You may find yourself asking what have I done wrong that my Instagram posts stopped getting likes. Of course, when you are new it is okay to have the ups and downs in engagement, or if you stopped being active. But there are a few more reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram.
Want to know what they are?
Let’s get right into it!
Source: Casey Crowe Taylor
Contents
Reason One: You’ve Been Shadowbanned
Recently there have been heated debates around shadowban on Instagram, possibly the first step in wiping out your account completely. If you are believed to violate any of the Community Guidelines, you will be shadowbanned, or suspended.
Once you are shadowbanned, your posts will not be seen by new users. And even your own Instagram followers may not find your posts in their feeds. Not surprisingly, this is one of the reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram.
It is virtually impossible to know if you have been shadowbanned or not since no notice or official statement is given to you. You can still figure out yourself if:
– the number of likes on 4-5 of your recent posts dropped by 60% or more of the previous amount;
– if the number of likes have been steadily decreasing with every upload;
– if friends, relatives, coworkers, or other people you know in real life “accidentally” did not react to your Story or post mentioning them;
– if you see less posts from profiles you follow (yes, this may sound ridiculous, but shadowban may limit the number of posts in your feed).
The only thing which is different from the account suspension or ban is that it is not permanent. Although never officially stated by Instagram, shadowban can last about 10-20 weeks or less. Yet on some accounts it may take much longer, or even never recover to its normal pace.
Suspecting that shadowban is one of the reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram, you can try to change your tactique. Spend more time commenting on others’ posts and uploading yours if you have been somewhat inactive. Or vice versa.
Source: Business 2 Community
Hashtags are the heart and soul of the Instagram algorithm. They help group similar posts together, serve relevant content to interested users, and separate new and old posts. Being consistent in how many and what Instagram hashtags you use have a profound impact on the likes count.
For the record, it is best to 8-12 hashtags per post to avoid spam filters(20+ hashtags is seen as spamming) but help users discover your post.
Content creators often vary between 20+ hashtags to no hashtags at all. Even if you are using a similar number of hashtags, you may have overlooked their relevance to your post and profile. The best practice is to mix brand-relevant, post-relevant, and trending hashtags at about 20% to 40% to 40%. Not following this advice may be one of the reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram.
Try to encourage your followers and other users to use your hashtags so that more posts are associated with your hashtags. It is also important that you don’t copy-paste the same hashtags over and over again. You can also use hashtag generator tools to discover popular hashtags.
Source: Later
Reason Three: Instagram Algorithm Has Changed
It’s common practice for social media platforms to update their policies and algorithms from time to time. This helps detect illegal activity, bugs, etc. Instagram is no exception. There might be some small adjustments alongside big changes to the algorithm.
One of the most common reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram is the different approach to building user feed. User signals like clicks and post likes, profile visits, follows and comments always matter whatever changes are made.
If you find yourself stuck with no likes coming in, a good idea is to buy Instagram likes from a credible source like FeedPixel. Getting likes as soon as you post indicates user interest, boosts your post engagement and improves its visibility. Just be careful where you get Instagram likes from.
Many people advise against buying any followers or likes to not cause algorithm suspicion. You may get a shadowban, one of the reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram, or suspension. You should only buy Instagram likes if they come from legit accounts, not bots. One of the indicators if the seller is credible is how long the likes stay on your posts. Cheap bot likes usually drop. Clearly, real likes from legit profiles cannot cost cents.
How to Get More Likes on Instagram In 2023?
Now, as you know the reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram, let’s see how to get more likes on other posts. 5 of the countless tips on how to get more likes on Instagram in 2023 are below.
- Better Captions
- Creator’s Engagement
- Commenting & DMs
- Tagging & Geotagging
- Timely Uploads
We’ve noticed an uptick in posts about Instagram limiting the reach of your photos to 7% of your followers, and would love to clear this up.
— Instagram (@instagram) January 22, 2019
How the Instagram Algorithm Works In 2023?
According to Instagram, there are 5 key factors that influence what posts appear in your feed. These factors are:
– Your Interest in people and posts. The algorithm tries to determine what makes you visit user profiles, like some posts, and bypass others.
– Your level of closeness with other users. It’s clear that people you actively follow, DM, and search for most often your friends and family members. Instagram posts from people you know in real life are frequently topping the feed.
– The time you are online. With so much content, the Instagram algorithm cannot help but prioritize new posts. When building up your feed, an-hour old post would top yesterday uploads.
– Frequency in Instagram app usage. Scrolling a feed multiple times a day, you will see posts in the order users have uploaded them. Then, if you see all the posts, the algorithm would suggest new accounts to follow to show you their content.
– The number of people you follow, and who follow you back. The more accounts you follow the higher is an algorithmic selection of posts. Since Instagram wants to keep you on their platform for as long as they can, with a large number of following and followers its algorithm filters all posts by date, viewers interest, and relevance to you.
Source: Hootsuite Blog
What Can You Do To Get More Likes on Instagram in 2023?
If you are seemingly doing everything to get more likes on your Stories and posts with little to no results, this may be the time to try a different approach. Want to do your homework on reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram?
Let’s do it!
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Write Better Captions
If you’ve spent some time figuring out what grabs viewers attention, you know that captions matter. Perhaps you’ve been trying generic happiness quotes on your best selfies, or your captions are all the hashtags to fill out the space. Try another approach. Here are the 110 Instagram captions to try in 2023.
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Engage With Other Posts
Why would you expect your viewers to like and comment on your posts if you do not follow this rule yourself? Remember the “interest factor” important for the algorithm assessment we talked above? So, don’t behave like a bot tapping “Follow” only to scroll past their posts. Zero engagement on your part may be one of the reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram.
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Reply to Comments & DMs
Same as with likes, you can comment on your own posts. Start the conversation with viewers and followers by leaving a comment first. Comment area gives you additional space to share your view, and ask others to react to your post. Don’t miss out!
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Tag & Geotag Properly
When you tag someone you let them know your post is relevant to them. Sometimes you might even hear back from influencers, businesses, and other event participants. Or they may tag you on their posts. This increases the chances of posts to be shared and viewed by more users.
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Post at Lunchtime & Evenings
If you are thinking about what is the best time to post on Instagram, it is lunchtime and evenings on weekdays, and afternoons on the weekends. Post from 3 pm to 9 pm on Sunday (the best day to post on Instagram), and between 1 am and 1 pm and 7 pm – 9 pm during a week.
Source: Time Magazine
In Sum
If you’ve been already using the old tricks of getting more likes with little results, chances are you came to terms with the Instagram algorithm. Out of many reasons why your posts not getting likes, we ‘ve listed just 3: shadowban, wrong hashtags, and change in the algorithm. Still, other reasons why your posts not getting likes on Instagram may also include inconsistent posting or cheap bot likes.
