Surely, many users have noticed recommendations for a subscription on Instagram.
From time to time, links to people who may be of interest to you appear on the main page or in the Instagram news feed.
Some users are annoyed by this feature and want to remove recommendations on Instagram. This article was prepared especially for them.
- The Bad News: You Can't Delete Recommendations in the Mobile App (neither android nor iphone).
- Good news: You can do this from the web version of Instagram, that is, from a computer.
1. Let's go to home page(instagram.com) from a computer and click on your account.
3. We go down to the end of the section and uncheck opposite value "Recommended similar accounts".
- Do not forget to send the information (save);
As I wrote above, unfortunately, disable recommendations from the mobile application impossible.
If for some reason it was not possible to remove recommendations on Instagram, then watch a simple and visual video tutorial.
Instagram focuses on content search capabilities. This is one of the few social networks with a developed search and recommendation system in a mobile application. By appearing in search results or in the Instagram recommendations section, you can significantly increase the number of views of your photos and get the opportunity to attract new users.
There are also ways to use Instagram "search" and "recommendations" for business - choose the most used hashtags, engage with the target audience and find influencers (owners of popular accounts) to collaborate with.
In this article, you'll learn how to use Instagram search and recommendations for your business. To make this article easier to read, we've divided it into 5 parts, each of which will detail how you can use Instagram Search and Recommendations for your business:
- How do "Search" and "Recommendations" work on Instagram?
- How to appear in search results?
- How do you use Instagram Search and Recommendations to find the most relevant hashtags for you?
- How to use Instagram Search and Recommendations to engage and engage your followers?
- How to use Instagram Search and Recommendations to find influencers?
To get started, let's take a look at what you can search for using the "Search" feature on Instagram.
Click on the magnifying glass icon to go to search and recommendations.
Here's what you can look for in this section:
- "Top" (i.e. the most popular publications);
- "People" (i.e. accounts of other users);
- "Tags" (i.e. hashtags - special tags with keywords for searching);
- "Places" (i.e. tags for specific locations on the map).
You can also search on the Instagram website. The only difference between in-app and website search is that you can't search by category (people/hashtags) on the website. You will have to add "@" to search for users and "#" to search for hashtags.
How Instagram determines search results
The search results you see depend on a variety of factors, including the people you follow, who you've followed, and the photos and videos you've liked.
When you click on a username in the search results, you will be taken to their profile. When you click on a hashtag or a tagged location, you'll see photos from those hashtags. In this case, the first nine publications will be the most popular, and then all the other photos will follow, starting from the last uploaded.
Below the search bar is a "recommendations" bar. This section helps you find posts you might like. Instagram selects these posts based on your activity on Instagram.
Posts are selected automatically based on those liked by users you follow or based on content you like. Now let's take a closer look at how you can use Instagram search and recommendations for your business.
By getting into the search results of your target audience, you get the opportunity to present your brand to a larger circle of users and attract more new subscribers, in addition to the existing base.
So, to get into the SERP, try the following four methods.
2.1 Add your location and hashtags
In order for your stories and posts to appear in search results, you need to add your location tag and hashtags to each of your posts.
To add a location to a post, click on any of the suggested positions in your post's presets. If the proposed options do not contain the desired address, add it yourself using the "add location" function.
Let's take the "history" function. To add a location to your story, click the "settings" button, then click the "location" button.
To add a hashtag to your post, simply type the "#" symbol and the necessary words without spaces or punctuation, such as "#nizhniynovgorod", "#dog" and so on.
To add a hashtag to a story, click on the "settings" button, then "hashtags". Or choose to enter text and enter the hashtag manually. Instagram will also offer a selection of the most popular hashtags related to yours.
You can add up to 30 hashtags to each post, however analytics firm TrackMaven found that Instagram posts with only nine hashtags performed better.
To find the best hashtags, you can use additional apps like Focalmark (which generates a list of popular hashtags based on a photo caption) or Display Purposes. In a bit, we'll take a closer look at how to use Instagram search and recommendations to find the most relevant hashtags for you.
2.2. Choose the right time to post
When you go to the search section, the most recently posted content will be shown first (separate from the top 9 most popular).
To optimize your posts for Instagram search, post your photos or videos around the time your target audience is most active. Thus, you will get more chances to break into the top search results on Instagram.
If you have a business account on Instagram, you can better determine the days and times when most of your followers are most active. You can view this information using the Instagram Insights analytics tool.
If you don't have a business account, you can use free Instagram analytics tools like Union Metrics' free Instagram account check up or WEBSTA to find the best time to post. Analytics shows the activity of your subscribers, from here you can make an assumption that your potential target audience behaves similarly.
2.3. Create high-quality and content that will be interesting for your target audience
In the search results, the top 9 most popular publications occupy almost the entire screen space.
