How to Keep Up with Instagram Algorithm Changes

Thinking you need to beat the Instagram algorithm is the fastest way to burn out. Instead of chasing constantly shifting rules, you can build a smarter, more sustainable strategy that works with the platform, no matter what it throws at you. This guide will walk you through exactly how the algorithm really works and give you actionable tactics to create content that consistently connects with your audience.

Stop Chasing the Algorithm - Understand Its Goal

First, let's reframe how we think about this. The Instagram algorithm isn't a single entity designed to trip you up. It's a collection of many different algorithms and processes, each with one simple, overarching goal: keep people on the app for as long as possible.

That's it. It achieves this by serving users content it predicts they will find interesting, engaging, and valuable. When you post a Reel, for example, the algorithm shows it to a small test group. If that group responds well - watching it multiple times, liking, commenting, sharing - the algorithm pushes it out to a much wider audience. If they scroll past immediately, its reach gets cut short.

So, your job isn't to figure out a secret "hack" to trick the system. Your job is to create genuinely great content that your target audience will love. When you make the algorithm's job easy by giving it awesome content it can confidently show to more people, you both win. The platform keeps users engaged, and you get more reach and organic growth. Stop thinking about it as a fight and start thinking of it as a partnership.

How Instagram Actually Ranks Your Content

Instagram uses thousands of data points, or "signals," to decide what content to show. While the exact formula is a secret, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri has been pretty open about the most important signals for different parts of the app. Understanding these helps you optimize your content for where you want it to appear.

1. For the Feed and Stories (Your Followers' Content)

The Feed and Stories prioritize content from accounts a user already follows. This is about nurturing your existing community. The top signals here are:

• User Activity: What kinds of posts has this user liked, commented on, saved, or shared in the past? This helps Instagram understand their interests.
• Information About the Post: This includes basic signals like how many likes and comments a post has received, how quickly people are engaging with it, when it was posted (recency matters!), and if any location tags were used.
• Your Relationship with the User: Does this person regularly interact with your content? Do you comment on each other's posts? Do you DM each other? The more interaction, the higher your content will likely appear in their feed.
• Information About You (the Poster): How many people have interacted with you in the past few weeks? This helps the algorithm gauge your current relevance and the strength of your community.

What this means for you: Focus on building a real connection with your followers. Ask questions in your captions, use interactive Story stickers, and respond to every comment and DM. The more your followers engage, the more they will see your content.

2. For the Explore Page (Discovery Hub)

The Explore page is all about discovery - helping users find new accounts. It looks at a user's past activity (posts they've liked, saved, commented on) and then finds similar content from accounts they don’t yet follow.

The most important signals for Explore are:

• Information About the Post: The algorithm mainly considers the post's popularity. How many people are liking, commenting, sharing, and saving it, and how fast is that engagement happening? This signal is much more important on Explore than your relationship with the viewer (since there likely isn't one yet).
• User's Activity on Explore: What have they engaged with on the Explore page before? If they often engage with travel Reels, Instagram will show them more travel Reels.
• The Poster's Relevance: Has this account been getting a lot of engagement lately? Niche accounts that serve a specific audience well often perform great on Explore.

What this means for you: To land on the Explore page, create highly shareable or saveable content that nails a specific niche. Think tutorials, relatable memes, beautiful photography, or valuable tips that people will want to come back to later.

3. For Reels (The Entertainment Engine)

Reels are Instagram's answer to TikTok, and their algorithm is designed a lot like a discovery engine. It prioritizes showing you entertaining videos from accounts you may not follow, based on what it thinks you'll enjoy.

• User Activity: The algorithm looks closely at which Reels the user has liked, commented on, and engaged with recently. Did they watch the full video? Did they tap the audio and visit the audio page? These are powerful signals.
• Interaction History with the Poster: While Reels are mostly for discovery, if a user has interacted with your content before, they are slightly more likely to be shown your new Reel.
• Information About the Reel: This is about the content itself. What's the audio track? What do the pixels and frames analyze as the video content (e.g., "dog," "dancing," "beach")? What's in the caption? Using trending audio and creating visually clear content is huge here.
• Information About the Poster: General popularity and recent engagement with your content matter.

