Instagram hashtags tin brand or suspension your Instagram marketing strategy. Utilise them correctly and y'all'll go your posts seen by more people probable to be interested in your products or brand.

But use the wrong and you can actually do impairment, from abrasive potential followers to getting penalized by Instagram's algorithm.

To employ hashtags for Instagram effectively, you need to sympathize exactly how they work, and put some thought into a strategy.

You're in the right place to practice just that. Lookout our video below, or read on!

Bonus: Download a complimentary checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no upkeep and no expensive gear.

What are Instagram hashtags?

A hashtag is a combination of letters, numbers, and/or emoji preceded by the # symbol (eastward.m., #NoFilter). They are used to categorize content and brand it more discoverable.

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

Why utilize Instagram hashtags?

Hashtags are an important way to expand your Instagram audience and go more reach. When you employ a hashtag, your post will appear on the page for that hashtag. If y'all use a hashtag on your Story, it could exist included in the relevant hashtag Story, which also appears on the hashtag page.

People can also cull to follow hashtags, which means they could see your hashtagged post in their feed even if they don't follow you (even so).

Instagram hashtags can be a bang-up way of edifice community online so people are motivated to engage with your make. For example, as the style people work out suddenly changed in 2020, Nike Los Angeles used the #playinside hashtag to characteristic local people getting active in their homes.

Top instagram hashtags

As of July 19, 2021, these are the top 50 hashtags on Instagram:

  1. #love (ane.835B)
  2. #instagood (i.150B)
  3. #style (812.7M)
  4. #photooftheday (797.3M)
  5. #beautiful (661.0M)
  6. #art (649.9M)
  7. #photography (583.1M)
  8. #happy (578.8M)
  9. #picoftheday (570.8M)
  10. #cute (569.1M)
  11. #follow (560.9M)
  12. #tbt (536.4M)
  13. #followme (528.5M)
  14. #nature525.7M
  15. #like4like515.6M
  16. #travel497.3M
  17. #instagram482.6M
  18. #style472.3M
  19. #repost471.4M
  20. #summer454.2M
  21. #instadaily444.0M
  22. #selfie422.6M
  23. #me420.3M
  24. #friends396.7M
  25. #fitness395.8M
  26. #girl393.8M
  27. #food391.9M
  28. #fun385.6M
  29. #beauty382.8M
  30. #instalike374.6M
  31. #smile364.5M
  32. #family357.7M
  33. #photo334.6M
  34. #life334.5M
  35. #likeforlike328.2M
  36. #music316.1M
  37. #ootd308.2M
  38. #follow4follow290.6M
  39. #makeup285.3M
  40. #amazing277.5M
  41. #igers276.5M
  42. #nofilter268.9M
  43. #dog264.0M
  44. #model254.7M
  45. #sunset249.8M
  46. #beach246.8M
  47. #instamood238.1M
  48. #foodporn229.4M
  49. #motivation229.1M
  50. #followforfollow227.9M

Keep in mind that the most popular Instagram hashtags are not necessarily the most effective.

A large number of posts may mean lots of people follow that hashtag, just it also means there'southward a ton of content on information technology and your posts might get lost. Instagram suggests using a combination of popular and niche hashtags to reach different audiences, from broad to specific.

Types of popular Instagram hashtags

Instagram breaks hashtags down into ix distinct types:

  • Product or service hashtags: These are basic keywords to describe your product or service, similar #purse or #divebar
  • Niche hashtags: These get a lilliputian more specific, showing where you fit in the context of your industry, like #travelblogger or #foodblogger
  • Manufacture Instagram customs hashtags: Communities be on Instagram, and these hashtags help you lot find and join them. Think #gardenersofinstagram or #craftersofinstgram
  • Special event or seasonal hashtags: These can refer to real holidays or seasons, like #summerdays, or they can be used for all those National [Affair] Twenty-four hours holidays, like #nationalicecreamday or #nationalnailpolishday
  • Location hashtags: Even if you lot geo-tag your Instagram post, information technology can still be a good thought to include a hashtag that refers to your location, like #vancouvercraftbeer or #londoneats
  • Daily hashtags: Every 24-hour interval has plenty of its own hashtags, from #MondayBlues right through to #SundayFunday. Nosotros created a whole list of daily hashtags for y'all to choose from if y'all're looking for an easy source of hashtags to add together to your posts.
  • Relevant phrase hashtags: These hashtags combine elements of production hashtags, niche hashtags, and customs hashtags. Basically, they're phrases people use on Instagram to connect to existing communities in a slightly insider way, similar #amwriting or #shewhowanders
  • Acronym hashtags: Perhaps the all-time-known acronym hashtag is #TBT for Throwback Thursday. Other popular acronym hashtags include #OOTD for outfit of the twenty-four hour period, #FBF for flashback Fri, and #YOLO for yous merely live in one case.
  • Emoji hashtags: These hashtags can include emojis on their own, like #????, or words or phrases with emojis attached, like #sunglasses????.

