How to Get Your Content Featured

Many of us share the common goal of growing our respective Instagram accounts on the network, and perhaps the most effective way of doing so lies in having our content featured on the Explore Page. Achieving this is no small feat, but the results make it well worth the effort, especially when you consider not just the significant boost in building a following but also the level of engagement that it can potentially yield.

To this day, the mystery towards how to get to this elusive page still exists. Because of the unpredictable algorithm behind the network, it isn’t uncommon to be at a loss or perhaps even frustrated with the lack of growth and development of the account despite considerable time and effort towards it. With that being said, how exactly can you get your content featured on the Instagram explore page and increase awareness and exposure?

Explore Page – What is it?

To better understand how to get featured on Instagram’s Explore Page, it’s essential to know precisely what it is. In a nutshell, the Explore Page essentially highlights the accounts that the algorithm behind Instagram deems to be the most popular by showing their respective content, such as images, to other active users who may not follow them yet. It’s essentially an extra layer of visibility and, without a doubt, an effective way of acquiring an even more massive following because of the account awareness that it generates.

It is worth noting that Instagram’s Explore Page will be considerably different for each user since the content that it shows will oftentimes be based on the individual’s interest based on their past activities. While the results may differ, how it chooses content to highlight is still the same for every account.

Engagement

Perhaps one of the primary factors that usually determine the content featured on Instagram’s Explore Page is the level of engagement that a post draws. It includes activities that elicit a response from other users, from writing a comment, liking the post, or sharing it with others. The more engagement a post attracts, the better the chances of it being included and shown in the Explore Page. This is due to the algorithm understanding that if content posted receives a high level of interest, then others who may not have seen, it may find it interesting too.

More importantly, however, it’s also about being able to elicit a high level of engagement in a short period. Instagram usually tends to be biassed towards any posts or uploads that generate a lot of activity within a few minutes. You’ll need to properly keep track of the account to see who and when the following tend to be the most active. 

Using the Network Effect

Creating a lot of interaction is another effective way of getting your chosen content highlighted and featured within Instagram’s Explore Page. Since the page is usually filled with both content that you have liked as well as those from other accounts that you may be following, being able to draw activity or response from a more extensive account can give you a great deal of access to the account mentioned above’s followers, expanding your visibility as well as awareness about your account in the process and creating a Network Effect.

You could potentially go viral this way since a response from anyone can potentially give you access to other accounts that are linked to their own. It’s good standard practice to tag an account that may have a large following if the post pertains or is relevant to them. Don’t get carried away, though, and tag only when appropriate since your content can potentially be marked as spam. 

Ways to have your content featured on the Explore Page

Engagement and interest are the two primary things that must be achieved for Instagram’s Explore Page to feature your content, and the best place to start with is creating high-quality content. Uploading great images is mandatory, and including an emoji or two, as well as an appropriate caption, can go a long way into evoking or draw out a response from both existing and potential followers in turn, will generate the buzz and activity that the content will need to be noticed by the algorithm to highlight it in the Explore Page potentially.

You can also go the extra mile and use a popular marketing strategy called social listening. By investing time in browsing through the respective profiles of your own follower’s accounts as well as their lists, you’ll learn more about what peaks their interests and the kind of content that they tend to be engaged with. This will allow you to make better-informed decisions on what type of content to post and result in a high level of activity for future posts.

Having a call to action is also necessary to elicit the responses that you want without having to directly or blatantly ask for it on the network. It helps encourage and motivate users to do something that will benefit your account in a simple yet extremely effective way and maximize the amount of engagement that you want to have within the content. 

Don’t forget hashtags too!

Hashtags are a common element in many social media websites, and Instagram is no different. They serve as an effective means of relaying information in smaller doses without losing the context behind the message. By taking advantage of this simple form of communication, you’ll be helping your account grow even more with the level of engagement that it tends to generate. Many are doing the same thing, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t make use of hashtags. 

When it comes to having your content highlighted within Instagram’s Explore Page, the general rule of thumb is to generate and maintain engagement. Tedious as it may seem, the investment of time and effort into ensuring that your posts are of good quality as well taking advantage of specific strategies such as social listening or hashtags, can make all the difference and is well worth doing, especially when considering the positive impact it can potentially produce.