3 Features That Make An Instagram Post A ‘Top Post’
There are lots of features including the usage of top Instagram hashtags that take a post to the position of a ‘top post’ on the platform. The algorithm at the back of Instagram’s ‘top posts’ takes a couple of things into consideration.
There are lots of features including the usage of top Instagram hashtags that take a post to the position of a ‘top post’ on the platform. The algorithm at the back of Instagram’s ‘top posts’ takes a couple of things into consideration. These include the amount of engagement (comments and likes) the post receives, how fast it receives the engagement, and the popularity of its hashtag.
Engagement
Even though nobody understands precisely how Instagram’s algorithms work, it is known that the platform favors posts that receive lots of engagement. This means that if your post gets tons of comments and likes, it is much more likely to be featured in the ‘top posts’ of a hashtag that’s trending. The majority, if not all, of top posts have more than 40 comments and 3,000 likes. There are even posts that feature millions of comments and likes.
Popularity of hashtag
Perform this experiment: open Instagram on your mobile device or desktop and search for a popular hashtag. Then, go through the top posts till you come across the one that utilized other hashtags too. Click on any of such hashtags and then go through the top posts on the page generated by the hashtag. Did the original posts also appear in the top posts for the chosen hashtag? Try the experiment again with another hashtag. The same result, right?
What this means is that you could be among trending Instagram hashtags for none, some, or even all of them if, you use several hashtags in your posts – it all depends on how popular the hashtag happens to be. Super-popular hashtags can turn out quite competitive, thus unless you generate thousands of likes and comments in only a few hours, your chances of being among the top posts will be quite slim.
Also, bear in mind that the bigger the hashtag, the faster its top posts get refreshed. For larger popular hashtags, it is unlikely that you will remain in a trending position for above 24 hours. But for smaller ones, you might be able to remain trending for one or two days – or even more.
The takeaway: Utilize a blend of popular and less popular hashtags to boost your chances of featuring in top posts.
Engagement ‘growth rate’
In the end, top posts boil down to what is trending – and not what is most popular. Therefore, even though the level of engagement your post gets is quite crucial, it is a bit less crucial than how fast you receive the engagement, or, said in another way, your engagement’s ‘growth rate’. For instance, a posts that receives 500 likes within 2 hours has a much better chance of ranking within the platform’s top posts than a post that receives 5000 likes over a period of 24 hours.
In conclusion, being featured in Instagram’s top posts is an excellent means of getting your brand noticed by new viewers – and it is much easier than it appears. You only need to concentrate on executing your top Instagram hashtags strategy while greatly boosting your engagement by ensuring that you post great content at a time that your followers will be most active on the platform.
