19 Jul 5 Travel Instagram Tips for Those With #Wanderlust

Instagram has become an extremely popular social media app for a wide variety of users. Many people have their own personal accounts, while others focus on a specific niche to share their passions. This can range from food, pets, arts, and of course, travel! Travel Instagram accounts offer a fun way to share your experiences traveling, while also potentially gaining a large following.

To make the most of your travel Instagram account, here are five tips that will help you post in a professional and efficient manner.

1. Target the Hottest Hashtags

Utilizing hashtags on Instagram is the easiest way for people to find your content. While you’ll want to use the most popular hashtags, you’ll also want to use some smaller and more niche hashtags for a better opportunity to be seen. Hashtags like #travel and #wanderlust are great, but there are hundreds of thousands of these posted every hour.

Research popular hashtags that aren’t oversaturated, and even create your own to help brand yourself. Using your current location for related hashtags is also a good way to attract a more specific audience. And how many hashtags is too many? 30 hashtags is the maximum and how many you should actually be using to get the most views per post!

2. Follow Other Travel Accounts

Following other travel accounts, both big and small, will not only help you gain followers, but it will help you to be inspired by how others post. See what photos are getting the most engagement and how they are using captions, hashtags, emojis…etc.

“Liking” photos is nice, but commenting and really engaging with these accounts gives you a better chance of getting them to follow you back. Additionally, once you start getting more followers within the travel Instagram realm, you’ll start showing up under the “explore” tab for other related accounts to easily find and follow.

Another way to grab the attention of similar travel Instagram accounts is to tag them in your photos. Vary these tags by targeting both bigger and smaller accounts to get the best chance of gaining your desired followers.

3. Take Good Photos!

Visual appeal is a big factor for Instagram accounts in general, especially when choosing to follow a certain account. Taking good, quality photos will attract more eyes. This doesn’t mean you have to have an expensive, professional camera. Smart phones take perfectly good photos nowadays, as long as you know what you are doing! Some tips to knowing your phone include:

• Take horizontal photos. This gives you the most to work with when cropping for Instagram. Utilize the panorama mode of the iPhone to get an even larger shot.
• Utilize the burst mode so you have options to choose the best photo.
• HDR mode is helpful when you a photographing an area that has both light and dark spots.
• Skip the filter! Using basic editing features within the Instagram app like adjusting brightness and saturation can go a long way.
• Focus on lighting and the actual focus of the picture
• Boost your photo taking and editing game using apps like Adobe Photoshop Express and Snapseed.

4. Make a Fun Biography

There are thousands of travel Instagram accounts out there, so you have to stand out in some way. And to stand out, you just have to be yourself! Adding a fun, unique, and descriptive Instagram biography can help others get a quick glimpse into who you are and what you’re about.

Rather than using an inspirational travel quote that could describe anyone, focus on who you are. Using emojis can help draw interest into your bio as well. Don’t go overboard with contact information, as it makes you look boring and unoriginal. And since you are limited with characters, you need to make the most of what you have to work with. Witty one-liners or posting where you are currently traveling can be fun and engaging to other similar accounts. And luckily, you can change and update your biography as much as you’d like!

5. Post Often…But Not TOO Often

A big question to running a popular Instagram account is how often should you post? Unfortunately, there is no one rule for every account. You need to gauge your audience, as well as other similar accounts.

Time zone is one thing to consider, however this is ever-changing if you are traveling the world. And since you are attracting other travelers, people are going to be posting at all hours. Consistency is also key to keep your followers engaged, but don’t overwhelm them. Make each post meaningful and special, don’t just post for the sake of posting. One or two quality posts a day is generally enough to keep an interest while not overloading the feeds of your followers.

Have Fun with It!

The best and most important tip is to have fun with your account. Instagram is a fun place to share and interact with others of the same interests, so don’t take any of it too seriously! Be yourself and share your experiences and you’re sure to have others interested in what you have to post!