What this means for you: Hook viewers in the first three seconds. Use trending audio and formats, but give them your own unique spin. Create Reels that are genuinely entertaining, educational, or inspiring. And don't post videos with a watermark from another app (like TikTok) - Instagram has explicitly said it deprioritizes this content.

Actionable Strategies to Keep Up For Good

Feeling overwhelmed? Don't be. You don't need to do everything at once. Instead of reacting to every small algorithm shift, focus on these evergreen strategies that serve the platform's long-term goals.

1. Prioritize a Strong Reels Strategy

There's no way around it: Instagram is still heavily pushing short-form video. People love it, it keeps them on the app, and it's the best tool for reaching non-followers. Your plan should be Reels-first.

• The 3-Second Rule: Your video must have a strong visual or text hook in the first couple of seconds to stop the scroll. Ask a question, present a problem, or show an intriguing result right away.
• Lean into Trends (But Make Them Your Own): Don't just lip-sync to a trending sound without a purpose. Find a way to apply that audio or format to your niche. Look at what others in your industry are doing and find a way to offer a unique perspective.
• Tell a Quick Story: The best Reels, even the 7-second ones, feel like a complete story. They have a beginning (the hook), a middle (the information/action), and an end (the payoff or call-to-action).

2. Make Conversation Your #1 Metric

Shares, saves, and comments are "heavy" engagement signals that tell Instagram people find your content genuinely valuable. They carry much more weight than a passive "like."

• Ask Open-Ended Questions: End your captions with questions that can't be answered with a "yes" or "no." For example, instead of "Do you like this outfit?" ask, "What's one accessory you would add to complete this look?"
• Use Interactive Story Stickers: Polls, quizzes, question boxes, and emoji sliders are goldmines for engagement. They are low-effort for your followers but tell the algorithm that people are actively interacting with your account. Do this daily!
• Encourage DMs: Use your content as a conversation starter. You could say, "DM me the word 'GUIDE' and I'll send you my free packing list" in a travel post. This direct interaction builds a powerful relationship signal.

3. Mix Up Your Content Formats

While Reels are great for reach, you can't neglect the people who already follow you. A healthy content mix nurtures your existing audience and gives you multiple ways to connect.

• Carousels for Education: Carousels are fantastic for "saveable" content. Use them to share step-by-step tutorials, lists of tips, or break down a complex topic into digestible slides.
• Single Images for Quick Moments: Don't abandon photos! A beautiful, high-quality photograph or a well-designed graphic can still perform exceptionally well, especially for connecting with your existing fans.
• Stories for Behind-the-Scenes: Use Stories for your unfiltered, authentic, and in-the-moment content. This is where you build genuine relationships through daily check-ins, polls, and sharing user-generated content.

4. Check Your Own Analytics - Don't Guess

General advice is good, but your own data is better. Your most valuable insights are sitting right inside your Instagram app.

• Go to your Professional Dashboard >, Account insights to see what's actually working.
• Look at "Accounts Reached." What type of content is hitting the most non-followers? That's your clue for what to post for growth.
• Look at "Accounts Engaged." Which posts are getting the most comments, saves, and shares from your current audience? Do more of that to nurture your community.
• Check your "Total Followers" to find the days and hours your audience is most active and tailor your posting schedule accordingly.

5. Stay Informed the Easy Way

You don't need to read every article about every tiny update. Just tuning into the primary sources is enough to keep a pulse on what’s changing.

• Follow @mosseri and @creators: Adam Mosseri (Head of Instagram) and Instagram's own creators account regularly post updates and explain major ranking changes directly. Turn on notifications for their posts.
• Watch for "Test Feature" Pop-Ups: Often, Instagram rolls out new features to small groups of users first. If you see banners in the app inviting you to try something new, jump on it! Early adopters are often rewarded.

Final Thoughts

Staying current with the Instagram algorithm isn't about memorizing strange rules or finding loopholes. It's about consistently creating content for humans that is either useful, entertaining, or relatable while encouraging genuine conversation with your audience. Master that skill, and you’ll find that the algorithm will always work for you, not against you.

We know that building a strategy for multiple formats like Reels, Stories, and Grid posts is tough, especially when you feel like you're racing the clock. Consistency is everything when proving your value to the algorithm. At Postbase, we designed our visual content calendar to help you easily plan, schedule, and see your entire multi-format strategy in one place. You can focus on creating great stuff and let us handle getting it published on time, every time.