How to Get Followers on Instagram

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Instagram is an app for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and Android that allows users to share and upload photos within the Instagram community or across social networks. To get followers on Instagram, try the following tips and techniques!

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    Look at a variety of pages. Just as you shouldn’t jump into a conversation you haven’t been listening to, you shouldn’t start uploading photos and expecting followers without first getting a sense of what the community values.

    • Listed under the “Popular” tab, you can check out what popular users are posting on Instagram and use their shots for inspiration.
    • Follow “Suggested Users” by selecting “Find Friends” > ”Suggested Users”. Following users that have similar interests to you may encourage them to follow you in return.
    • Search hashtags or users for the kinds of pictures you’re interested in. Like basketball? Look up your favorite player. Big fan of local punk rock? Check out the feeds of some bands in your city.
    • Search for users with similar interests. If you’re a jewelry maker, search through the hashtags for jewelry buzzwords. If you’re a big hiker, search for pics of someone’s latest trail conquest.
    • Pay attention to what kinds of photos these users post. What seem to be the most popular?
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    Follow your favorites. In general, if you are posting photos that users find valuable, they will quickly follow you and encourage others to do the same.

    • Following a few people with intent is more effective (not to mention far less obvious) than playing a numbers game. Following too many people will also make your feed overloaded and difficult to digest.
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    Comment on the photos that you enjoy. When you feel like you’ve got a sense of the way Instagram works, start leaving comments on pictures that inspire you. Spreading feelings of goodwill is a great way to increase your own base of followers.

    • Getting your name on pages you admire is both a good way to get that person to follow you, and other fans of that user, especially if post similar pictures.
    • Say something of substance. Emoticons or “Nice pic!” don’t go as far in getting you noticed as do honesty and sincerity.
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    Find and invite your friends to join. This can be done from within the@(YourAccountName) settings tab on the far right. Users like to follow users who have a lot of followers. This is why it can be difficult to gain followers early on. Getting friends from other social networks to follow your Instagram account is crucial for building an initial follower base.

    • Click the “Find friends” button to add friends from your Facebook, Twitter, or address book, or simply search for usernames and names of people you know that may be using Instagram.
    • Tap the “From my contact list” button to select contacts from your address book and send them an email invite to join Instagram.

 

EditMethod 2 of 3: Crafting Your Page

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    Be selective with your photo uploads. The best way to gain new followers on Instagram is to provide content that is valuable to users.

    • Upload only your best shots in small doses. Uploading large numbers of photos at once makes them easy to skip over.
    • Within your interests, choose a diversity of shots. Too many similar photos of cooking projects or pets may cause some users to lose interest.
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    Filter your pictures. One of the unique and popular options with Instagram is the ability to easily add color and shade to your pictures. Even relatively routine pictures can be given a touch of drama. Play with different filters and crops to make the most captivating image you can.

    • If the picture is striking enough without a filter, a popular hashtag on Instagram is #nofilter. Use it!
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    Use hashtags. Hashtags can help you attract users who are searching for a particular type of photo or subject.

    • If you take a picture of the Eiffel Tower, include “#paris” or “#eiffeltower” in the description and anyone looking for photos taken in Paris will be able to find your picture.
    • Using popular hashtags can also help you capitalize on what’s trending.
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    Geotag your photos. Instagram users are interested in photos from locations that they know. On top of that, as you post geotagged photos, Instagram will bring up other photos from that location.

    • Other users posting photos from the same location may see your pictures and follow them to your profile.
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    Make sure your account is public. From the settings page, tap on “Edit your profile”, make sure the “photos are private” doesn’t have a check mark on the box beside it. This setting allows other Instagram users to follow you and view your photos without your authorization.

    • If you would like to require authorization before other Instagram users can follow you and view your photos, click the “@(YourUserName)” tab, scroll to the bottom of the page, and switch the “Photos are private” toggle to “ON”. You will be prompted to confirm the decision, click “Yes, I’m sure”.
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    Share your Instagram photos across your other social networks. This makes it easy for your friends and other Instagram users to find your photos and potentially become a follower.

    • Click the icon on the far right to get to the settings page. Scroll down and click onEdit sharing settings.
    • You’ll see a list of social networks that you can link to your Instagram account (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare).
    • You’ll be asked to enter your username and password to link accounts.

 

EditMethod 3 of 3: Quick Tricks and “Cheats”

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    Repeatedly toggle between “follow” and “unfollow” on the pages with the highest number of followers. Often, users who are interested in getting lots of followers will quickly will skim these pages looking for quid-pro-quo followers. Repeatedly following and unfollowing them will keep your name toward the top of the recent followers.

    • Three of the most popular accounts are Instagram’s own account, the band One Direction, and Justin Bieber.
    • Note that this is against Instagram policy and may get your account suspended or deleted.
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    Browse hash tags like #followme, #like4like or #TagsforLikes. These will bring up pictures from users who are interested in growing their number of followers, or are willing to like your photos in exchange for their likes. Follow and like their photos.

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    Use the most popular hashtags. Even if they don’t accurately categorize a particular picture, using these hashtags will attract the attention of other users looking to pad their stats with followers.

 

11 Secrets to Taking Better Instagram Photos

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There are over 150 millions active monthly users on Instagram, and that’s an amazing opportunity to get the word out there about your brand (or your personal brand!). But how can you stand out among so many other filter-obsessed photophiles?

Well, a huge part of getting people to follow you is the quality of your photos. While we’re all happy for you if you enjoyed that lunch of yours represented in a blurry and over-exposed photo, it’s not exactly riveting content in an Instagram feed.

However, if you show users something awesome—or even something not that awesome, but in a new and interesting way—you can become someone who’s worth a follow. Check out these 11 tips for taking photos that get noticed, and just have fun with it!

TheMuseIG 11 Secrets to Taking Better Instagram Photos