I’m pretty sure you use hashtags on Instagram, a lot of us do. But are you using them right? #️⃣
Are they bringing you any results or are you using them just because you think you should? 🤔
The thing is, hashtags are very useful and can bring you a lot of visibility on Instagram. They can help you reach a wider audience, get more engagement and profile views. 📈 But that’s only if you use them correctly.
So I decided to share my 9 Golden Rules when it comes to using hashtags on Instagram. Hope you’ll find these insights useful & that you will be able to improve your results from now on! 😊
1. Don’t use all the 30 slots available.
Some say it’s a lost opportunity, I say it seems spammy and doesn’t really bring you much value. 10-15 hashtags per post is usually enough!
2. Avoid very popular Instagram hashtags.
Any hashtag that was used in more than 10 million posts is kinda’ useless. Your post will get lost between all the rest, and it won’t really bring you relevant views.
3. Mix generic & niche hashtags.
This way, you will be able to reach a higher number of people and get awareness, but also attract the highly relevant ones.
4. Create your own hashtags.
Don’t just post other people’s hashtags. You can also create your own, especially if you do a giveaway, a campaign or an event, or just want to better monitor the user generated content.
5. Don’t use the same exact block of hashtags on each post.
Try to diversify and be more strategic when adding hashtags to each Instagram post. Make sure you add the most relevant niche & descriptive hashtags every time you post.
6. Refresh your Instagram hashtag list periodically.
It’s important to stay up to date and refresh your hashtags every 3-6 months, depending on your business specific and niche. This could mean adding new hashtags, removing old ones etc.
7. Avoid banned hashtags.
There are several hashtags that are banned, because they had been used in posts that violate Instagram’s community guidelines. A few examples: #beautyblogger, #singlelife, #valentinesday, #girlsonly.
8. Always check your insights, to see how many views do you get from hashtags.
Also, monitor your progress, see which hashtags perform better, see if any of them got you on the Explore page.
9. Don’t forget to use hashtags in Stories as well!
Hashtags can help make your Stories more discoverable, and reach a bigger audience. You can add up to 10 hashtags per Story, but I believe that using 2-3 highly relevant ones should be enough.
📌 P.S. Don’t forget to bookmark this article for future reference & share it with others who might be interested in this topic (business owners, entrepreneurs, social media managers and anyone else who’s trying to grow their account on Instagram). 😊
Do you have any other tips & tricks? Are you following these rules? And what tools are you using to discover the most relevant hashtags? Let’s chat 😁
