Gain More Followers on Instagram: Step by Step

1. Posting Your photos with ‘Instatude’

How to get more instagram followersInstagram photography is an art all to itself. The square dimensions, the tiny scales, and the boundless mobility have created new styles of ‘miniature’ photography. Taking pictures that compliment the Instagram style are foundational in how to get more Instagram followers. Without a doubt, some of the most effective Instagram photographers shoot for clarity, a single strong subject, negative space, high contrast without hindered resolution, mobile-oriented themes like hiking or urban exploration, and dynamic action juxtaposed with still environments. These elements are not the only ones that are important for catching more Instagram followers, however. All the typical components of a high quality photo still applies: good lighting, composition and focus. If you are interested in exploring more about using these compositional elements to get more Instagram followers, check out my 6 Tips for Better Instagram Photos.

2. Using Instagram Hashtag Best Practices

Using the Top 100 Instagram hashtags has never gotten me the Instagram followers that I wanted. Usually I just end up collecting a few likes from Instagram users who never follow me. I think this is because the search feed moves so quickly with the high number of people posting to them (#love currently has 296,258,891 people all vying for attention). If you are interested in learning how to get more Instagram followers using the top 100 hashtags, I have written a post on how to get the most exposure using them that might be helpful.

how can i get more instagram followers

Just a few of my hashtags

However, I’d recommend a different approach altogether. I still think that posting to hashtags can give amazing results, but the trick is doing the research to know which hashtags will be best for you. Look for hashtags with a number of posters between several hundred thousand to just a few million. Often these smaller hashtags have a more committed community that searches the tags frequently and will be willing to follow outstanding photos. I’d also stay away from hashtags that are too general and descriptive: Tree, view, building etc. Search for community specific tags like #friendsoftheworld, #dayshots, or the daily #jj forums and events constantly updated by @joshjohnson. Finally, I would recommend gravitating toward hashtags that have media content similar to yours. This will ensure that you are posting to an audience that is already interested in your style of photography. Look for similar styles of editing, similar subjects or compositional techniques. Sometimes you can find hashtags devoted to these specific details like #hdr_styles or #slowshutter, but these often have a very low number of photographers posting to them and only need occasional engagement to get Instagram followers.

3. Entering Your Instagrams in Contests

Instagram contestsEntering contests to get Instagram followers might take some effort, but you can also get double the rewards if you win. Often contests on Instagram will draw a lot of engagement from other contestants who are taking stock of the competition. Instagram contests with real and valuable prizes are even better since the stakes are higher. Placing in a contest gives you the added exposure and recognition of winning. Not to mention the pride of seeing your photo featured. If you’re interested in exploring contests to get Instagram followers, there are a number of ways you can go about it. First, Instagram is populated by “shout-out” contests, like @instagood or @discovertalentedigers. Usually, you are required to follow the shout-out account and post with their hashtag on your photos. Then, they select photos to feature to their massive audience with a link to the artist’s profile. You can also find contests online, though it may take a little searching. My favorite place for Instagram contests online is at Statigr.am’s contest page. A final way of finding Instagram contests is through a free Instagram contest app called PhotoVote. PhotoVote is a crowdsourced approach to Instagram contests. Any user can make a contest, but all likes and follows on the app are still sent to Instagram. I have to admit, wdhile I have received a bit of traffic from PhotoVote, and certainly a high number of likes on my photos, I found that it wasn’t the best way to get more followers on Instagram for free. However, it’s a great way to constantly have hundreds of Instagram contests at the tap of your thumb!

4. Interacting with Other Instagram Users

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Back when the followers first started to trickle in

In all honesty, this is how to get more followers on Instagram for free. The other methods will get you an occasional follower, but interacting with other Instagram users through likes and comments is the most effective way to get more followers on Instagram for free. The trick is finding places where engaged and responsive users tend to gather. Once you’ve identified these sources, it’s a matter of casting out wide nets, playing the numbers and following up on as many responses as possible. If you already gathered together a range of hashtags to use on your own photos, I’d recommend searching these on an Instagram (get instagram followers) web viewer like statigr.am or webstagram.com. Personally, I also really like to use the iPad app Padgram. Then, once the feed is pulled up, just spread the love. Like and comment liberally on those photos that you genuinely connect with, no matter the skill level of the artist. Encourage and support, leave comments that specifically praise the photographer for a successful element in her or his photos, toss emojis around in fistfuls, saturate news feeds. After you’ve spent time generally saying “hi” to a whole lot of Instagram users, you’ll start to get responses. Likes, comments and even some follows will start popping up in your gallery. But that’s only the half of it. If you go back to your news feed, you can see all the Instagram users who have given you likes, comments and follows. Visit their galleries with a little thoughtful consideration. If you can find enough that you actually enjoy, like at least three photos and offer a comment. This last step–following up on engagement–is the most effective way to get more followers on Instagram for free. It’s Anthropological theory, actually: humans form social ties through the exchange of favors or goods. When you exchange likes and comments with another Instagram users, a relationship is formed, and they are more likely to follow you.

5. Use Statigr.am’s Stats to Track Your Progress

How can I get more instagram followers free

A record of my posting times compared to engagement from my audience

This is the last plug I give this website, I swear.

Statigr.am is an Instagram web viewer that reports analytics about your Instagram account. For as long as you continue to sign in through their web viewer, the geniuses over at Statigr.am will track the development of your account and display the results in several sets of graphs that give you an amazing amount of information about your account. It will tell you how many followers you gained and lost each day as well as who they were. It will tell you the times when you get the most engagement so you can synchronize your posts with your audience’s usage habits. It will track your most engaged followers, so you can make sure you visit their galleries to say thank you. It will track your likes and comments per month and show you which filters are the most successful for you. It will show you who you’re following that isn’t following you back and vice versa. If you are interested in figuring out how to get more followers on Instagram for free, Statigram will give you a personalized approach through an unparalleled level of control over your Instagram usage.