Instagram hashtags - [Complete guide]

The hashtags Instagram can build or destroy your marketing strategy on Instagram. Use them correctly and your posts will be seen by more people likely to be interested in your products or brand.

But use them incorrectly and you can really do damage, from annoying potential followers to being penalized by Instagram's algorithm.

To use hashtags for Instagram effectively, you need to understand exactly how they work and think about a strategy.

You've come to the right place to do just that, as we let you in on all the secrets to developing your account to the fullest.

What is an Instagram hashtag?

A hashtag is a combination of letters, numbers and/or'emoji preceded by the # symbol (for example, #sansfilter). They are used to categorize content and make it easier to discover.

Hashtags are clickable. Anyone who clicks on an Instagram hashtag or performs an Instagram hashtag search will see a page displaying all posts tagged with that hashtag.

Why use hashtags to boost your visibility on Instagram?

Using relevant, targeted hashtags on your posts and stories is one of the best ways to get discovered by new audiences on Instagram.

Using the "right" hashtags can put you in front of your target audience, even if they haven't connected with you before.

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This can translate into more engagement, more followers, and more customers for your brand or business!

But that's not all. Hashtags also have many uses other than improving your visibility.

You can use them to build community, find user-generated content, run campaigns, study your audience, etc.

That's why it's so important to have a clear, well-thought-out hashtag strategy. Without one, you risk missing out on opportunities to optimize your account and drive engagement.

Summing up: hashtags help people find your content, which increases the likelihood of getting comments, shares and check-ins!

How do hashtags work on Instagram?

As said above, every publication that uses a hashtag is listed on that hashtag's page.

Hashtag pages are a great way to expose your content to a new audience, especially if you can feature in the Top section.

Hashtag pages show all content associated with a specific hashtag. If someone is looking for an article and yours is the most recent with that hashtag, it will be the first thing they see in the Recent section.

Of course, it's much easier to stay at the top of the Recent section for a less popular or highly specialized hashtag.

Don't forget that the Recent section is sorted according to when each publication was originally shared.

If you add hashtags afterwards, either in a comment or by editing the caption, your publication will not be sorted in the Recent section.

How to put hashtags?

To put a hashtag on Instagram, nothing could be simpler. Simply insert the # symbol in front of the word you want to use as a hashtag. Instagram then automatically detects it as a hashtag and inserts it on hashtag pages.

Where to see hashtag posts?

To access hashtag pages, there are 2 possible solutions:

1. Click on a hashtag under a post, comment, story or in a bio. This will automatically redirect you to the page that brings together all the content that has used that hashtag.
2. Otherwise, you can use Instagram's search option. Enter the keyword you're looking for, then go to the hashtag tab. You'll then be able to access the page you're looking for.

How to properly define your hashtag strategy on Instagram?

What are the different types of hashtags?

Instagram breaks down hashtags into nine distinct types:

• Product or service hashtags: These are basic keywords to describe your product or service, such as #sacados or #sandal.
• Niche hashtags: These are a little more specific and show where you fit in the context of your industry, like #blogvoyage or #foodblogger.
• Industry Instagram community hashtags: Communities exist on Instagram, and these hashtags help you find and join them. Think #gardenersofinstagram or #craftersofinstgram.
• Special event or seasonal hashtags: These can refer to actual vacations or seasons, like #summer, or they can be used for all those National [Thing] Day celebrations, like #women'sday or #heritagedays.
• Location hashtags: Even if you're geotagging your Instagram post, it can be a good idea to include a hashtag that refers to your location, like #paristoureiffel or #iseorestaurant.
• Daily hashtags: Every day has its share of hashtags, from #lundimotivation to #vendredilecture. We've created a comprehensive list of daily hashtags for you to choose from if you're looking for an easy source of hashtags to add to your photos.
• Relevant phrase hashtags: These hashtags combine elements of product hashtags, niche hashtags and community hashtags. Basically, they're phrases that people use on Instagram to connect with existing communities in a slightly more confidential way, like #jemorganise or #elledecor.
• Hashtag acronyms: Perhaps the best-known acronym hashtag is #TBT for Throwback Thursday. Other popular acronyms include #OOTD for "outfit of the day", #FFF for "follow for follow" and #YOLO for "you only live once".
• Emoji hashtags: These can include emojis alone, like #👋🏼, or words or phrases with emojis, like #sunglasses🕶.

