How to move hashtags down on instagram

12 Instagram Hashtag Hacks + Tricks You Definitely Want to Try

If you’re searching for some great Instagram hashtag hacks to get more followers and boost your engagement, you’ve come to the right place!

From hiding hashtags in your post’s first comment and Instagram Stories to picking your profile’s top-performing hashtags, we’ve got a hack for you.

Ready to get started? Here are 12 Instagram hashtag hacks and tricks you don’t want to miss:

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #1: Add Line Breaks Before Your Hashtags

You can pour a lot of love and energy into writing great Instagram captions, but isn’t it annoying when Instagram removes the line breaks from your text?

Lucky for you, we have an easy Instagram hashtag hack for this: use the Later app to write your captions!

Adding line breaks with Later couldn’t be easier. All you have to do is press the return key while writing your caption and you’ll have lovely, spaced out captions for your Instagram posts!

If you’re posting a caption with 30 hashtags, this is also a great way to keep your caption from looking cluttered and messy.

Just add a few returns (even just 1 or 2 line breaks like @brandtryouts makes a positive impact!) to move your hashtags to the bottom of your caption.

When you post your photo, Instagram will only reveal the first few lines of your caption so your hashtags will be hidden.

Line breaks work with both notification and Auto Published posts scheduled with Later. Even on our free plan!

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #2: Use Hyper-Relevant Hashtags to Get More Engagement

Using ultra-popular hashtags #love, #instagood, and #photooftheday might get you a few extra likes, but they aren’t going to help you grow an engaged, targeted following on Instagram.

If you’re hoping to get more genuine engagement, you need to get super-relevant and niche with your hashtags — by using hashtags that describe your account, your business, and your target market.

Take Little Spoon, for example, a delivery baby food company whose target market is expecting moms and parents with small children.

The account uses super hashtags to describe its product and business, like #littlespoon, #babyblends, #freshbabyfood, and #organicbabyfood as well as its own branded campaign hashtags like #itsfreshbaby and #nomoreoldbabyfood.

It also uses hashtags which describe their ideal customer like #babyfoodie, #girlmom, #boymom, and #babyontheway, along with community hashtags for parents like #motherhoodunplugged, #letthembelittle, and #dailyparenting.

These kinds of niche hashtags are perfect for growing a community of like-minded users around your brand.

Plus, they can also help you connect with others, improve the searchability of your posts, and gain new followers (and hopefully customers, too!).

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #3: Post Your Hashtags in the First Comment

While adding hashtags to your posts is one of the best ways to boost your engagement and get your posts in front of your target audience, too many hashtags in your captions can look untidy (or worse, spammy!).

Instead, posting your hashtags in the first comment is a great way to make your caption the star of the show, without compromising any of the engagement you can get with hashtags.

Here’s how to schedule a first comment on Instagram with Later:

Open up the post scheduler in Later. You can do this from anywhere — Later on desktop, iOS, or Android.
You’ll see a text box called “First Comment.” Enter your hashtags or any text you’d rather have in the first comment.
Schedule your post as usual (including adding your Linkin.bio link!) and the first comment is scheduled along with it.
You’re done!

You can now craft, schedule and automatically post the first comment on your Instagram posts — available on all Later paid plans!

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #4: Find the Right Hashtags for Your Posts with Hashtag Suggestions

Need some help finding those niche and industry-specific hashtags for your account? Then you may want to check out Later’s Hashtag Suggestions feature.

Hashtag Suggestions works by automatically finding relevant hashtags for your posts based on other hashtags that you use. Just give us a hashtag you’ve had success with, and we’ll show you other, related hashtags you can experiment with.

You can then pick and choose which of these hashtags to add you to your post. All you have to do is click “Insert Hashtags” and they’ll be added to the end of your caption.

Hashtag Suggestions is available on all Later business plans — upgrade now to get access!

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #5: Add Hashtags to Your Instagram Stories to Get on the Explore Page

Adding hashtags to your story is a great way to give your content an added chance to be discovered by new audiences.

When people search for a hashtag on Instagram, if it’s popular enough, they’ll be able to view active, real-time stories on that hashtag’s page – including your own.

And if they like what they see, they might even tap the follow button!

There are two different ways to add hashtags to your stories. One is by using the hashtag sticker (you can only add one hashtag with this method), and the other is by using the text tool and simply typing your hashtags out (you can add up to 10 hashtags using this method).