According to Instagram's policy, top posts are selected based on their popularity among users (i.e., those that have collected the most likes, comments, and shares). Accordingly, to get into the top 9 of the Instagram search results, you need to create really high-quality content that your potential customers are more likely to like. And of course, we must not forget to mark the location and put
hashtags so that this publication can be found through the search. Here are a couple of tips on how to create content that can later get into the top 9:
- Take high-resolution photos: Obviously, high-quality photos get more likes and comments.
- Use niche hashtags, that is, those that your target audience is looking for content on, since there is less competition for such hashtags and a higher chance of getting into the “Top Posts” section in the user's search results.
2.4. Host your online broadcasts
Instagram usually displays online broadcasts (live) in the Top.
True, this business promotion tool is somewhat more difficult than just promoting publications, as described in the previous tips, but it's always worth a try! Popular online broadcasts are those that have the most views, likes, and those that are closest to the largest number of users by geolocation.
Here are some ideas for live streaming:
- Office life and various conferences/webinars/seminars
- company's news
- "What's Behind the Scenes"
- Interviews, negotiations with partners
And also feel free to experiment with video content.
First, let's define what is the "best" and suitable hashtags for you. Properly chosen hashtags will be able to attract a large audience to your videos and photos. Hashtags allow your posts to appear in the search results and recommendations of your target audience.
Here are two ways to choose the best hashtags using Instagram search
3.1. Based on search results
When you enter a word or phrase into the search bar and select "hashtags", Instagram will show you a list of hashtags that match and are similar to your query.
For example, the owner of an exotic seafood restaurant must look for anything related to marine edible animals, such as "octopus".
Instagram will also show the number of posts that use a particular hashtag. This will help you choose the most popular one.
However, photographer Allen Harper, talking about how to use hashtags, on the contrary, recommends avoiding too popular ones.
“Some hashtags are significantly more popular than others, however, their popularity does not always mean effectiveness. For example, you may have noticed that the hashtags #photooftheday, #like4like, #instagood, #iphoneonly, #VSCO and the like are incredibly popular. But unfortunately, a huge number of users use these hashtags under each new photo. This leads to the fact that many photos simply drown in the search results for a few seconds and can no longer be found. And also they are neutral and do not fall under the specific interests of users. In other words, your post may be seen, but it will be uninterested users. In addition to this, bots and spam accounts often use popular hashtags and your photos will receive a bunch of artificial likes and comments.
But rare hashtags also do not make sense to use, because. this means that these hashtags are of interest to a small group or individual users. You can check the frequency of a hashtag using the search, which again shows how many posts there are using that hashtag.”
This suggests that some hashtags are relevant to the interests of a certain group of people. If you want to show your publications to a specific community of users, then such hashtags will only benefit. Therefore, before using this or that hashtag, look at what materials are marked with it.
3.2. "Related hashtags"
When you see hashtag search results, Instagram also suggests related hashtags. For example, Moscow.
Sometimes Instagram shows similar hashtags that don't appear in search results (for example, #capital and #Moscow in the picture above). So if you can't find a suitable hashtag using the first method, try this one.
4. How to Use Instagram to Increase Follower Engagement
Your followers can upload photos related to your business, but without a hashtag or location. In this case, you will not be able to find these materials. But, if they use your branded hashtag or geodata, then you can easily find these posts and leave comments.
4.1. Engage with users who use your branded hashtag
If you have your own brand hashtags and encourage followers to use them, then it can be helpful to follow your followers' updates and engage with their posts and stories.
Common ways to interact with user content
Like, comment, repost, add posts with your branded hashtag to your company website. For example, Alpenglow invites its users to tag their posts with the hashtag #alpenglowapp, and then the official alpenglow account reposts such photos on their page.
You will also be able to interact with posts tagged with a hashtag close to your brand.
For example, a coffee shop would need to search for posts using tags such as #coffee, #instacoffee, #coffeeoftheday, #coffeetime, and #instacoffee.
If you want to leave comments, then it is better to do it meaningfully. Leaving generated comments (e.g. “Great!”, “Your photos are nice, wish there were more of them!”) or comments consisting only of emojis will disappoint your subscribers, because Only bots are guilty of such comments.
4.2. Engage with followers using your location
This advice is more suitable for local business: for restaurants, cafes and hotels than for online business.
If you have a location tag, then I recommend checking your news feed regularly to find photos, videos, and stories of users who have visited your place so that you can subscribe to them, thank them for visiting your establishment and get feedback by asking their opinion about your services.
If you don't already have a location, here are a few steps to create one:
Step 1: Open the Facebook mobile app and select the "Where are you" menu
Step 2: Type your business name in the "where are you" field
Step 3: Scroll down the screen and select "add (your name) to (your location)".
