by Ryan Westergaard

Most people have an Instagram account, but not that many have followers in the thousands. To fix this, follow the steps below. Many popular Instagram users share these common ideas.

1. Create an Instagram account. Make it unique, if possible. Find a “niche” for your account that a specific group of people would find very interesting. Instead of photography, narrow it down to wild animal photography, for example. Make your bio upbeat and lively. Tell a little about yourself to make a personal connection with your audience.
2. Take good (and interesting) photos. No one wants to see your 100 nearly identical selfies. Take photos of interesting things (or what falls in your niche), and make sure to post only the best photos.
3. Add a descriptive caption. Make sure to tell what/who the photo is of, and maybe even the background of it. It will make it more interesting and relatable.
4. Use hashtags. You probably do this already, but it has to be done properly. It is best to add the amount of hashtags to make the paragraph of hashtags a square; that way there is enough, but not too much. Make sure the hashtags relate to your photo, so that the people interested in your account will find it.
5. Follow people. At first, search for accounts that are similar to yours. Follow them, and follow as many as you can. If anyone follows you, make sure to always follow them back. When you see a post that you like (and that is similar to your account) tap and see who has liked the photo, and follow multiple people from there. Just keep following people. It would be wise to download an app that lets you unfollow people who don’t follow you back, but only use it after a couple of days to give someone the chance of following you back.
6.  Engage. Make sure to like your followers’ photos and occasionally drop a comment. Be sure to always reply to comments on your posts.
7. Post commonly and on a schedule. If you can, post once every day or every other day. Make sure that it’s the same time of day and never skip a scheduled post.
8. Continue. Keep following more people, engaging, and posting more. Eventually your account will keep growing and growing. Remember: your account will grow proportionally to the amount you interact with others. After a while you’ll be on your way to thousands of followers!