Instagram Tips: How to Add a New Location to the Instagram Database

In the comments of my last Instagram Tips post, I got a question about adding an official location to the Instagram database. Typically, when you search for a particular location on Instagram, you have a few options to choose from and if you can’t find the location you’re looking for you can type in the name of the monument or restaurant or tourist destination and use the manually inputted name to act as your location tag.

The problem with this method is that unfortunately, manually inputted locations don’t link up to a beautiful location page where all the other tagged photos from that location live, and of course your photo won’t be added to your photo map, if that’s something you like to use. Ideally, we want the location tag to be active and blue, and to link up to the proper page that shows the location on a map as well as the other tagged photos from that place, as shown in the photo above.

The commenter was wondering about what would happen if they opened up a new business and wanted to make their address an official Instagram location to promote an active social media presence for their brand. Other uses for this fix would be to add your favourite local restaurant that isn’t very active online, or any other location that simply hasn’t made it into the Instagram world yet. It’s happened to me before that I couldn’t find the location I was at in Instagram, but I’ve always just shrugged and either chosen a more general location tag or just typed it in manually.

I have another commenter to thank for pointing me towards the solution to this issue! He linked to this article from The Beginner’s Lens which offers a clear and simple fix: add your desired location to the Foursquare location database.

The article recommends using the Foursquare app to do this.

1. Download the app

2. Create an account

3. Click the “Check In” button (if you just search for the location using the search bar, the app will not give you the option of “Add this place”).

4. Search for the location you want to add (even though it doesn’t yet exist)

5. Scroll down to the bottom of the search results (if there are any) and click the “Add this place” option

6. Once you’ve successfully added the location, it should appear as a choice in your Instagram location search results as well, as shown below:

That fix works great, but it requires you to be at the physical location you want to add so that the location is placed on the map at the right coordinates. If you need to add your location after the fact, as I described in this Instagram tips article, you can do so by using the “Add a place” feature on the Foursquare website. You’ll be able to place a pin on the map so that the location is accurate, and add as many details as you want to the location.

As always, I’m hoping that this little tip will be helpful to some of you. I realize that these aren’t common (or serious) problems, but I think it’s helpful to share all the tips I come across, since Instagram is becoming more popular and is starting to be more widely used as a tool for businesses to promote themselves and connect with their customers.

Once again, you can find the original article, which does an excellent job of explaining this solution, right here. You can see the rest of my Instagram tips articles here. And you can follow me on Instagram @lifeinlimboblog.