Branded hashtags are another great option for businesses on Instagram. We'll get into more details on those later in this post.

How many hashtags to apply on Instagram

Yous can include up to 30 hashtags on a regular post, and upwards to x hashtags on a Story. If y'all attempt to include more, your comment or explanation won't post.

That said, just because you can use that many hashtags for Instagram doesn't mean you should. There'due south no correct number of hashtags for every business, or even for every mail service by the same business.

The consensus is that about 11 hashtags is a good number to showtime with. But the most common number of hashtags to use on Instagram is betwixt 1 and iii.

You'll need to practice some testing to make up one's mind what works best for your particular business.

How to hide hashtags on Instagram

When you've spent time crafting a great Instagram caption, y'all may not want to end your post with a prominent collection of hashtags. Fortunately, there are a couple of easy ways to make your hashtags less visible.

How to hide Instagram hashtags in a comment:

  1. Write your caption as usual but don't include any hashtags.
  2. In one case your postal service is published, just click the speech communication bubble icon under your mail to leave a comment.
  3. Write out or paste the hashtags you want to include in the annotate box and tap Postal service.
  4. On mobile, your hashtags won't exist visible unless a user taps View all comments. However, on desktop, your annotate will remain in the top position, and then this trick works better if you're targeting a mobile audience.

Screenshot showing how to hide Instagram hashtags in the comment section
Source:
VW on Instagram

How to hide Instagram hashtags in the caption:

You can also employ hashtags within the caption itself without them existence super-visible.

  1. At the bottom of your caption, tap Return or Enter. If you don't see a Render or Enter button, tap 123 to bring it upward.
  2. Enter a punctuation mark (try a period, bullet, or dash), so hit Return once again.
  3. Echo steps 2 to four at to the lowest degree 3 times.
  4. Instagram hides captions after three lines, and so your hashtags won't be viewable unless your followers tap … more. Even then, your hashtags volition be visually separated from your explanation so they don't distract from your re-create.

How to hide captions on Instagram Stories

You tin hide hashtags on Instagram Stories, likewise. 1 option is simply to minimize the appearance of your hashtags by pinching and shrinking them to brand them quite minor. You tin likewise tap the hashtag sticker to alter it from a white background to a semi-transparent one.

If yous want to hibernate your hashtags entirely, you can paste an emoji, sticker, or GIF overtop to obscure them.

Screenshot showing how to hide Instagram hashtags in Stories
Source: Christina Newberry

How to find trending hashtags on Instagram

Unlike Twitter, Instagram doesn't publicize a list of trending hashtags. However, if you search for a hashtag on Instagram, you'll see how many posts utilize that hashtag. Yous'll also see a list of other popular Instagram hashtags using similar words, with postal service counts included too.

Screenshot showing how to find and search trending hashtags on Instagram
Source: Instagram

To search for a hashtag on desktop, enter the hashtag including the # symbol into the search box. On mobile, enter your search term in the search box, so tap Tags.

If you're paying attention to your Instagram feed, you'll learn to quickly spot trending hashtags as they sally. Don't be too quick to jump on a trend, though. Only post using a trending hashtag if information technology really makes sense for your business, and for the specific content in your post.

How to search multiple hashtags on Instagram

The easiest way to search multiple hashtags on Instagram is to set upward search streams in a social listening tool like Hootsuite to track the hashtags you lot're interested in then you can see all the relevant content on ane screen without having to conduct each one as an individual Instagram hashtag search.

