How To Navigate Instagram: A Beginner's Guide
So, you want to start an Instagram account, but don’t want to read a confusing 2000-word blog. This guide is quick and easy to understand so you can start your Instagram journey sooner with way less hassle.
Getting Started
Register Your Account
To register your Instagram account, you must first download the iPhone or Android app. While you can view Instagram online, accounts can only be created via the official Instagram app.
Once the application has been installed, tap the rainbow Instagram icon to open it. From the initial startup screen, you can decide whether to “Register with Email” to sign up with your personal or business email address or choose “Register with Facebook” to sign up with your pre-existing Facebook account. This will lead to a follow-up screen requesting profile information such as your name, username, password and bio. This information can be modified at a later date via your profile settings.
Business Account
If you created your Instagram account for marketing purposes, within the app you can switch to a business account. This feature is located within the settings tab of your profile page. When you have a business account, you can add relevant business information to your page such as opening hours, a business address or a phone number; with additional insights about your stories, posts and followers.
Navigation
The Instagram app features a simple layout that is easily navigated via the toolbar located at the bottom of the screen. This menu bar features five icons, each of which transports you to a different section of the application.
Home Tab
The Home Tab is represented by a house icon and displays the feed of photos posted by you and the other Instagram users you follow. Here, you can like and comment on the photos and videos that appear. From the home tab, you can also locate Instagram direct. This is a feature that allows you to send a photo or a video to an individual user or a select group of people. The image or video sent won’t appear on your profile or anywhere besides the direct message. You can launch Instagram Direct by tapping on the paper plane icon in the home tab.
Search & Explore Function
The magnifying glass accesses the Search & Explore Function. This tab can be used to find new people or specific users to follow or to explore hashtags and posts. After tapping the search bar, you can toggle your results to show photos, users, hashtags or places.
Instagram’s Camera
The middle icon, the + sign, represents Instagram’s Camera. Here you can take new photos and videos, or upload saved ones, and post them to Instagram. From there, you can efficiently edit and apply filters to the image or video. When you are satisfied with the image, the final step is to add a caption, and if desired, a location. When you write the caption to your photo, you can use #hashtags. These will help other users discover your posts, or help you to categorise your posts. You can additionally tag friends to notify them of the post or share the media on other social networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr.
Activity Tab
The Activity Tab can be accessed by tapping the heart icon and displays the likes and comments on your posts. Subsequently, by toggling between the “Following” and “You” views, you can view the photos and videos that your friends are liking and commenting on.
Profile
The final icon, the person, transports you to your profile. This tab shows your bio, your followers and the posts you’ve uploaded to Instagram. From here, you can edit your profile information and adjust your Account Settings. These changes can be executed by tapping the “Edit Your Profile” button or to access more information, you can tap the three dots in the upper right-hand corner to access Options.
Geolocation
From your profile, you can access your Photo Map. When you upload a photo, you can turn on the “Add to your Photo Map” setting. When that setting is turned on, Instagram will attach an approximate latitude and longitude to the photo. The photo will then appear on your Photo Map at that location.
This is a brief overview of the basic functions of Instagram. If you are looking to market your brand as an Instagram business account, see my consecutive blog: A Marketers Easy Guide to Instagram.
Ana Smith
Junior Marketing Assistant