Step 4: Choose the most appropriate category
Step 5: Fill in your exact address and add a photo representing your location (for example, the front of the building where your office is located, your cafe, etc., similar to Yandex.Maps or Google Maps). Be careful when creating a location, as once it is created, there will be no way to change it!
Don't forget to "check in" 🙂
Step 6: Click "create"! Now you can attract even those users who are just next to you. To do this, go to "location" and select "near current location".
Or you can look for specific places near yours where your target audience might hang out and take photos that you can then post to your account.
When you find photos or stories that match the location, be sure to leave a good comment.
5. How to use Instagram to find influencers
The final way to use Instagram search for business is to reach out to the owners of popular accounts with whom it would be beneficial for you to partner.
A study by Dr. Jonah Berger of the Wharton School of Business and the Keller Fay Group, leading word-of-mouth marketing researchers, found that influencers can be quite effective in influencing user behavior.
"82% of consumers are more likely to follow the advice of an influencer, as opposed to 73% who will listen to the advice of the average user."
5.1. People search
The first way to find influencers is to select the "people" category from the search menu to search for people's profiles using relevant keywords. For example, cafe owners should search for the words "food", "food" or "kitchen" and study the search results.
This method is well suited again for local businesses, because. Instagram search is tailored to you based on your location and the profiles you follow. So, for example, many people that the search will offer you will live in the same city as you.
5.2. Search among your subscribers
The second way is to view the list of your subscribers, because. there is a possibility that among them there may be opinion leaders.
If you don't have many followers yet, check out the profile of each one manually. If you already have a lot of followers, Shane Barker advises looking for those whose “nickname” contains keywords among them. Using Shane's advice, for example, a health food restaurant called Righteous Food should search its followers for accounts with the words "food" in their name.
5.3. Search by location and hashtags
The third way is to search for suitable geolocations and hashtags. In this case, you should familiarize yourself with the profiles whose posts are in the top 9. Searching for influencers by location is again good for local businesses, while searching by hashtags is better for finding influencers among general interest audiences like fitness or food bloggers.
For example, we searched for "#digitalmarketing".
You should pay attention to publications that are in the TOP, as they most likely belong to users with a large audience of subscribers. You can also look at the latest posts if he wants to find specific hashtags.
The fourth way is to use the recommendations section, which collects the posts that are most relevant to you based on an analysis of your profile: the people you follow and the posts you liked.
This can be the most effective method if you follow people related to your business and interact with posts from your segment.
The fifth way is to use Instagram recommendations for similar users. Once you've found a potential influencer partner and followed them, Instagram will prompt you to follow similar accounts. If the recommendations don't appear, you can click on the down arrow to the right of the subscribe button to see the recommendations.
This method is perfect for those who have already found a partner among the influencers and want to find more.
Let's summarize
With the search and recommendation capabilities of Instagram for Business, you can significantly increase brand awareness by getting your posts featured in search results and recommendations. Get the chance to choose the best hashtag for your brand. You will be able to find publications to interact with users and find influencers to collaborate with. Is there anything else I missed? I would be glad if you share some more cool ways!..
The "Recommendations" section on Instagram is a list of users who may be of interest to the profile owner. The system selects prospective followers and friends who are similar in Interests, hashtags and geographic location.
“Recommended” ones are needed by those who are engaged in promotion on the Internet: they are looking for potential customers, studying competitors. You cannot remove a section without business consequences, but you can clear the list of suggested pages.
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After that, you can proceed to delete the search history. Based on this data, a list of recommended pages is compiled.
Instructions on how to clear previous requests on Instagram:
Additionally, you can clear the cache in the settings of the mobile device, delete application data. In the last option, you will have to re-enter your username and password.
You can't turn off recommendations on Instagram from your smartphone. The function is only available in the web version, which can be accessed through the official website.
It will not work to completely remove all hints: this is unprofitable for the social network due to a decrease in the activity of participants. Account owners can disable a minimum of features that interfere with the use of the social network.
You can find your acquaintances and friends in another section - in the user subscription section. This section contains people who are popular among your subscribers. Here you can also find friends from VK, Facebook and even the phone book. 
You can also find such users on the pages of new friends. When wondering what it means and how recommendations are formed on Instagram, pay attention to the fact that the program captures your page views, based on this information users can also be suggested to you. If you click on "follow" one user, you will immediately be offered 3 more recommendations from the list of those your new friend is following.
This question is of interest to everyone who wants to get more subscribers on a social network. It is difficult to specifically get into the list of users whom the program will advise, since the program independently forms it. But you can connect all your social media accounts to your profile, then your Instagram profile will be offered to your friends.
