How Driving Engagement Can Land You on Instagram Explore

Published on 30.03.2026 by Chizoba T

One of the top strategies for growing your account is by creating content that appears on the Explore page. Since the Explore page shows users' content from accounts they don't follow, it can be a great place to showcase your content to people who don't follow you and thereby grow your following.

When the Instagram algorithm notices that a post is receiving a lot of engagement, it interprets this as high-quality content and pushes it to users who love similar content on the Explore page. This is why you need a solid strategy to boost your visibility on the Explore page.

Why You Should Get on the Instagram Explore Page

Appearing on the Instagram explore page comes with various benefits. The most obvious one is that your content will be seen by more people and not just your followers. You should remember that Instagram ranks content on the explore page depending on what it thinks a user will be interested in.

That means that when a user sees your content on their explore page, it is already a topic they are interested in. They may already have liked or engaged with a similar post, making them great candidates to follow your account. If your brand’s posts appear on the Explore page, they receive higher engagement and get more followers. This can result in a spillover effect as more people visit their profile page and have the opportunity to explore and engage with older content.

If only one of your posts appears on the Explore page, you can increase your brand's reach, your followers' engagement, and overall engagement. You can use social media to improve your brand reputation or even include a call to action to increase your conversion rate. With these kinds of results, you can see why it helps to appear on the explore page.

Impact of the Post Engagement on the Explore Page

Instagram engagement is a key factor in determining whether the content is seen in the user’s feed and whether they recommend it. When the Instagram algorithm considers a piece of content popular, it will rank it higher. That means if a post has more likes, comments, and shares, Instagram will begin recommending it.

However, a common misconception among creators is that the algorithm only considers overall engagement. Instead, it considers factors such as how often users engage with your Instagram account. The higher the user's engagement level, the greater the account's potential reach.

While all types of engagement on Instagram matter and impact your brand’s visibility, you need to understand which type really matters. For instance, if your content is receiving a considerably high number of comments and shares, this may increase its visibility.

Why the Explore Page Considers Engagement

Just like other social media features, the Explore page considers engagement a key factor in determining user interest and content quality. The explore page aims to help users discover new content, even from creators they don't follow. Some of the reasons why engagement rate is a key metric for the Explore page are:

Show the quality of content. If your content receives high engagement, especially in the first few hours after posting, it signals to the algorithm that it is relevant and high-quality, and should be promoted to a larger audience.
A clear indicator of interest. The Explore page is usually personalized for users based on their past interaction behaviors. If a user is consistently liking, sharing, and saving posts, the algorithm uses that to recommend similar content. This is key as the Instagram algorithm rewards consistent posting.
Higher session time. Many social media platforms want users to spend more time on the app. If they showcase high-quality content that resonates with users' interests, the Explore page can encourage users to browse for longer.
Identify trends. The engagement metric is an important indicator of trends, especially for content formats like reels. These can help users identify trending topics and have them curated in the Explore feed.
Do away with low-quality content. A high engagement level can help the algorithm prioritize genuine and interesting content over low-quality, spam, and irrelevant content.

Key Engagement Metrics For Explore Ranking

While all engagement has some weight, some had more weight in the Explore section. These are:

Sends and shares. Shares are an important metric considered in the Explore page, as they indicate high-value content that others should see.
Saves. Just like the shares, when Instagram users save your content, it indicates to the algorithm that the content is valuable enough to be revisited.
Watch time. When it comes to video content, the video rewatch rates and the completion rates are key metrics.
Comments. If your Instagram content is sparking deep, meaningful conversations, the algorithm interprets that as a sign it's compelling.

How to Measure Your Instagram Engagement Rate

To increase your Instagram engagement, start by understanding your current engagement. There are two common formats used for measuring engagement. These are:

By reach. This involves adding the likes and comments, dividing by the reach, and multiplying the result by 100. This is the method most commonly used by brands.
By audience. This measures engagement rate by adding likes and comments, dividing by the number of followers, and multiplying the result by 100. The method is commonly used by influencers.

How do you get the data to use for the calculations? You can do that in several ways, such as:

Checking manually. This involves manually looking at the number of likes, comments, shares, and saves your posts have received. The downside of this method is that it can be time-consuming.
Social media dashboard. This is a faster, automated process. Simply visit Instagram analytics and check the insights. You will see the engagement for the posts you are monitoring within a certain period.
Use third-party tools. Third-party social media management tools can show you the performance of your Instagram posts. Choose a specific content, its time frame, and export it to CSV.

Final Thoughts

If you would like your content to appear on the Explore page, you should focus on driving engagement. When the Instagram algorithm sees that people are liking, commenting, sharing, and saving your post, it will interpret that as a sign that you are creating high-quality content. They will recommend increasing the content on the explore page to boost your followers, engagement, and visibility.