Branded hashtags are another great option for businesses on Instagram. We'll go into more detail on these later in this article.

How to find the best hashtags?

Many studies show that adding 10 to 15 hashtags to your Instagram posts is the best way to increase your reach and engagement.

But how do you find so many relevant hashtags for each post? Here are 3 different tactics you can use:

Tactic #1: use a hashtag suggestion tool.

Instagram hashtag suggestion tools are an easy way to find hashtags based on the content of your post and similar hashtags in your industry.

To use it, type a hashtag into the app's search bar, press "Suggest", and it will immediately generate new hashtags, sorted by relevance:

We'll come back later to all the hashtag generators out there.

Tactic #2: Search the Instagram Explore page

The Instagram Explore page is an excellent source of inspiration for your Instagram hashtag strategy.

For best results, search for relevant keywords for your brand or content and check out the "Top" results.

These posts clearly get good results with the'Instagram algorithm, so take note of the different hashtags used and see if'they might work for your content.

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Tactic #3: Check the volume of'Instagram hashtags using the'Instagram tag search.

When it comes to finding the best hashtags, the volume of posts is a really important metric.

If a hashtag has already been used on millions of posts, chances are your post will be drowned out among the mass.

On the other hand, if a hashtag has only a few hundred posts, it's likely that no one will search for it on Instagram's Explore page.

For a happy medium, look at hashtags with between 10,000 and 200,000 posts.

To check the volume of posts for a hashtag, visit Instagram's tag search tool.

This is a great way to check your hashtags, and it can also provide valuable inspiration. For example, you might discover a more specialized hashtag that starts with the same keyword, but has a much healthier volume of posts.

How many hashtags to put under each post?

As we've mentioned, Instagram recently advised creators to use between 10 and 15 hashtags on their posts, although they do allow up to 30 per post.

This goes against everything we've previously heard about how hashtags work on Instagram. But based on their new algorithm on keywords and SEO, it makes (some) sense.

Instagram is introducing more "suggested"content feeds - like the Instagram Reels tab, for example. But in order to offer suggested content that is truly a "good match", Instagram needs to be able to categorize it accurately.

The theory? Fewer hashtags = more reliable self-categorization.

To test this theory, Later examined over 18 million posts from the Instagram feed, comparing the number of hashtags used per publication with average reach rates.

As you can see, using more hashtags = better results. Reach increases by 11% (from 24% to 35%) when the number of hashtags increases from one to 30.

To put this in perspective, for an account with 20,000 followers, this represents 2200 additional accounts reached per post.

We even looked to see if this trend had changed from 2020, but the results remained fairly consistent.

So, how many hashtags should you use on Instagram?

For now, using more hashtags remains the best strategy for increasing your reach and engagement on Instagram News Feed posts.

However, as Instagram introduces more "suggested" content feeds, focusing on fewer hyper-relevant hashtags could be a tactic worth testing.

What's for sure is that we recommend using at least 15 hashtags per post.

What hashtags to put on to break through on Instagram?

Every Instagram account is different, so your Instagram hashtags strategy needs to be unique. The hashtags that will make you stand out on Instagram are different from every other account.

Here, however, are the best tips for knowing which hashtags to put under your posts:

• Mix different types of hashtags
• Use at least 15 hashtags
• Vary your hashtags with each post
• Choose hashtags used by your target audience
• Opt for hashtags relevant to your content and not your account's theme
• Avoid hashtags that are too general. Instead, target hashtags used between 20,000 and 200,000 times.

By applying these tips, your hashtag strategy will become increasingly effective. Especially if you combine them with the tips on Instagram hashtags that follow.

8 Instagram tips for your hashtag strategy

1. Be careful how many hashtags you use.

You can use up to 30 hashtags on a single Instagram post. This meets the number you can use, but not the number you should use, which can be very different.

There's a lot of research on this topic and various conclusions. One fairly consistent conclusion is that you should absolutely use a few hashtags on every post. According to a study by Agorapulse, Instagram posts featuring hashtags receive 70% more likes.

As for precisely how many hashtags work best, the data is inconsistent.

Some marketers swear by using only two hashtags, while others use all 30.

Really, it's best to run your own tests, but for our part, we recommend using at least 15.

2. You don't need to hide your hashtags

No one wants to read 30 different hashtags, or even six, to get to the content. Large blocks of hard-to-read text are also visually unappealing.