Screenshot showing how to search for multiple hashtags on Instagram in Hootsuite
Source: Hootsuite

Instagram business organisation profiles tin carry upward to thirty unique hashtag searches in whatsoever given vii-day menses.

Here'south some more data most how to set search streams so you tin can keep rails of multiple Instagram hashtags hands on one dashboard.

Nosotros wrote a total post virtually the benefits of social listening if you want to dig deeper into how this works.

Bonus: Download a gratuitous checklist that reveals the verbal steps a fettle influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no upkeep and no expensive gear.

Get the gratuitous guide right at present!

Instagram hashtag search: How to find the best hashtags for Instagram for YOUR brand

Here's the truth. You lot could upload your photo to one of the many Instagram hashtag generators out there and get a bunch of gratuitous suggestions for hashtags. But, these suggestions aren't going to exist as strategic and constructive as doing the research yourself.

Here's some tips to endeavour for coming upwardly with Instagram hashtags that will actually drive attain and date.

Check out the contest

You don't necessarily want to model your competition's strategy too closely, but taking a expect at the hashtags they use can give you lot some good clues most what's working for others in your manufacture.

Maybe you'll discover new hashtags to add to your repertoire. Or you lot could decide you don't want to compete for the aforementioned eyeballs, in which case yous can search for alternative hashtags to employ.

See what hashtags your audience is already using

Afterward all, if your audience is already using a certain hashtag, then other people just like them are probably using information technology too. Finding these existing Instagram communities is a great manner to expand your audience and accomplish the people who are most likely to exist interested in your business.

Go along an eye on your top followers and encounter what hashtags they're using. Instagram's search tool can give y'all some additional information about which hashtags the people you follow care about. When you conduct an Instagram hashtag search, the search tool will show you if anyone yous follow too follows that hashtag. (Annotation that this only works on mobile, not on desktop.)

Screenshot showing related Instagram hashtags for a particular hashtag search
Source: Instagram

Apply Instagram's Related Hashtags feature

On whatsoever hashtag page, right above the "Height" and "Recent" tabs, yous'll notice a listing of related hashtags that you lot tin can roll through by swiping left.

Instagram related hashtag feature
Source: Instagram

This is a cracking way to detect relevant hashtags that might be a bit more niche than the big keyword-based hashtags you originally searched for. That ways a more targeted audience with less content to compete with. These can be some of the best hashtags for Instagram brands wanting to connect with passionate communities.

Create a branded hashtag

The all-time hashtag for your brand may be 1 you lot create yourself. A branded hashtag is only a tag that you create to promote your own make or campaign.

You can and then allow your audition know about your hashtag past including it in your Instagram bio and highlighting it in your captions and Instagram Stories. Y'all could also consider running a contest with a branded hashtag to popularize the hashtag while likewise collecting user-generated content.

Lululemon's branded Instagram hashtag "the sweat life" in their bio section
Source: Lululemon on Instagram

Make sure to follow your branded hashtag, both within the Instagram app and using a stream in your social media dashboard, so y'all can monitor how it's existence used. Look for opportunities to reshare great content or connect with influential members of your audition.

To follow a hashtag within Instagram, simply tap it, then tap the blue Follow push on the hashtag page.

Follow Instagram hashtag button
Source: Instagram

How to use hashtags on Instagram—7 tips and tricks

i. Use Insights to come across which tags work all-time

If you've made the switch to an Instagram business concern profile, you have access to post insights that tell you lot how many impressions you received from hashtags.

  1. Select the post you want data on and tap View Insights beneath the post on the left.
  2. Swipe up to run across all the insights for that post, including the number of impressions from hashtags.

Instagram analytics panel showing how many views cam from Instagram hashtags

This data helps y'all figure out which hashtags are well-nigh constructive for improving reach.

two. Include hashtags on Instagram Stories

Hashtag pages have an Instagram Story icon in the top left corner. Click on it and you'll see a collection of Stories posts tagged with the hashtag from people with public profiles.

Instagram hashtag "Art of instagram" that appears on Stories
Source: Instagram

At that place are two ways to add hashtags to your Stories. The start method is to utilize the hashtag sticker.

Hashtag stickers on Instagram Stories
Source: Instagram

Or you can just apply the text tool and the # symbol to type out the hashtag the same fashion y'all would on a photograph or video mail.

