The most obvious part of using Instagram and posting on it is that you want to share. And the positive feedback that you look for about your posts is gained through likes. Everyone on Instagram wants as many likes as they can possibly get for their posts.
This applies to someone running a personal account, bloggers, or even businesses. The more followers and likes on your account, the better it is. Nobody likes it if their post hardly gets 5 likes after having uploaded it 10 hours or so ago. It would definitely be a little if not very disappointing.
So let’s take a look at exactly how you can actively make an effort to get more likes on all your Instagram posts.
Table of Contents
- 1. Link Your Instagram with Your Facebook Account
- 2. Improve The Quality of Your Posts
- 3. Using Hashtags The Right Way
- 4. Use Filters When Necessary
- 5. Comment on The Posts of Other Users
- 6. Get Likes by Spamming Other Accounts
- 7. Beware of Timing
- 8. Don’t Post Too Much At The Same Time
- 9. Get a Theme
- 10. Use Captions
- 11. Put Up Selfies or Pictures With More Faces
- 12. Take Great Pictures
- 13. Edit Your Photos
- 14. Take Time to Look at Others’ Feed
- 15. Participate in # Projects
1. Link Your Instagram with Your Facebook Account
The most obvious step is to always link your Instagram with your Facebook account. This will help all the people on your Facebook list to see that you have an account on Instagram that they can follow as well.
You can either share a picture from Instagram to Facebook or even actively ask your Facebook friends to follow you on Instagram. These are usually your first followers when you make an account.
Get as many followers as you can by linking to all your social media accounts. This automatically gives you more likes when you post something.
2. Improve The Quality of Your Posts
One of the first things you need to understand is also that if your post is of good quality, people will obviously like it more. So make a conscious effort to post some good pictures that will catch the attention of other users.
Your followers will definitely click the little heart and other users might just start following you out of interest. Your posts should be personal and attractive to your followers.
It should be something that would interest them and capture their attention. Your posts should also have a unique quality that makes users want to follow you in order to look forward to future posts.
Using hashtags is the easiest way to make your post more visible and discoverable by other Instagram users. These tags should be relevant to the content of your post. People tend to search for tags based on their subject of interest.
If they like your post, they will like it and also start following you. The next part of using hashtags is to use popular ones. There are certain tags that are more popular at certain times. Posts with these tags generate a lot of traffic and thus get more likes. Some examples of such tags are this that has the words iphonesia, nofilter, instadaily, webstagram, photooftheday, etc. Using these tags on your posts will make them more likely to get attention from other users.
Remember don’t add too many hashtags to your posts. This makes it look as though you are posting for the sole purpose of getting likes. Seven is a good number for increasing the number of views via hashtags. You can find out about the popular hashtags that would increase your likes on sites like tagsforlikes.com.
4. Use Filters When Necessary
The filters that you use on your image also have a certain effect on users. Studies have shown that posts with certain filters get more likes than posts with some other filters. In fact, pictures with no filter or the normal image get the most amounts of attention and likes.
Making the photo natural yet high quality will make it more popular. In the case of those with the use of filters, Valencia, Earlybird, and Hefe are amongst the most popular ones. Using these will make it more likely for your post to get a like than any other filters.
If you already have a great shot without applying filters then improve it with the brightness, saturation, and tools etc. These will enhance the image without changing it drastically.
5. Comment on The Posts of Other Users
Commenting on the posts of other users will make it much more likely that they like, comment, and follow your account as well. It just makes you much more interactive than all the other users and generates the interest of that user in your account as well.
Check out their accounts and maybe like some posts even if you don’t follow them back. Reply to the comments they leave on your posts. Show that you appreciate their likes and build a positive relationship. This will gain you a loyal following on your account.
6. Get Likes by Spamming Other Accounts
Go to the explore tab and search for certain hashtags like the following: #likeforlike, #l4l, #spamforspam, #spamback, #likebackalways. Once you search for these, go to the profile of any user who has this hashtag on their post.
Like a few or many of their pictures at once. This will make you appear on their notifications. You can also leave a comment on any one of their pictures and ask them to spam back or like back your pictures. This is one of the simplest ways to get likes on your pictures.
Others who want the same are quite willing to return the favor. One of the easiest ways to generate traffic to your account is by liking hundreds of pictures in one day. At least some of them will follow you and like your pictures.
7. Beware of Timing
Timing is yet another crucial factor in determining how many likes you can generate on your post. There are certain times of the day or days of the week when more people are active. In general, Mondays and Wednesdays have shown to generate a lot of likes on posts.
The other thing to notice is when your specific followers are more active. Analyze this using certain other applications and determine when you should post. If you post at a time when they don’t even see your post, you are hardly about to get any likes.
8. Don’t Post Too Much At The Same Time
You should also not spam the feed of your followers by posting too much at the same time. This will actually annoy them and might even make them unfollow.
Less drastically, they will just choose to scroll down without even looking at the post properly. Instead, if you have a lot of good photos of a particular event or subject, just make a collage.
A collage is the easiest yet a clutter-free way of sharing these images with your followers. There are so many apps that allow you to do this in an easy yet attractive way. This will ensure that you get likes without being a spammer.
9. Get a Theme
Decide on a theme for your profile. Most of the popular profiles on Instagram show a particular theme with respect to each. Users will get an idea of what they can expect when they follow you and are more likely to do so if they like what they see.
Consistency is the key to maintaining a theme on your account. The theme could be location-based, food-based or even color-based. The point is, when the user sees the overall account, they should notice the theme.
10. Use Captions
Captions are another focal point. The picture could be great and the caption will make it even better. Your caption allows your users to get an insight into the story of the picture. Your followers should look forward to the next story you will tell.
11. Put Up Selfies or Pictures With More Faces
Studies show that a picture with your face on it is more likely to get a higher number of likes than those without.
You don’t necessarily have to use the front-facing camera for selfies. Using the rear camera will give you a picture with a much better resolution without the dreary grainy effect.
12. Take Great Pictures
Taking a photo at the right angle can make a lot of difference. For instance, when a person is standing in front of you, take a shot at an upward angle from below. This makes them look better in proportions and taller.
Get vibrant shots in the right light. Sunsets or a sunrise shot often see more likes due to the play in colors. Hues of blue on your photos are shown to be more attractive. Those with predominantly red hues show fewer likes in comparison.
Brighter pictures get more likes than those that are darker. The same image with higher brightness got more likes than when it was in a darker setting. Cooler colors engage more people than a warmer palate with red, orange, or pink hues.
13. Edit Your Photos
Use photo-editing apps to get a wider range of effects for your pictures. You don’t have to limit yourself to the filters on Instagram. A lot of great photo editing apps can make your pictures look like they were shot professionally. This definitely increases the number of likes on your pictures.
However, don’t edit your pictures too much. It decreases the likelihood of getting more likes. The more normal your picture looks the more people like it.
14. Take Time to Look at Others’ Feed
Give some thought to the feed of people that capture your attention. See what it is in their pictures that attract you and how you can try the same techniques for yours. Following these kinds of people will help you develop your feed quicker as well.
15. Participate in # Projects
Participate in # projects held by the official Instagram page or other popular pages to get your posts noticed. If your post makes it to these or the popular page, your followers are much more likely to increase overnight.