This is why many brands choose to hide the bulk of their hashtags by strategically placing them below the See More option.

Some go even further, adding significant extra space outside the See More option to aesthetically eliminate large chunks of hashtags from the rest of the description.

Other brands will add the hashtags in a separate comment on the post, but this can make the hashtags less effective.

For most brands, the best option is simply to make sure your hashtags are separated by at least one line from the caption and that they are hidden under the See More option. This keeps attention on your caption, increasing the likelihood that it will be read. It's also cleaner.

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The exception to this rule is the use of'one or two hashtags for branding or entertainment purposes.

In this case, leave them above the fold, if necessary, and make sure they're listed first or written inline in your Instagram caption. That way, users are more likely to read them.

Although you may see this happening, there's no reason to use more than one line of separation for hashtags.

If users click See More, you don't want them to have to scroll forever to get to the comments, as there's a good chance they won't continue and leave their own comment.

3. Do a good hashtag search on Instagram to make a list

The hashtag search is a key part of broadcasting on Instagram. It can help you identify the best-performing and most popular hashtags, give you new hashtag ideas you wouldn't have thought of on your own, and help you identify trending hashtags.

There are several different strategies you can use to conduct hashtag searches, whether you want to grow your list or find new trending topics. Let's take a look at each of them.

Take a tour of Twitter

If you want to search for hashtags or trending topics that are relevant right now, Twitter can give you an edge. It has a trending topics section, where you can see what people are sharing.

Note that the use of hashtags on Instagram and Twitter is different, and that trending Twitter hashtags are more heavily focused on current events. Keep this in mind and use it for research purposes instead of blindly copying and pasting hashtags on Instagram.

Check out your competition

It never hurts to see what your competitors' marketing strategy looks like, and that includes their hashtags strategy.

Search for trends in the hashtags they're using and you might get some ideas for words to add to your list.

Watch out for influencers

influencers - including micro-influencers - are called influencers for a reason: they already have an audience and people actively turn to them for advice, inspiration or expertise.

It's no surprise that these Instagram profiles may have mastered the hashtag game and found the most successful terms out there. Take a look, and don't be afraid to pick up a few you like.

Discover here how to become an influencer.

4. Avoid forbidden hashtags

Did you know that there are forbidden hashtags on Instagram?

These aren't even necessarily swear words or outright obscenities'although these definitely make the list.

Instagram "regularly bans" hashtags that'it detects as being frequently used with some sort of illicit content.

Some of these are unsurprising, like #nasty, but others like #fitnessgirls and #sexy could be used for perfectly innocent reasons. Instagram won't publish new content in the feed of a banned hashtag, if at all.

Hashtags can be permanently or temporarily banned, and when you use them, your posts can be banned.

This means they may not appear in your followers'feeds, and they may not appear when users search for other hashtags associated with the post.

In short, using just one banned hashtag can undo all the work you've done on a post.

When compiling the hashtags you want to use, check out the full list of hashtags that have been banned on Instagram.

5. Measure your Instagram hashtag strategy

All marketing efforts should be measured whenever possible, and that goes for hashtag strategies too.

Hashtags can be much harder to evaluate on your own, especially if you have groups of them on your posts.

Then it can be hard to know which ones are working and which ones aren't. Fortunately, there are several ways to measure the impact of your strategy.

First, take a look at the overall growth of your account. You can do this with Instagram analytics, although many third-party social management platforms offer more detail.

Look to see if impressions, reach and likes are increasing for your profile and posts.

Significantly, how many accounts have you reached through your hashtags? Have there been any significant changes since you adapted the new strategy? You should see month-on-month increases. If not, it's time to adapt.

You should also use hashtag search tools to monitor the hashtags you use regularly.

Make sure their popularity is increasing over time and not decreasing. You can use apps such as Keyhole to track your brand's hashtag and see reach, impressions and overall usage from other profiles.

This can help you assess how much your brand hashtag is helping you, and whether it's gaining popularity organically.

Third-party tools, moreover, can provide data on your hashtags'usage and results.

Sprout Social has excellent hashtag data, showing you which hashtags produced the best engagement and which ones you used most often.

6. Don't use irrelevant or repetitive hashtags

It can be tempting to simply copy and paste the same long list of hashtags onto every post, but don't do it.

Instagram's community guidelines make it clear that "posting repetitive comments or content" is not acceptable.

