How to get 100 likes on your Facebook profile picture
This is very important
Jack CummingsThere’s a special type of anxiety that comes with uploading a new Facebook profile picture. If it’s been 15 minutes and it hasn’t gone off in the right circles, it’s easy to start questioning everything about yourself. Then there’s the people that always get over 100 likes, how do they do it? We asked them, and included some information from Photofeeler, who did a big study on what works and what doesn’t for profile pictures. This is how to get 100 likes.
Location is everything
“Pictures that work best are travel photos and anything with famous people” said fitness model Aquila Nolasco, who averages around 500 likes per post. A picture in front of the Eiffel Tower sadly isn’t exotic enough. Here’s what works:
- Holiday photos on the beach or somewhere exotic
- Festival pictures with friends (ideally less than five)
- Any kind of photo on a boat
- A picture with someone really famous, like the Dalai Lama
- Anything from a graduation ceremony
This is backed up by traveller Keelin MacDonald, who always finds her photos with a more interesting background get hundreds more likes. She said: “Travel photos seem to evoke the best response – the photos I put up generally aren’t focused on me or my appearance but focus on the setting which people appreciate more than a selfie.”
Graduation pictures will regularly get hundreds of likes. Liverpool grad Imogen Berger got more than 200 on hers and explained: “Graduation photos seem to be most popular as I find myself liking people’s who I haven’t seen in a while to say congratulations. If it’s a good photo I’m sure people will like it.”
The best time to post is on a weekday
Everyone thinks you’re supposed to post on Sunday afternoon at about 6pm. They call it the prime time because nobody is doing anything and they’re all on Facebook. But according to marketing agency Buddy Media the best time to post is on a Thursday or Friday because people are bored at work towards the end of the week, so they’re a lot more likely to give your photo a like. Another marketing company, Buffer, say that early afternoon is the most solid time to post – about 2pm after lunch.
Don’t wear sunglasses
Research has found that covering up your eyes can seriously harm the impression you give off. They might make you look a bit mysterious, but really do damage the likes you’re going to get. Take them off for a second when you take the beach photo. Also no one can see what you look like.
This would fly without those sunnies
Get the caption right
Royal Holloway student and writer Amelia Perrin manages to get hundreds of likes on both Facebook and Instagram, and has strong feelings about what words go alongside the picture. She said: “A funny caption will always get more likes. I find deep quotes so cringey as photo captions, but you can use funny or relevant song lyrics at a push.”
Open your mouth when you smile
Nobody likes a smile without teeth. There’s clearly too much of a good thing though, and if you go any further into a full on laughing smile then it can hurt how you come across.
The smiles are what people will be looking at
Have lots of friends and like their photos too
If you only have 100 friends, it’s very unlikely that all of them are going to like your picture. Having 500-600 levels out the ratio a lot, meaning only 20 per cent of them have to like it for you to get triple figure likes. The more friends you have the easier this is going to get. Basically, be more popular.
Edit, but with caution
Instagram encourages you to put a filter on your pictures, so why shouldn’t you do the same for Facebook? Anna Holley (above) got nearly 500 likes on a black and white photo, and puts a lot of how well it did down to the filter and pose. The lesson here is pretty obvious, don’t mess around with the contrast too much and don’t make it look too obviously edited.
Message people if you’re close
Everyone does it.
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