Do typos really bug you when you find them after you’ve posted your beautifully crafted image and caption? We totally understand… and we’re still going to recommend you leave your posts the way you originally published them!

If you go back for a typo or to add in a tag you forgot, that post will have less engagement. Edits can kill the reach of your post! We find mistakes all the time in our captions and, it’s a little uncomfortable, but, we just leave them! We know our Instagram posts have a better chance of being seen and inspiring more people to comment if we just leave them alone!

In the days of everyone using the “follow/unfollow” method of building an audience, developers started coming out with apps that did all the work for you. We’re actually okay with this issue using Instagram because these bot behaviors were killing the progress of accounts like ours trying to grow organically.

If you’ve ever used apps linked with your Instagram account, you’re going to want to review them and delete ALL of the unapproved apps. Instagram identifies a lot of these apps as “bot behavior” and using them will kill your IG engagement, big time! Search for the approved apps in Instagram’s partner program to make sure you’re only using approved apps linked to your IG.

We only break this rule if we’re doing a sponsored post. Otherwise, there’s something about having hashtags, especially if you use all 30 permitted hashtags, in the first five lines of your caption which triggers the algorithm to work against you.

Have a conversation with your followers first and THEN you can add your tags and hashtags. It looks so much cleaner, aesthetically speaking, to your followers and the algorithm will favor your well thought-out post when you don’t clutter it with ALL the hashtags!

We used to use hashtags including the word “skoolie” when we were living on our renovated school bus. If we kept using this hashtag while posting about life after the skoolie, eventually, we might get reported.

People can report posts which misuse hashtags. If you’re not checking your hashtags and something in your list doesn’t match your content, your account could be “banned” from the hashtag. Unfortunately, if you’re banned, you’re not notified; you have to be clever to figure out whether or not a hashtag stopped sharing your posts in a search. Here’s another thing to keep in mind; rotate your hashtags and don’t use the same 30 hashtags over and over again. We recommend you use around 15 per post. We’re not sure how many times it takes using the same hashtags, but, this can also qualify to IG as bot behavior.

It’s smart to respond to your comments – but, take a pause in between! If you move too fast and make, say, 50 comments too quickly, you could get banned! Yes, on your own posts!

We can collect a lot of comments pretty quickly on our posts and it’s exciting to talk to our community about what we’re doing. But, we try to pace ourselves and move through smaller handfuls of comments in a single sitting. Take a little coffee break, slow down, and show Instagram you’re a human!

My theory is doing just one of these things doesn’t get you dinged by IG as much as doing all these things or most of these things every time you post. I feel the algorithm sees this collection of “behaviors” as robotic and, therefore, no good for any of us trying to enjoy the app. The good news is that Instagram is trying to make sure activity on the platform is real – it’s encouraging connection.

I actually think it’s pretty great how making new friends on Instagram and leaving genuine comments improves your posts’ “performance.” When you find new accounts to follow and talk about how much you relate to their material, the door for connection opens up both for your personal well-being and the health of your Instagram account! In the same way you have the option to block someone you don’t want following you or leaving rude comments on your page, the Instagram algorithm created an automatic system for reducing how much you need to do that by at least eliminating the bots. That’s a win for all of us!

You now know to just let your posts stay unedited, delete unapproved apps, avoid using your tags and hashtags in the first five lines of your caption, match your content and your hashtags to avoid getting reported, and slow down when commenting and liking on your own posts. We want to let you in on one little secret about what you can try to boost your Instagram engagement.

Make sure you use ALL the different platforms Instagram offers. Stories used to appear often in searches when Instagram was pushing for its usage. These days, Instagram is looking for everyone to use IGTV. Spread out your content and use the app to its fullest potential to make better connections with your following.

These six tips you just learned in this blog are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how much we’ve learned about using this app! You can get access to 3 quick tips to increase your engagement, 2 methods for making money with your Instagram account, and 1 top secret technique for promoting organic growth when you take our FREE Instagram Class. We know it’s not the most typical move for an influencer to share this kind of information with the world, but, we believe there’s room for everyone to succeed! Join us for the class and let us support you on your Instagram Money Making journey!