Do a quick search for relevant hashtags on Instagram to find a list of photos and accounts that are similar to what you post. For example, if you post lots of travel pictures, then search for something like #instatravel. Don’t just follow everyone you see, or your feed will become too overloaded to process. Limit yourself to following only those accounts that you find most interesting. It’s more likely people will follow you if you have the exact same amount (or less) of followers and following. If you’re following too many people, people might mistake you as a new Instagrammer or a bot and be less likely to follow you. Instagram limits you to following about 120 people per hour. Follow Shoutout accounts on Instagram to gain more followers, they usually give a shoutout to your account if you follow them or like one of their photos. You can also look into other ways to get shoutouts.
Try to limit the number of hashtags to 3 to 5 at the most. If you have too many hashtags, your followers will feel like your images are too spammy. Hide the hashtags by using them within the caption sentence e. g. “I really #love this #girl” or place them right at the bottom of the caption. You can find relevant tags using websites such as All Hashtag, Hashtagify, or HashtagStack.
When commenting on photos, take your time to write a longer message and use emojis when possible. It will be much more motivating for them to take the extra time to look over your profile.
Consider having a call-to-action, such as “Double-tap if you agree” or “Share your story in the comments. " This will help improve your engagement rate.
Even if a comment doesn’t require a written response, it might be worthwhile to like the comment to acknowledge that you’ve seen it and appreciate it.
Your bio is another good section to place a call to action. Mention your ‘Following Guidelines’ in your Instagram bio. Here’s an example: “I am a mega-fan of Katy Perry!”. There will always be a lot of people with the same interests as you and then you’ll probably get a whole heap of Katy Perry lovers following you. You might even be lucky enough to get the real Katy following you. Make sure your username is something close to what you represent. You can change it after creating your account if you don’t like it.
Tap the + in the top right corner to be able to make a feed post, a Story, or Go Live. If you want to make a reel, tap the director’s clapboard in the menu at the bottom of your screen, then tap the camera icon in the top right corner.
Other users posting photos from the same location may see your pictures and follow them to your account, giving you more exposure and potentially new local followers. Avoid geotagging your photo in a location where the photo was not taken. Incorrect geotagging could lead to negative comments on your posts or other forms of backlash. For your own safety, avoid geotagging your home or work locations. Remember these geotags are visible to the public.
Try to take pictures that will relate to your target audience. If your audience can connect with the images that you take, they are more likely to follow you. A good photo doesn’t have to be a “perfect” photo. Good photos seem human and imperfections can help add to that feeling.
The exception to this, sad as it may be, is if you are attractive. You can get a lot of followers by posting attractive pictures of yourself. Even then, don’t let it dominate your content!
Avoid using the same filters over and over, or your images will start to feel too similar. If the picture is striking enough without a filter, a popular hashtag on Instagram is #nofilter. Use it! if you are struggling to find a good filter then try a third-party photo editor like Google Photos which has many different filters that are not available on Instagram.
Some people consider this a “dirty” tactic, and you may lose some followers if you tag this too often. Try to avoid posting many photos at once with random hashtags. While this tactic may lead to new followers, be aware that they may only follow you to gain more likes on their own photos rather than out of genuine interest. Make sure you follow through with your side of the deal to avoid any nasty comments or unfollows.
Go to Linktree and fill in your information. Then check your email and follow the on-screen verification instructions. Add links to your Linktree dashboard and customize it. You’ll be redirected to the dashboard once you verify your email. Copy the URL of the Linktree you created and add that to your Instagram bio.
Popular editing apps include Photo Editor by Aviary, Afterlight, Bokehful, and Overgram.
Find your analytics to see how well posts at one time of the day fare against posts at other times of the day. If you have a professional business or creator account, tap View Insights below your post. [3] X Research source Instagram photos typically last around 4 hours in a person’s feed, so avoid posting in the middle of the night or your followers may never actually see the image. You can find the best times to post pictures for your audience by using websites such as IconoSquare.
It will help if you do more posts and tag them more regularly than just once every 12 hours. Other people might just think you’re boring. (Which you’re not!)
Use capital letters to separate words in a hashtag rather than spaces. Instead of “Just do it” you could use #JustDoIt
