You don’t have to share something every day. However, having some level of consistency with the frequency of your posts has proven to keep your followers engaged and, in turn, leads to more likes in the long run. You should only include popular or trending hashtags if those hashtags apply to a particular post. Adding a hashtag that has nothing to do with your post just because it might get you some extra traffic is a big no-no. You’ll be looked upon as a spammer by anyone who stumbles upon your post. Avoid stacking hashtags at the end of your caption, which isn’t necessary. Instead, spread hashtags throughout the text so that they stand out and are easily readable. If you must place all the hashtags at the end, separate them with creative spacing or punctuation. Tags can be especially useful if you tag profiles with large follower bases. However, don’t tag accounts just to tag them. Ensure a tie-in with the post, such as their product featured in the photo. The IG community frowns upon tagging without relevance, which is essentially spam. A location tag increases the likelihood of your post getting viewed (and therefore liked) by users other than your followers, as many people use the IG search by location functionality. Choose Add Location, select the correct value, and post. Many photos are fine in their original state and should be left as-is. Also, some filters perform better than others, so practice makes perfect. It’s often best to choose one or two filters that you like that seem to work best and stick with them for consistency. Without overthinking it, make sure your caption relays the point you want to get across without being unnecessarily wordy. If you want to convey a specific image with your IG profile, your caption text should be in line with that vision. Finally, make sure the caption contains relevant hashtags. Although going live may not directly impact your number of likes, the increased activity around your profile certainly will. Rather than posting only the finished product, whatever it may be, many Instagram users choose to share in-progress photos along the way. They involve their followers in the process and provide them with something to look forward to at the end. This tried-and-true practice is almost always worth the effort, as you’re more likely to gain a steady stream of likes as opposed to only posting the final result. Many Instagram users run contests, offering to give something away to the winners. In some cases, all you have to do to enter one of these games of chance is to like a post. Running this style of contest once in a while is an effective way to rack up likes. The Instagram Ads program allows you to pay for promoted posts, reaching segments of the IG population that aren’t always possible with free methods. Ads all but ensure an increase in your follower base and subsequent likes.
