Thanks to Chris Messina and his life changing tweet in 2007, the Hashtag (#) has become the number one way for users to group together posts by topic or theme on social media. Although the Hashtag was originated on Twitter, it has almost become more associated with and massively used on Instagram. As it relates to Instagram, Hashtags are a way to get your content in front of users other than just those that follow you. Getting your content on targeted explore pages based on the Instagram hashtags you use.
Regardless of their popularity, it’s surprising to see that many people don’t really know how to use Instagram hashtags efficiently. Or really even at all. We see people who hashtag every other word in their caption or some who aren’t using enough of them. We decided to round up the 5 ways people are using Hashtags wrong and help get you on track with your tagging.
1. Not Using Enough Hashtags
2.Using Unpopular Hashtags
A huge mistake we see is people using hashtags, where majority barely have 1000+ posts associated with them. Think of it this way, with how old Instagram is, over 700 million users and the 30 Hashtag limit we mentioned above. There are millions and millions of tagged posts. Whenever you type in a Hashtag, it will show you the amount of posts associated with it. The more posts with that tag the assumption is, the more popular it is. We recommend sticking with hashtags that have no less than 100,000 posts. Although as you get into more specific tags there may be less.
3. Hashtag Placement
Everyone has their own style of using Hashtags, and we really recommend just do what works for you. If you want to keep your caption clean and easy to read, we recommend using line breaks. This can be done in your notes to separate your Hashtags from caption. Some like to even drop their Instagram hashtags as a comment right after the post, placing them underneath their caption and hidden. For visual reason only, avoid using Hashtags as every word in your caption.
4. Keep Your Hashtags Relevant
The whole point of using Instagram hashtags is to attract people interested in your content to see it. In order to do this, you need to stick with Hashtags that are relevant to your niche and the post you are publishing. There are always going to be some standard tags you can use like #IGDaily #Like4Like and others. But using specific tags like #BeautyBlogger or #StreetStyle is a great way to attract potential followers are looking for content like yours.
5. Create A Hashtag Template
A quick Google search for Instagram Hashtags Generator will return countless apps and websites that can help you get started! Here is a quick & free tool that will get you started!
Psst. Looking to get more likes on Instagram without the use of hashtags? We’ve got you covered! You can join one or more our Instagram Pods and get unlimited likes on Instagram at no cost at all regardless of whether you use hashtags or not!
