doing this is mastering the algorithm.

Understanding and mastering the algorithm can be broken down into a number of parts:

01 Engagement

How many people are engaging with your content and how are they engaging with it? The algorithm likes popular and engaging content so make so you encourage others to engage with your content (and you engage with the content of others).

02 Relevancy

How well does your conten match what people are looking for and interacting with? Again, the algorithm favours relevancy which means it favours popular and engagement content that is relevant. If people are engaging with content it usually means that it is relevant to them and they want to see more. The algorithm likes relevancy – so be relevant.

03 Relationships

Building relationships and interacting on a regular basis is a foundation of networking. It can also boost engagement and help you master the algorithm.

04 Timeliness

Higher real-time engagement is favoured by the algorithm as it wants to show people relevant and up to date content. This means that the more real-time likes comments shares and saves you get (in the first 60 minutes after posting) can make all the difference between the algorithm identifying your content as a valuable piece of content and your content being lost. So make sure you don’t post and run or schedule and forget. Check back in and engage and respond to boost engagement in that first 60 minutes. Also if you geotag the image you are also likely to get 79% more engagement (than if you didn’t geotag it).

05 Searching and Sharing

The algorithm knows what you search and share (and if others search and share you) – so keep it relevant and engaging. Think about what people might be searching to find you.

06 Time Spent

The algorithm likes content that people spend time looking at (a thumbstopper). So think about creating thumbstopping content and about how you can make people stop and linger over your content. Also to help you find content you like you might also want to linger longer over content you like and want to see more of.

Summary

Simply put good quality content and high-levels of engagement will help you master the algorithm:

• post the best images to can (at optimum times).
• don’t post and run – stick around and engage with your content and other content – network with the people engaging with your content so that you can start to build a community around your content.
• fill your feed only with the type of content that inspires you so that the algorithm learns what you like and where to feature you.