“I am making good quality content still unable to get likes and followers. Why does this happen to me? Forget it, I am not going to continue posting content.”. “What’s the secret ingredient for getting likes and followers for free on Instagram”? If you can relate to the above scenario you are there we have been through!
Here we have only one method that will multiply your likes and followers if used correctly. Along with that, we will also tell you a few dos and don’ts for better results.
So without anything else, welcome to PadhkeDekho, and let’s get started!
How To Make Your Page or Post or Reel Viral?
Let’s say you are a pizzeria that makes amazing pizza but how will people know about you? In the same way, producing good quality content does not necessarily mean more likes and followers. You will need to “promote yourself” or your “brand” to make it more reachable to the audience.
E.g. For your pizzeria, it’s better to promote it in the local newspapers or advertise socially on Facebook, Yelp, etc.
There are multiple ways of promoting your brand or content by spending hundreds or even thousands of your hard-earned dollars to promote yourself. But are you looking for free methods to make your product reach more people on Instagram, Facebook, etc?
No problem if that’s what you want we will update you!
How To Increase Likes And Followers On Instagram
There are various ways of making your post reach more people on social media platforms. But we are sharing the tested and most recommended method that will help you achieve your goal.
The method we are using is Hashtag.
Have you seen a hash(#) on your friend’s recent Instagram/Facebook posts? If yes, that’s not only put into making the post look good, it has other benefits.
Hashtags help your page/account reach more people on social accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, and the list is never-ending!
If a post reaches more people, they will make a query and it will generate organic traffic for free. This ultimately means more followers, likes, and comments. Therefore, taking hashtags lightly will be bad for your business!
What Is Hashtag, And How Does It Work?
You can think of a hashtag as a folder on your computer. Let’s say you keep your photos in a folder “memories”. Then “memories” folder is a hashtag that keeps all your photos in one place.
So if you have posted a photo using hashtag #Veganforlife your post will also be shown to everyone searching for the same or similar keyword or hashtag irrespective of whether they follow you or not.
Therefore, hashtags will make your post more reachable, directly letting you gain more likes and followers for free!
How To Use Hashtag Correctly?
The correct form of using Hashtag is like <#>then <name>. There should not be a space between # and the word. E.G. #Food. Some wrong e.g.s are ##Food (use of 2 hashtags before keyword) # Food(white space after hashtag).
Your hashtag should not have any special character in your word. E.g. #food@wheel. If you want to write more than one word then using “_” as well as a capital letter will also work.
Let’s say you want to write weekend getaway then use either (#WeakendGataway) or (Weakend_Gataway) hashtag. But never use white space between the words.
Few Tested Personal Examples Of Hashtags
My friend has a cooking channel on both Instagram. He cooked a dish and posted the same on his Instagram business page using a few hashtags.
As soon as he posted the image, he immediately started receiving likes that he hadn’t felt before. His post reached 61 people in total.
It is evident from the image that out of 61 people, 32 came just from the hashtags. That’s more than 50 percent!
The rest of the 20 people saw his post on their home screen feed, and 18 people came from the location he checked in for.
The best thing about this scenario is that his Instagram account is fairly new and has just 22 followers! So yes, hashtags are important even if you are starting something new or have something established.
Also keep in mind that, hashtags will help you reach out to more people, however, likes and comments are subject to your content.
To get more likes and followers for free your post needs to have something informative or entertaining, therefore you should rather focus on quantity work on quality.
More Hashtags = More Reach?
The answer can be both yes and no. Remember excess of everything is bad! If your post is filled with hashtags it is perceived as spamming and your post most likely will not reach the target you will be expecting.
So if plan on using hashtags then use the hashtags moderately. Every social app has its criteria for using hashtags E.g. For Facebook posts use only 2 hashtags, on Instagram anything below 15, for Pinterest maximum should be 20, etc.
Therefore, use hashtags while keeping in mind the social account and their policies for hashtags.
Do And Don’t While Using Hashtags
1. Use Common Words
Your choice of words should be common. Usually, common words are easy to remember and most people tend to add posts with similar tags e.g. #reviews, #comparisons, etc.
If you have a unique type of channel name (Because the easy ones are already taken) then don’t worry use your brand name along with other common ones ie #iPhone, #iphonereview, #review, etc.
2. Make Your Profile Public
Your hashtags will not work if you have a private account/page. They can only accessed if it available publically, rather than on a private account. If you have a private account then the post will be limited to your followers only.
With just changing this setting you will have more likes and comments & followers will increase.
Before making your profile/page public, have a strong password. Also, as the posts will be “public” anybody on the internet can see your post hence better not to post personal photos with hashtags.
3. Small is Better
You don’t need to explain the complete story in the hashtag. Make it specific and small. Easy and short hashtags generally reach more people compared to long and meaningless hashtags.
Therefore, something like #CakeAtHome will reach more people rather than #IHavePreparedCakeAtHome.
4. Clear Intent
If you are posting a review of a smartphone, then using hashtags like #apple, #motorola, #samsung is fine but you don’t need to add #dell, #lenovo, etc.
You should target a specific audience rather than adding any meaningless hashtag that is not at all linked with your product e.g. you are talking about earphones and adding hashtags of supercars!
In this way, you are doing hashtag bloating which is not good for your profile.
5. Be Smart
Along with your primary keyword, you should also add related ones in your hashtags as well.
E.g. you prepared pizza at home. So your primary keyword is #pizza. Along with that, you should use #ItalianDelicacy #pizza_lovers, #PizzaIsLove, etc.
All the above target keywords will make appearances in different sets of audiences which directly means more impressions that will help you get more likes and followers for free!
So there you go!
These were our suggestions and a few cents about what is a hashtag and what some do and don’t about it. If you still have any issues or concerns then let us know in the comments below or tweet using #padhkedekho!
There are numerous other tips and tricks articles that we have already written that might interest you in. Do check them out!