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If you use the same hashtags for every post, your content will be penalized by the algorithm.

When you create a post, only use hashtags that make sense. If you tag a post with #decouvrelemonde, for example, your content should be something that globetrotters will want to comment on, like and share.

It's not about being seen by a large number of people, but about being seen by the right people.

This is how hashtags lead to higher engagement and more followers. Choose the right keywords for each piece of content individually.

7. Make sure the hashtag means what you think it means.

Hashtags are often a string of words stuck together. This can create a few problems when it's not clear where one word ends and the next begins.

One of the worst examples of this phenomenon is the #susanalbumparty fiasco in 2012. It was a hashtag celebrating the launch of Susan Boyle's new album. But read it slowly and you might pick up a few words in the middle that clearly make the hashtag a little... problematic.

Amazon played with this kind of hashtag mistake to promote Top Gear. It was done on purpose, but it would be an easy mistake to combine a "s" possessive and the word "hit" by accident.

Brands are sometimes too enthusiastic about using a trendy hashtag without fully understanding the context. When the context is difficult, this can create a PR disaster for the brand.

And occasionally, a brand simply doesn't check whether a hashtag is already in use before creating an entire campaign. Burger King was guilty of this in 2013, when it used the hashtag #WTFF to stand for "What The French Fry".

Since you already know what WTF means, you can guess why it was a problem.

8. Save hashtags for later use

If you use the same hashtags often, you can save them in a note to reduce the time spent typing them over and over again.

Wait, didn't we just tell you not to use the same hashtags on every post?

That's right: you shouldn't overuse the same set of hashtags.

That said, it's always very useful to have a list of hashtags relevant to the different types of content you publish. You can even create separate lists of hashtags corresponding to the different types of content you create.

Simply create a list of hashtags in your notes app, ready to be added to your posts.

You can then choose a few hashtags to use each time, rather than having to remember hashtags or search for new ones for each publication.

This also gives you time to check what kind of content is already being published for those hashtags, so you don't make any of the mistakes mentioned above.

Just remember that each of the Instagram hashtags you use on a post should match the content and shouldn't be too repetitive. Don't copy and paste your entire saved list onto every post.

What are the most popular hashtags?

Using ultra-popular hashtags isn't always the best strategy for getting more engagement on your posts and stories, as they're less likely to be seen.

That said, it's useful to know what's trending on the app, so here's an updated list of the 50 best hashtags for Instagram, based on their use over the past month:

1. #love
2. #interiordesign
3. #design
4. #fashion
5. #instagood
6. #style
7. #inspiration
8. #art
9. #travel
10. #summer
11. #realestate
12. #foodie
13. #homedecor
14. #smallbusiness
15. #shoplocal
16. #motivation
17. #wellness
18. #health
19. #lifestyle
20. #beauty
21. #food
22. #home
23. #selfcare
24. #photography
25. #fitness
26. #nature
27. #handmade
28. #ootd
29. #photooftheday
30. #skincare
31. #architecture
32. #selflove
33. #shopsmall
34. #luxury
35. #supportlocal
36. #instafood
37. #beautiful
38. #mentalhealth
39. #mindset
40. #business
41. #vegan
42. #linkinbio
43. #healthy
44. #family
45. #interior
46. #entrepreneur
47. #interiors
48. #delicious
49. #explore
50. #realtor

What are the best hashtag generators?

Whether it's six or thirty hashtags, it can be tedious to enter so many characters, especially as the autocorrect feature doesn't correct hashtag spelling errors.

Ask any social media manager and they'll tell you, it's not our favorite thing in the world.

Thankfully, there are plenty of Instagram hashtag generators and hashtag search engines that can streamline the process. We recommend a few, including the following.

Best-Hashtags

Best-Hashtags is a simple browser-based hashtag search app. Its algorithm calculates the best hashtags for your social content based on historical data.

Just type in the desired hashtag and Best-Hashtags generates a list of hashtags in different categories:

• Best related hashtags.
• Best 10 hashtags based on popularity on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.
• Low difficulty hashtags
• Exact hashtags

You can also discover new hashtags on its New hashtags and Best hashtags category pages.

SISTRIX

The hashtag generator Instagram SISTRIX is another great tool for finding successful hashtags, fast.

This service is very simple. Once you enter a hashtag or topic, it will automatically show you the 30 best hashtags to use. Get further recommendations by searching for other hashtag variants related to your main search.

