Instagram is maybe the most popular social media platform, with more than 1 billion monthly active user accounts. The most amazing fact is that some of the most popular accounts belong to cats! It is obvious that catagram, um sorry I mean Instagram, has fallen prey to our felines, who have taken over our own personal accounts and made them their own.

You can help your cat build a successful Instagram account worth watching by following these simple tips:

1. Come up with a “catchy” name.

This is the username that will represent your cat across Instagram. You ’ll have to come up with a name that hasn’t already been taken by another user and will attract the interest of other users, so be creative!

2. Create an alluring Bio.

Instagram allows you 150 characters to tell the world your story. Take advantage of that and don’t leave it blank. Use it to summarise your story, promote your website or sell a product. You can change your bio at any time so don’t worry if it’s not perfect from the beginning. If you have no website to use, feel free to use our blog http://whathecat.com, until you have one.

3. Choose your profile picture.

This is the first thing other users will see when they come across your profile. So choose wisely the photo that best describes your furry star.

4. Shoot and Post Amazing Cat Photos.

This is the fun part. All cat parents feel so proud of their felines and want to share with the whole world these beautiful creatures. But taking a good picture of your cat isn’t as easy as it seems. When taking kitty photos, take a whole bunch, but select only the great ones to be published on your Instagram account. You don’t need to be a professional photographer to take great photos. Many popular Instagram accounts contain photos taken strictly by smartphones.

5. Post often but not too often.

The ideal posting frequency is the one that you can consistently maintain for the rest of your natural life. What does it mean? If you make a habit of posting 2 times a day and then transition to once or twice a week, you will start to lose followers. When creating material it’s important not to annoy your followers and fill their feed with your account. The best frequency is to post 4-6 times per week. Of course you can post multiple times during the day but we don’t recommend to get over 3 posts per day.

6. Make new friends.

When starting an instagram account you cannot wait for people to come to you. You have to get yourself known! Flip through some of the tens of thousands of cat and kitties accounts out there and make some friends, by following them.

7. Engage with other users.

The key to growth on Instagram is engagement. Don’t just post a photo then just walk away. Take some time to reply to the comments on your posts and give value to your followers. Visit their accounts like some of their posts and don’t hesitate to leave a comment when you feel it.

8. Write compulsive captions.

I know, this might be the most difficult part for most of you. But don’t worry, as you don’t have to be a writer to create an interesting caption. You can try to describe what’s going on in the picture. Just don’t leave it blank!

9. Use hashtags.

“Hashtags” is an excellent way for Instagram users to find what they ‘re looking for. Use them to attract more user to your profile. If you don’t feel like filling your caption with hashtags, you can write them below as a comment to your own photo. Some of the most common hashtags in the cat community are: #catsofinstagram #catoftheday #catagram #whathecat #caturday #meow #meowmeow #catlovers #kittyoftheday.

10. Keep it up

Follow these simple steps and soon you will have the Instagram account you dreamed of. Just remember to be patient and consistent. Share with us in the comments below your cat Instagram accounts and if this article was helpful.

The next time you create a wonderful post make sure to tag it with @whathecat and it could be our next featured photo helping you make some new instagram friends.

Photo: Laura Chouette, Lilly Rum, Katie Harp, Mariana Montes de Oca