Why You Haven't Been Getting as Many Likes
If you have been on Instagram for a while, you will have
noticed something different in the recent months. Instagram changed how
pictures come up on your feed. You might notice that there are pictures from a
couple hours to even a couple days ago showing up and posts from merely minutes
before at the bottom of your feed. This is frustrating to users who are looking
for a post from their friend or who just posted, and it automatically goes all
the way to the bottom. It is said to be an algorithm that Instagram uses to
place pictures in a certain order but an article I found on Reddit titled, “InstagramAlgorithm – The Ultimate 2018 Guide,” explains what is really going on.
The article explains that it isn’t as much an
algorithm as it is a list or an order of what it requested to be seen. It is
ordered by photo, url, title, etc. These posts pop up in order for what has
been requested. Which makes sense to me in that you see a certain type of
content grouped together and so on and so forth. This basically was an attempt
to organize everyone’s Instagram feed. Obviously, it’s not going to be perfect
every time but in an ideal world it puts what we want to see at the top and
filters it down.
The article
breaks down what is now important on Instagram and what to focus on in two
groups: quality of the content being posted and engagement.
The first
topic is the quality of the content. There is a good point in this article
about how if you’re posting bad content, then less people are going to be
interested in what you have to share. Some good points to focus on: themed page
or follow a certain setup and style for the posts that you create, work on
editing and hashtags, use hashtags. They are there for a reason.
Using a
certain style can attract certain types of people but it can also develop your
own personal style which people will enjoy because you are being unique. Editing
is a huge part of social media when it comes to pictures. Everyone has to find
the perfect filter, contrast, brightness, saturation and so on. These things,
like most, are only good in moderation. No one likes a photo that has been over
edited and touched up. Whether you use Photoshop, Lightroom, VSCO, Snapseed, or
any other editing tool, make sure you practice frequently and find what works
for the picture you are getting ready to post and don’t overdo it. Last but not
least, hashtags. Hashtags are so underrated especially on Instagram. This
allows anyone who looks up keywords that are involved in your post to find you,
your page, and your content. Using effective hashtags can be a fast way to get
more likes and followers along with building your portfolio.
Enagament is a huge part of Instagram and the
first step to getting your followers engaged is getting yourself engaged first.
Posting content frequently can help boost engagement from your followers. By
frequently, I don’t mean 10 posts within the hour, but a couple a week won’t
hurt to get your name out there and fresh in people’s minds. Timing is
everything when posting on any social media platform. No one is going to like
your picture if you post at 3:30 a.m. when everyone is asleep but waiting until
2 p.m. when everyone is at work is going to decrease traffic as well. Picking a
good time can be tough but consider your audience when picking a time to post. Another
way to gain likes is to advertise. Advertise yourself, your portfolio, products
you use, brands you support, things like that. A lot of brands will take posts
you tag them in and with your permission will repost it because they love
seeing people market their products for them. This opens you up to a whole new
audience.
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