2. Low Contrast

Again, a visibility and accessibility issue. Your audience is not trying to play Where’s Waldo? With your text! Let us assume that if they are following you, it’s because they want to interact with your content. Don’t make it harder for them to do that. Using high contrast font/background combos is the way to go.

3. Your Caption Doesn’t Contain Your Essential Information

Again, big accessibility issue. If your image contains text with important info for your followers (dates/times/announcements) or content involved in appreciating/interacting with your post (like a quote), make sure that information is also included in the caption. Make that information available for your entire audience!

4. Stop Putting URLs in Your Caption

We don’t know how to say this any other way: Nobody is clicking on a URL in your Instagram caption (because it’s not possible). Nobody is copy-pasting it into their brower, and certainly nobody is painstaking typing your nonsense-looking shortlink. Unless you are sharing your main, easy-to-remember URL (“learn more on MyGreatWebsite.com!”), don’t bother putting it in your caption. Instead, put that information in your bio link and direct your audience there. Better yet, get one of the many bio link tools out there (some free!) so that your followers can always find your important links.

5. Hashtags. Use Them for Growth!

This is a mistake we often see with newer professional/business accounts. Now, we’re not saying to go bananas with your hashtags. You don’t need to load your captions down with a bajillion hashtags. But if you are trying to grow your followers, pop at least a few on the end of each post. We like a mix of popular/basic (#socialmediamarketing, #instagramtips) and also a few less used or custom (#instagrammarketing101, #juliafixesyourgram)

So the next time you’re creating a post, keep these in mind to better serve your entire audience and make your content easier and more enjoyable to interact with.