40 Top Tips to Rock your Instagram Account

Currently seen as the fastest growing and most popular of the social media networks, Instagram currently has a user data base of over 1 billion active accounts.

With a massive 95 million photos and videos being shared on Instagram per day, it is both a vibrant and active place to share your work with though it is also very crowded so meaning you have to work hard to be seen!

Here are 40 hot tips to get your Instagram account rocking:

1. Grab a great and relevant username.
2. Add a professional looking user profile image.
3. Use your profile description wisely with relevant hashtags on keywords.
4. Make sure you as a relevant URL on your account so that other users can find out more about you.
5. Like other people images relevant to the target audience you are seeking.
6. Leave comments on other peoples photos / videos to start networking warmly with others.
7. Use the private message option to send people updates, information, news and more.
8. Follow accounts that are relevant to your target audience so to highlight your presence.
9. Remember to be active and post regularly, do not go days / weeks without posting.
10. Study the optimum times to post content relevant to your target audience and be active during those times.
11. Use social media management scheduling software solutions to schedule your posts to release during hours that you maybe busy / sleeping.
12. Decide on a theme for your images / videos and stick to it as much as you can.
13. Think quality over quantity and try and release professional standard photos / videos.
14. Use tagging by uploading images and adding relevant user accounts to them to attract their attention.
15. Describe each update as best as you can, the more of a story you can give the better.
16. Hashtags are very important, add as many relevant ones as you can to attract interest in your posts. Popular Instagram Hashtags are very important, add as many relevant ones  as you can to attract interest in your posts.
17. Use Instagram Stories to keep people further updated with what is happening in your world.
18. Call other users to act on your content such as asking for votes, comments, feedback and more.
19. Use the Promote feature if you want to further increase viewers of your content (at cost).
20. Study what is working / trending on Instagram, research similar accounts / updates and take ideas away with you.
21. Study competitor accounts, are they working well and if so, what are they doing?
22. Use the Instagram analytics ‘View Insights’ to study how your posts are working such as the amount of like, profile visits and reach they have had.
23. Link your social media accounts to Instagram so when posts go out on to Instagram they will auto post to others ie Twitter / Facebook.
24. Let people know that you are on Instagram by placing an icon on your website.
25. Use the Instagram icon on any email stationary you have to increase more interest.
26. Keep up to date with what is happening on Instagram such as any new features / software releases.
27. Try and form partnerships with other Instagram users to jointly release updates and tap in to each others audiences.
28. Think about special promotions on Instagram such as unique discount codes.
29. Competitions work well on Instagram, thinking about running one that requires other users to engage with you.
30. Make sure your account is set to public over private – The more people who see you and your content the better!
31. Use the image editing feature that Instagram offers you wisely such as choosing the best filters.
32. Protect your content by prior watermarking before you release them.
33. Be responsive as fast as possible such as when you get private messages.
34. Thank other users when they comment on your updates.
35. Post ‘Fill in the… Blank’ style posts to get responses from your audiences.
36. Be sure to make sure you share your own content only, do not simply take images from Google to share.
37. Use text / words on some images to add a story to your updates.
38. Do not buy fake followers.
39. Do not be shy to appear on your Instagram posts from time to time to showcase the face behind the action.
40. Research influencers and celebrities, many will have Instagram accounts, try to attract their attention / eye with posts relevant to them or tagging them in where relevant.