How To Find Effective Hashtags For Instagram
Arguably, one of the most important keys to success on Instagram is using the right hashtags. Posting relevant and engaging content is important for growing a following, but hashtags make that great content visible to more people. Hashtags link all of the content with that same hashtag together and connect social media content to a specific topic.
Finding effective hashtags can be a challenge though. Using hashtags like #summer, #warmweather and #sunnyday on a post about summer time may seem great, but those hashtags and too generic and used by too many people. Your content will quickly become lost in the sea of Instagram posts. Instead, follow these tips to find effective hashtags to use on Instagram!
3 Easy Ways to Find Effective Hashtags
TIP NO.1 – USE THE SEARCH BAR
Our first tip is to use the search bar on Instagram to search for a generic hashtag related to your post. For the post below, a good place to start would be #cocktails
If you search for this hashtag you’ll see that there are roughly 30 million posts associated with it. That’s a lot of posts! Using a few generic hashtags is okay, but you want the majority of them to be more niche and specific. To do that, tap on some posts that use the generic hashtag and see what others one the user included. Chances are they used some more unique hashtags that are less popular.
Tip No. 2 – Look to Others For Guidance
Tip number two is to analyze accounts similar to yours. If you’re a restaurant owner looking to grow your following, research restaurants that are similar to yours that have a large presence on social media. Check out their posts and see what hashtags they use often. This is a good jumping off point to create your own list of hashtags that will be beneficial for your restaurant.
One thing that’s important to note here is that the quality of the content matters. Accounts with large followings and high levels of engagement are typically posting high-quality images and funny, informative, or relevant captions. Hashtags simply help push the great content out into the world!
Tip No. 3 – Find Related Hashtags
Tip No. 3 is to find related hashtags! This can be done right on Instagram and is a hidden gem you’ll wish you knew about sooner. Start by going back to the search bar and typing in a generic word. Sticking with our previous example, we used #cocktails. Then, under the search bar tap on ‘Tags’. You’ll then see a list of hashtags related to the one you searched for! It even tells you how many posts are associated with each tag so you know which ones are to broad and which ones are more specific and could be beneficial for your post.
Fun Facts on Hashtags
Now that you know how to find effective hashtags, here’s a few pointers on how to use them.
You can use up to 30 hashtags per post – try and use all 30 or close to it.
Posts from private accounts won’t show up when you search for a hashtag
The number one hashtag of all time on Instagram is #love …best to stay away from this one!
Using local hashtags can help you get featured by accounts in your area and grow your followers and customer base even faster!
Want more?! Send us a message today and let’s talk all things hashtags and Instagram strategy for your business.
