Instagram’s ranking factors change as fast as Reel trends, making it quite confusing when you feel like you’re doing your best to create the best Reels but not seeing any results.

Instagram wants to help your social media marketing, and they’ve recently updated their ranking factors for Reels. Instagram wants to improve the experiences of users while they scroll through Reels.

We are presenting you with an updated blog on the new features of Instagram, and how to increase your reach on the Reels page.

Ranking on Instagram

The first step to getting likes on Instagram is understanding how ranking works on the system, though you can also buy Instagram likes cheap. Brands need to understand how ranking works on Instagram in order to perfect their Instagram marketing strategy.

Instagram doesn’t simply use a singular algorithm but a variety of classifiers, processes, and algorithms that are faced with different responsibilities. The platform aims to get people to spend as much time scrolling through Reels, without wasting their time.

Feed, Stories, Explore, and Reels all use different algorithms, which are formed based on how users interact with them. For example, people use Stories to keep in touch with their closest relatives and Reels to find relatable content. Here’s how you can get your Reels out there.

How Instagram Ranks Reels

The Reels page was created by Instagram to help users discover new videos. The grid is made up of recommendations of Reels that the app finds for users from accounts they don’t follow yet.

The first step Instagram takes is defining a set of Reels to rank, which includes videos that a user may be interested in. The Reels page is truly never-ending, the recommendations come based on what a user has previously liked, shared, saved, or commented on in the past.

Once Instagram has formed an idea of the Reels a user likes to see, they order them intricately based on what a user may be most interested in, similar to Feed and Stories.

The best method used by Instagram to determine how interested a user is in a Reel is to predict how likely a user is to interact with it. These important interactions include likes, saves, and shares. Here is a list of factors Instagram considers “signals” and uses to rank Reels.

• Information About the Reel. Here, Instagram looks at how popular a Reel seems to be. Are lots of users who have similar interests commenting on, sharing, and saving a Reel? These signals are a lot more important when it comes to the Reels page than Feed or Stories.
• User Activity in Reels. These signals are based on Reels a user has liked, saved, commented on, and shared in the past. The Reels page is never-ending, truly, because Instagram notices how a user interacts with certain Reels in the past. If a user interacts with a specific type of Reel, then Instagram will show them content from similar creators.
• Interaction History. There are chances that a user has never interacted with your Reels, and they’ll still show up on their Reels page. But, if a user has interacted with your content before and that wasn’t enough to get them to follow, they’ll be seeing a lot more of your content on the Reels page.
• Information About the Reeler. A common signal Instagram focuses on is whether users interact with similar content creators. If your content matches what users interact with, and you create compelling content, then it’ll show up on a user’s Reels page.

Most of the content a user sees on their Reels page is from people they don’t follow. But, we must warn you that there are issues when your content is problematic.

If users are triggered by or feel uncomfortable after seeing your content on their Feeds or Reels pages, they may take action.

Sure, when a user is on their Feed, and someone they follow shares something offensive, then the user can do something about it like block, unfollow, hide, mute, or even report the friend.

Instagram wants to reduce the risk of people seeing offensive content on their Reels page, especially because it’s from accounts users don’t follow.

That’s why, in addition to Community Guidelines, Instagram has rules in place for places like Reels, Search, and Suggested Accounts, and they are called Recommendations Guidelines.

Reels that go against Instagram’s Recommendation Guidelines are not offensive enough to be removed from the app but may be sensitive topics for some users.

This involves topics such as news, substance abuse, and mental health problems. For example, a news account can share footage of ongoing terrorist attacks, but this may not be recommended on the Reels pages of certain users.

If a content creator’s Reel goes against the Recommendation Guidelines on Instagram, then it may be shown to followers of the creator, but it won’t be recommended to non-followers.

If an Instagrammer repeatedly creates Reels that go against Recommendation or Community Guidelines, then none of their content will be on Reels tabs pages for a long time.

A tip from us is that you can use the Account Status feature to understand more about this and know where your brand stands.

As an Instagram creator, we urge you to remember that if your Reels reach outside your targeted audience or your audience doesn’t enjoy your content, they may press the “Not Interested” option.

The Bottom Line

Instagram is always exploring ways in which it can help content creators understand how to get their Reels to go viral. If you aren’t getting much interaction from non-followers, there is probably a reason for it.

For example, Instagram is currently working on notifications to let creators know when the reach of some of their Reels is falling due to a watermark.

Instagram is also working on ways to help brands and influencers understand the most effective methods to get their Reels ranked.

We hope this blog helped you, as a creator, to get your content on the Reels page of your targeted audience.

Rose Ruck