How to Get More Instagram Followers

It’s okay, you can tell me the truth, you secretly wish you were Instagram famous. I too wish I had red lips like Taylor Swift and her Instagram stats to match (61.9 million followers to date). It’s unlikely that you or I will ever have T-Swizzle level followers, but there are definitely sure fire ways to increase your follower count! Check out all the details on how to get more Instagram followers below!

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1. Write a compelling bio. 

Tell people who you are and likely they’ll have similar interests to you! A good Instagram bio is short and sweet – two sentences max. Don’t forget to use the “who, where, what” structure: who are you, where are you from, and what are your interests? Having a perfect Instagram bio will give potential followers a quick glance at the types of photos they can expect to see on your feed!

2. Use a camera to take photos rather than your phone.

I highly doubt this is a secret, but all your favorite Instagrammers? They’re rarely using their phone cameras. I’ll give the iPhone 6 a little credit,  it takes pretty solid snaps, however if you want that perfect photo you’ll really want to flexibility and quality that comes with using a real camera. My crowd-funded Christmas & birthday gift this year was my beautiful Olympus Pen EPL-7 and in my short time snapping away with this baby I’ve seen a real jump in both the quality of my Instagram photos and followers gained! So grab your camera (and may I also recommend a beautiful soft focus lens?) and up your Insta photography game!

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3. Pick a theme – and stick to it!

If you remember only one thing from this Instagram how-to, remember this: pick a theme and stick to it! Scroll through all your favorite Instagram accounts and you’ll likely notice they all have one thing in common: they have a clear theme. Color is often the best way to theme your photos – my favorite example is famous UK lifestyle blogger Lydia Millen whose Instagram photos are almost all 70% white. By having this consistent color theme and background, her entire feed looks cohesive and compelling. I’ve very recently started to take inspiration from Lydia’s angelic white theme, infusing white into my own photos, and I’ve already seen a bump in followers! Pick a theme that suits you (light & bright, all grey, neon, ultra colorful, you get the drift) and make sure to stick to it! If you love a photo but it doesn’t quite fit your theme, post it to Facebook instead!

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4. Hashtag appropriately.

Using hashtags appropriate means using the right hashtags and the right amount of them. Yes Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags and no I don’t think you should use 30 in every post (although some people use this strategy). I tend to think the more hashtags in a post, the less appealing to the eye it becomes, so the trick is picking a handful of the best hashtags. If you’re a lifestyle blogger you may want to use “lblogger” or “lifestyleblogger” – same with all you beauty and fashion bloggers out there! Using something like “fblogger” or “bblogger” allows people interested in following blogs and brands find you easily through your hashtag! I also suggest thinking outside the box, for example rather than using #travel use #wanderlust for any travel shots because it’s more specific than the general “travel” and will likely garner more engagement! Hone in on your niche and hashtag appropriately!

5. Engage, engage, engage!

While we often think of Instagram as a one-way method of communication (I post a photo, you view it) shift your mindset and think about engaging others. I used to rarely “like” someone else’s photo unless it was really good, where as now I “like” almost every photo on my feed and comment on the extra special shots! Commenting on photos and leaving a nice message encourages others to engage back – which ultimately leads to follows!

Don’t forget to come connect and engage with me on Instagram!

What are your Instagram tips and tricks?

xoxo Blonde

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