3. Avoid banned hashtags and spammy hashtags

When inappropriate content becomes associated with a hashtag, Instagram might ban that hashtag.

This doesn't mean that you can't use it at all. Instead, information technology ways that if you click on the tag, yous will only see tiptop posts. Y'all won't run into recent posts, and there won't be whatsoever Stories associated with the hashtag.

Here's what it looks like when you run into a banned hashtag:

Instagram hashtag "single life", which is banned
Source: Instagram

The only mode to know if a hashtag is banned is to check it before y'all use it. This is a good practice to put in place every time you add together a new hashtag to your repertoire. Using banned hashtags can cause a drop in engagement, as your use of legitimate hashtags might likewise get less constructive considering you could be dropped in the algorithm.

Fifty-fifty if they're not banned, you should avoid hashtags that shamelessly solicit likes and followers. Examples include #followme, #like4like, #follow4follow, #tagsforlikes, and then on.

Using these will attract bots, spammers, and other Instagram users who have no intention of engaging with you in whatsoever meaningful way. They likewise testify your followers that your brand is okay with engaging in spammy behaviour. And that'south non a practiced expect.

4. Understand how hashtag pages piece of work

Hashtag pages are a bang-up way to expose your content to a new audience, especially if you tin get featured in the Top department.

Hashtag pages show off all the content associated with a specific hashtag. If someone searches for a post and yours is the most recent with that hashtag, it will be the first affair they meet in the Recent section.

Of grade, information technology's much easier to stay at the pinnacle of the Contempo section for a less-popular or actually niche hashtag.

Go on in mind that the Recent department is sorted based on when each post was originally shared. If you add hashtags later, either through a comment or past editing the caption, this won't bump your post upwards for recency.

5. Don't use irrelevant or repetitive hashtags

Information technology might be tempting to simply copy and paste the aforementioned long list of hashtags on every post, only don't do it. Instagram'south community guidelines clearly land that "posting repetitive comments or content" is not okay. If you use the same hashtags for every mail service, your content will be penalized by the algorithm.

When you create a post, only apply hashtags that brand sense. If yous tag a postal service with #wanderlust, for instance, your content must be something globetrotters will want to comment on, like, and share.

It'due south non nearly getting seen by a lot of people, it's about getting seen by the right people. That's how hashtags lead to higher date and more followers. Option and choose the right keywords for each mail service individually.

6. Make sure that hashtag means what you think it means

Hashtags are frequently a string of words stuck together. That tin can create some problems when it's non clear where one word ends and the next begins.

One of the worst examples of this was the #susanalbumparty fiasco from way dorsum in 2012. It was a launch celebration hashtag for Susan Boyle'southward new album. But read information technology slowly and y'all might pick up some words in the centre that conspicuously make the hashtag a bit… problematic.

Amazon played with this kind of hashtag fault to promote Top Gear. This was washed on purpose, simply it would be an easy mistake to combine a possessive "south" and the word "hit" by accident.

Brands sometimes also are also groovy to hop onto a trending hashtag without fully agreement the context. When the context is challenging, this can create a PR disaster for the brand.

And sometimes a brand only doesn't check to run into if a hashtag is already in use before creating a whole entrada. Burger Male monarch was guilty of this dorsum in 2013, when they used the hashtag #WTFF to mean "What The French Fry."

Since you already know what WTF stands for, you lot tin can probably judge why this was a problem.

7. Save hashtags for hereafter use

If you lot ofttimes use the aforementioned hashtags, y'all can save them in a note to reduce time typing them in over and over.

Look, didn't we just tell you not to use the same hashtags on every post? It's true—you lot should not overuse the same set of hashtags. That said, it is still really useful to take a list of hashtags relevant to the various kinds of content y'all mail service. You could fifty-fifty create divide lists of hashtags relevant to the different types of posts you create.

Just create a list of hashtags in your notes app, ready to add to your posts.

You can then choice and choose a few hashtags to use each time, rather than having to recollect the hashtags or search for new ones for each post. This also gives yous the time to check out what kind of content is already being posted for these hashtags, so you don't brand one of the mistakes mentioned above.

Just recall that every one of the Instagram hashtags you utilize on a post must fit with the content and should not be also repetitive. Don't copy and paste your whole saved list onto every post.

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