To turn off such alerts, you need to go to your profile, then click on "edit profile". In the menu, uncheck the box next to "recommendations of similar accounts." But disabling the feature will reduce your profile's popularity. 
Answering the question of how to enable and configure recommendations on Instagram, I must say that you cannot configure them as you wish, the application itself selects the appropriate profiles. You can turn on notifications on the profile editing page if you turned them off beforehand. Otherwise, recommendations are enabled automatically.
Another topical question from users is how to recommend friends on Instagram. To do this, tag a friend in your photos, so that their profile will become more popular and the number of impressions will increase.
You can promote your account, then you will be shown more often in recommendations to other users.
That is, wondering what it means - recommendations in the Instagram profile, we can say that this is an indicator of the user's popularity in the social network.
Recommendations on Instagram is a list of accounts that are as similar as possible to the user's profile. The system automatically analyzes the content of the page and, looking for similar people, displays their publications in the "Search" section. When a person clicks on the image of a magnifying glass, he will be taken to a page with photos and videos of users showing similar activity on social networks. networks. The results include the most popular accounts that have a lot of followers, are often commented on and collect a lot of “I like” marks under their posts.
What is it for?
Having figured out what it means, recommendations on Instagram, let's decide what they are for. social administration strategy network is aimed at creating maximum activity in the system. The goal can be achieved by bringing together people who have common interests. By recommending people to each other, administrators encourage them to be active. Looking through the publications, posts, stories that appear in the feed, people leave comments, subscribe to accounts and put “I like” marks. The function is useful for owners of business profiles and private accounts used for PR, promotion of goods and services.
Read a separate article.
How do they appear - the algorithms of the system?
- Posts and publications in the "Search" section.
- Other people's accounts.
You can find tips on following other profiles by clicking on the person silhouette icon in the upper right corner. There will be several categories of citizens:
- friends from Facebook and VKontakte - they will appear in the list if the profiles are linked to Instagram;
- subscribers who are not reciprocally subscribed;
- people your followers follow.
The "Search" section, in contrast to the "Interesting people" category, is filled at first glance chaotically. Besides your immediate interests, you can find Asian girls, puppies with kittens, recipes, photos of food, in general, everything that is somehow related to what you once touched on Instagram. The administration of the social network may use the following information against you in your interests to create recommendations:
- hashtags placed under photos and videos;
- the locations indicated when the pictures were published;
- subscriptions - accounts with similar topics appear in the issue;
- search history;
- real location.
If a user once, accidentally, under pressure in a state of passion, went to the page of Victoria Lopyreva, then her publications will certainly appear in the search results.
How to get there?
By roughly understanding what algorithms are used by the administration, you can figure out how to get into Instagram recommendations, attracting the attention of people with similar interests. You must use the following tools:
- hashtags under all posts and photos;
- indicate the place when publishing (more on this in the article);
- have a lot of subscribers - you can wind them up with the help of special services, Doinsta,;
- regularly upload new videos and posts;
- wind up likes and comments, creating the effect of social significance, then the algorithms will consider you really popular and bring you to the TOP.
Admittedly, Instagram admins don't ask anyone if they want to receive this kind of advice. You can't get rid of random photos and videos in the Search section. However, you can remove your profile from this list. Let's figure out how to remove recommendations on Instagram, ceasing to flicker before the eyes of other people.
You can turn the procedure only from the web version of the mobile application. You need to log in and click on the "Edit profile" button. Now scroll down the slider and you will see the line "Recommend your account". Opposite the inscription is a check mark. If you remove it and save the changes, the system will stop advising other people to subscribe to your profile.
It works like this, someone subscribed to a user account, after which his profile will appear in the "Interesting people" section of all subscribers of this person. This user's posts and posts that he likes will also be visible when entering the "Search" section. When the checkbox is unchecked, this magic does not happen and you are in obscurity.
Can this be turned off?
It is impossible to disable system tips that appear in different sections, as this is not beneficial to the administration. The appearance of such a function is fraught with a decrease in activity and will lead to a drop in popularity. Promoting your profile without this feature will be much more difficult, because those who may be potentially interested in you will never see your pictures and videos.
What can be disabled?
The only thing that can be disabled is Push notifications, where, among other things, information about:
- first publications and stories;
- live;
- products offered by the system;
- polls conducted in stories.
There are three options next to some notifications:
- From all users;
- From those you follow;
- shutdown.
If there is no desire to receive notifications about publications, stories and live broadcasts from strangers, then you need to select the line in which it is proposed to receive information about the actions of subscribed users. You can disable this feature altogether by selecting the "Disabled" line.
Conclusion
Using the advantages of the system, you can actively promote the page and find interesting publications from other people. The main thing to remember is that we ourselves largely influence the formation of a list of tips offered by algorithms. Guided by these principles, make the right decisions and get the desired result.