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The tool is completely free for up to 25 queries per day. If you'd like to perform more searches, you'll need to sign up for a SISTRIX account.

Influencer Marketing Hub

This Instagram hashtag generator is different. Rather than searching for hashtags by subject, you upload a photo to the generator and it gives you hashtags to use.

Note that in the following example, we've placed an image from the Surreals NFT collection to see what hashtags would be generated.

The Influencer Marketing Hub generator then reveals different keywords to explore. You can select up to five keywords. Once selected, the tool reveals a list of hashtags you can use for your post.

Inflact

Inflact is another useful Instagram hashtag tool for feed posts, Stories and real. The easiest way to use the tool is through keywords.

For example, if you type "Paris" into the generator, it will reveal a handful of different hashtags that contain the keyword. The hashtags are broken down by cases of frequent, average and rare use.

His AI search tool also reveals organic hashtags or those that are often written together in the same post.

Most Instagram hashtag generators are free. If you're not ready to invest in a tool just for this purpose, the more affordable route may be to use a general social networking tool.

You can keep a document containing various hashtags and use social network scheduling software such as Boostfluence.

You can create the posts on your desktop, copying and pasting hashtags or groups of hashtags into the caption as required. Scheduling these posts can save you a few steps.

Complete list of hashtag generators

• Anotherfollower
• All Hashtag
• RiteTag
• Photerloo
• Hashtagify
• Tags Finder
• Instavast
• Flick
• Best Hashtags
• Sisitrix
• Influencer Marketing Hub
• Inflact

FAQ on Instagram hashtags

How to create your own hashtag?

Since all you have to do is insert the hash symbol (#) in front of any word to make it a hashtag, you can easily create your own hashtag.

But beware, creating a hashtag that really brings you visibility and engages your audience is another challenge. For that, you can read our dedicated article: How to create a hashtag on Instagram

How to hide your hashtags

When you've spent time crafting a great Instagram caption, you may not feel like ending your post with a prominent collection of hashtags.

Thankfully, there are a few simple ways to make your hashtags less visible.

How to hide Instagram hashtags in a comment:

1. Edit your caption as usual, but don't include any hashtags.
2. Once your post is published, simply click on the speech bubble icon below your post to leave a comment.
3. Edit or paste the hashtags you wish to include into the comment box and press Publish.
4. On mobile, your hashtags won't be visible unless a user clicks View All Comments. However, on desktop, your comment will remain in first position, so this trick works best if you're targeting a mobile audience.

Beware, however, that this strategy may diminish the impact of hashtags for your publication.

How to hide Instagram hashtags in the caption:

You can also use hashtags in the caption itself without them being super visible.

1. At the bottom of your caption, press Return or Enter. If you don't see a Return or Enter button, press 123 to make it appear.
2. Enter a punctuation mark (try a period, bullet or dash), then press Return again.
3. Repeat steps 2 to 4 at least three times.
4. Instagram hides captions after three lines, so your hashtags won't be visible unless your subscribers press "...more". Even then, your hashtags will be visually separated from your caption so they don't distract from your description.

How to hide captions on Instagram Stories

You can also hide hashtags on Instagram Stories. One option is simply to minimize the appearance of your hashtags by pinching and shrinking them to make them quite small.

You can also tap the hashtag sticker to change it from a white background to a semi-transparent one.

If you want to hide your hashtags entirely, you can paste an emoji, sticker or GIF over them to mask them.

How to save time publishing your hashtags?

Choosing and writing your hashtags under each publication can quickly become time-consuming.

So to save time, here are our tips:

• Have a list of hashtags that may most closely resemble your content and your account's theme. This will allow you to choose your best hashtags easily for each publication.
• Has a cloud of hashtags brought you high visibility on your latest post? Save this hashtag cloud for a future similar post. This way you'll avoid searching and having to rewrite your list of hashtags.

Should you put hashtags in comments or descriptions?

Instagram has confirmed that hashtags are effective both in the caption of your post and in the comments section - so it's up to you where you want to share them.

It's worth considering timeliness, however. If you manually post hashtags in the comments section, you should do so as soon as your content is published.

TIP: If you use Boostfluence's Instagram planner, you can schedule the first comment to go live at the same time as your post.

This is a great way to preserve the aesthetics of your captions, while enjoying all the added exposure benefits of a good hashtag strategy.