The best Instagram rules you should know when posting
Instagram has provided some new examples of creative ways to use Instagram Stories ads. Today it is one of the best methods to generate traffic to your blogs or websites.
1. Do not use prohibited hashtags in the post
Not all hashtags are the same. Using one of Instagram’s banned hashtags can land you in trouble, and ignorance is no excuse.
While some banned hashtags make common sense and align with Instagram’s terms of service, others aren’t so obvious. According to HuffPo, the banned list includes #adulting, #citycentre and #eggplant. Carefully research the hashtags you use, make sure they are relevant to your audience and don’t have a secret urban dictionary or emoji that means I didn’t know… (Not that this has ever happened to me!)
2. Use a third-party publishing app
Instagram has a closed API: it doesn’t allow third-party apps to post directly to Instagram. You can still use a social media dashboard like Agorapulse to manage your Instagram account, but the process is a bit more involved than it is for Facebook or Twitter.
Most legitimate social media management apps solve the challenge. For example, you can log into your Agorapulse account and schedule an Instagram post.
When the time comes, you will receive a notification. You can then log into the Agorapulse app which will take you to Instagram where you can hit post. The key is that you have to be the one to press publish.
But, while we’re at it, there are some apps like Schedugram that post directly to Instagram for you, using your username and password to access your account. This is a great Terms and Conditions no no. Jumping through a few extra hoops can be frustrating, but it keeps your account safe.
3. Don’t post too much content
Instagram favors real, human posters, and all the do’s and don’ts are aimed at prioritizing them over spammers and bots. While Twitter has apps like Social Quant that can automatically follow and unfollow a group of people to increase their following, Instagram frowns on that kind of behavior. That is why they have an unofficial limit on account activity.
What exactly are those numbers? While Instagram hasn’t released any official numbers, Ana Gotter did some deep research and came up with the following:
Follow and unfollow more than 60 people per hour
I like more than 300 posts per hour
Posting more than 60 comments per hour
4. Stay away from robots
look. In any other circumstances, I’ll be the first to point out the potential of bots to automate your marketing process, but that’s not what Instagram is about.
Bots that automatically comment and follow or unfollow people can be a tempting way to grow your account. You’ll be the type of person who uses them responsibly, right? But, back to Rule 3, this type of behavior will get you noticed for all the wrong reasons. Keep your interactions human.