In this article
Learn how to use the Optimization page to improve your posting strategy, including how to:
Identify the best times and days to post based on past engagement
Find your ideal caption length
Discover which hashtags drive the most engagement
See how hashtag count impacts engagement
Compare engagement by day of week to guide your schedule
Overview
Optimization helps you improve future content by showing what’s worked best—when to post, how long your captions should be, and which hashtags actually drive engagement. While the Dashboard tells you what happened, Optimization shows you what to do next.
How to Use Optimization
To open Optimization:
Go to Profile Analytics
Select the account you want to analyze
Click Optimization from the left-hand menu
Inside, you’ll find:
A heatmap of your best post times
Charts showing how caption length and hashtag count affect engagement
Lists of your top hashtags and top-performing days
Tools to help you adjust scheduling, content format, and hashtag use
Each section is based on your own past posts—so the insights are tailored to your actual audience behavior.
Optimal Post Time
This heatmap shows when your posts get the most engagement.
Days are listed down the left, hours across the top
Darker orange = higher average engagement
Hover to see how many posts were published in that slot and how they performed
Toggle between Engagements and Post Frequency to compare behavior and results
Key insights to look for
High-engagement time slots: Darker heatmap blocks indicate when posts received above-average engagement.
Missed opportunities: If you rarely post during high-engagement times, consider revisiting your schedule.
Consistent timing patterns: Recurring strong performance on certain days or hours may signal ideal posting windows.
Post frequency vs. results: Comparing engagement to post volume can reveal if you’re posting heavily at underperforming times.
Best Times to Post
This chart gives you a quick list of your top-performing days and times.
If you're using Keyhole Publishing, the Schedule Next Post button lets you take action instantly.
Key insights to look for
Top-performing windows: These times consistently drive strong engagement—ideal for priority content.
Repeated patterns: If certain days or times appear frequently, they may be high-value publishing slots.
Experimentation signals: Use top time slots to test new post formats and compare performance.
Optimal Post Length
This section shows how different caption lengths perform.
Posts are grouped into ranges like (e.g., 141-280, 281-560 characters)
Each bar shows how many posts fell into that range and the average engagement for that range
Key insights to look for
Caption length ranges that perform best: These are the lengths where your posts consistently get higher engagement.
Drop-off points: If engagement dips beyond a certain length, your audience may prefer shorter captions.
Consistent patterns: If one range always performs well, it may be your go-to length for future posts.
Top Hashtags by Engagement
See which hashtags brought in the most engagement during the selected date range.
Hashtags are ranked by total engagements
You’ll see how often each tag was used and how it performed
Some views let you toggle between Engagements and Frequency
Key insights to look for
Hashtags with consistent engagement: Tags that show up frequently in high-performing posts may be reaching the right audience.
Frequently used, low-engagement tags: May indicate hashtags that aren't contributing to performance.
Differences between niche and broad tags: Comparing performance across hashtag types can help surface which ones are more effective for your audience.
Optimal Number of Hashtags
This chart shows how the number of hashtags impacts engagement.
Groups posts by how many hashtags they included (e.g., 0, 1–3, 4–6, 7+)
Compares the average engagements per group
Key insights to look for
Hashtag ranges that perform best: Engagement may peak when posts use a certain number of hashtags.
Engagement drop-offs at higher counts: Too many hashtags can come across as spammy—especially if engagement dips outside your usual range.
Consistent results within a range: If one hashtag range consistently performs better, it may be worth prioritizing.
Average Engagements by Day
A snapshot of how different days of the week perform.
Each bar represents average engagement per post, grouped by weekday
Use it to guide your scheduling decisions
Key insights to look for
High-engagement days: Certain weekdays consistently show stronger interaction—use this to guide content timing.
Lower-engagement days: These may be better suited for non-priority or experimental posts.
Distribution patterns: If engagement is concentrated early in the week, shifting more content to those days may improve performance.
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