You just took the perfect selfie, put on a nice filter and added some nice edits. Damn, you look good! But now you might be wondering “whats the best time to Post on Instagram in the UK?”.
It only makes sense to consider this notion as when you get more eyeballs on your photos. You’ll get more engagement, likes, comments, followers and shares. Who doesn’t want that!
Instead of me beating around the bush. I’ll jump starlight to the point and give you the data that we have found. P.S. Don’t miss our Instagram posting infographic down below.
What’s best time to post on Instagram UK? According to our research, for the most engagement on Instagram in the UK. The best times to post are between 4AM-9AM BST and 7PM-11PM on weekdays. For the weekend, the best times are midday and 4PM-8PM.
Best Time To Post On Instagram UK + Infographic
From the above Instagram posting times breakdown. We can see that there are some pretty bizarre times throughout the week.
However, after digging deeper, there is some method behind this madness.
Across the board, whether on a weekday or on the weekend, the most engaging times for Instagram users is early in the morning. Typically from 5AM – 9AM.
But why is this? This is simply due to the fact that a large majority of people look at their smartphones first thing in the morning.
While this isn’t the best habit to have, I for one am guilty of this on a regular basis.
Also by looking at the below infographic, we can see this engagement continue to around 9AM everyday before picking up again in the afternoon.
This continued engagement can likely be put down to people being on their phones while commuting to work, or just killing time before getting into the office.
So to take advantage of these times, it is actually best to post late at night so that users can see your content first thing in the morning.
Once you hit 10,000 followers, you’ll also be able to add a link to your bio. This is a great tools to send people to your blog/ online store. To get started, you can see my how to make a website guide and also my best web hosts UK guide to help you along the way.
Best Time To Post On Instagram For International Audiences
Ok, so now that we’ve figured out what the best times to post on Instagram UK are. We now need to think about other audiences that you might want to reach.
As an example, 80% of all Instagram users are from the USA. So if you are trying to target users outside of the UK, knowing these times can also be massively beneficial.
So for targeting a USA based audience, below are the best times to be sharing photos:
- Monday: 12PM BST
- Tuesday: 8PM BST
- Wednesday: 11PM BST
- Thursday: 9PM BST
- Friday: 11PM BST
- Saturday: 5PM BST
- Sunday: 11PM BST
For more times on when to post to an international audience, this is a great guide.
The Instagram Algorithm Also Plays a Big Role
While optimising your posting time on Instagram can give you more likes and comments. One thing to remember is the Instagram algorithm.
Since 2016, Instagram moved from their chronological time feed to a “engagement & recommended feed”.
While this did cause a stir when it was first releases (and still is). Instagram says this change was to put more things in front of you that you are interested in.
Previous to the change, users were getting 50% of their friends and families photos. However now, Instagram says it is closer to 90%. This results in a more personalised experience for every user.
Ok, but what does this have todo with picking the best time to post photos?
Even if you pick the best time to post, even down to the minute. You won’t get much engagement if you don’t post quality content that is unique and interesting to your audience.
This is where understanding the people that follow you is critical.
Understanding Your Audience For More Engagement
To better understand your own audience that is currently interacting with your content. Then you should definitely be using your Instagram Insights which is right within the app.
When going into your Instagram analytics, you can see some heaps of valuable data such as gender, geographic location, times people are engaging with your posts and so much more.
For a full breakdown, below is a great video that walks you through this inbuilt tool.
How To Get More Engagement On Your Photos
If you want more follows, likes and comments. Then knowing the fundamentals as to what makes people tap the love heart stop and look at your photos is a must.
Use Portrait Layout
This is one of the most widely known tips to improve Instagram pretty much straight away. And that is to publish photos in portrait format.
By using portrait format, you are essentially allowing more of your photo onto the screen realestate of a viewers phone.
Take the below layout, what one draws your attention first…
Let me guess, it was the one on the right? So if you aren’t already using portrait layout, then this is a great opportunity!
Keep It Simple
As the age old saying goes, less is more. This is a term that has been traditionally been applied to photography, which means it also applies to Instagram.
For inspiration on how to apply this to your feed, this is a great video to start with.
Use Unique But Searched For Hashtags
As we all know, using hashtags is a proven method to get more likes on your photos. But instead of using a hashtag generator, it is actually best to search for hashtags that aren’t completely saturated.
By doing so, this means your photos won’t get lost in the noise. Say for example you took a photo of some nice Pho. Instead of using #yum and #food, you can get more precise and use #pho #bestpho #pholife and so on.
When you use a more targeted approach, this will put the right people in front of your photos which will end in more likes.
Conclusion
Did you know that as of 2019, Instagram is gaining more new users that FaceBook?
Even though Instagram is less than half the size with 800 million active users. Users are starting to jump ship to the more visual and more consumer friendly platform.
So right now is the best time to start taking advantage of Instagram, whether it be for your own account or for a small business.