If you want to maximize your story’s discoverability, use this under-utilized hack and add relevant hashtags to your next story!

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #6: Hide Your Hashtags in Your Stories

As we just learned, hashtags are great for making your stories more discoverable. However, they can also ruin the aesthetic of an Instagram story and look “spammy” if you’re posting a ton on each story.

Luckily, there are tricks to get around it!

If you want to hide hashtags in your Instagram Stories, type out your hashtags, and then pinch them to make them smaller.

Now place a GIF or image sticker over the hashtag text so it’s perfectly hidden!

Or you can select the color tool from the text option and choose a color that perfectly matches your Instagram story background (this works a lot better if the background is a solid color). With just two taps, your hashtag content will magically blend into the background but still be searchable!

Keep in mind that if you make the hashtags too small, Instagram won’t register them! So the best way is to camouflage them with the background or hide them behind another design element.

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #7: Source User-Generated Content (UGC) from Hashtags

Incorporating UGC into your social strategy could be a game-changer. Not only will it save you a ton of time on content creation, but it will also help you engage with your followers and attract new ones.

But how do you source great UGC without spending hours on the hunt?

With Later’s UGC features, you can add Instagram posts that you are mentioned or tagged in directly to your Later Media Library, making it easy to share to your social channels in just a few clicks.

Plus, you can also search by hashtags!

Let’s say you’re a high-end luxury tea company. You may have come up with a branded hashtag (like #LittleLuxurTEA) that your followers use. You can keep this saved as a search in Later to display the last 7 days of posts across Instagram that use your hashtag, and add those posts to your library for sharing.

If you don’t use a branded hashtag, you can still find content that’s popular within your community. Using our luxury tea example, you could search for #TeaTime or something similar to see what kind of content tea lovers are posting.

You can search up to 30 unique hashtags per Instagram account over a 7-day rolling window, but only posts in the last 24 hours will show in the results.

Search by hashtag is available to all Later users with an Instagram business profile – for free.

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #8: Track Your Instagram Hashtag Success

Those who’ve switched to a business profile not only have the ability to check on how their accounts are growing over time with Instagram’s analytics, but they can also analyze how individual posts are performing and compare the specific results from each.

What does this mean for you?

You’ll be able to see exactly how effective your posts are at attracting a new audience, based on impressions from various sources — including your Instagram hashtags!

To access this information, select the post you want to get more detailed analytics on and tap “View Insights” in the bottom left.

Then swipe up to see the full page of data for that post, including things like reach, impressions, and interestingly enough, how the people who viewed your post found you.

Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t tell you which hashtags were the most effective in getting your posts discovered — so the takeaways can be somewhat limited.

If you’re looking for more in-depth analytics around your hashtag success, you may want to check out Later’s Hashtag Analytics tool.

It lets you track key insights about the hashtags you use, including a breakdown of which hashtags are driving the most likes, comments, impressions, saves, and reach on your Instagram posts.

You can use this data to see which hashtags are driving the most engagement on your posts. Once you find your top-performing hashtags, you can use them regularly to get even more engagement and traction for your business.

Instagram Hashtag Analytics is available on all Later business plans.

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #9: Follow Your Favorite Hashtags on Instagram

Did you know that you can follow hashtags just like you follow other accounts?

This is an under-utilized trick that has a ton of business uses. For example, you can encourage your existing audience to follow your branded hashtags so that you connect more easily with your community.

Or you can use the feature to keep a close eye on competitors and even discover potential partners by choosing to follow industry-specific hashtags.

When you find a hashtag you’d like to follow you simply open the hashtag page and tap on the “Follow” button.

Once you’ve selected to follow a hashtag you’ll begin seeing top posts from that hashtag in your feed and some of the latest stories in your stories bar.

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #10: Organize Your Hashtags More Effectively with Saved Captions

It used to be that the best way to organize your hashtags was with a spreadsheet, like Excel or Google Sheets. You would create a spreadsheet with headers like “hashtags,” “category,” “# of posts,” and more, and then actively fill it out as you found new effective hashtags.

Luckily, there’s a better and more time-effective way!

With Later’s Saved Captions feature, you can now create multiple hashtag lists based on your frequently used hashtag categories, all from your Later account.

For example, let’s say you run a travel brand and often post photos of beautiful locations around the world. Instead of trying to remember (or find) relevant hashtags for every post, you can use Saved Captions to keep them all organized, so you can quickly add them when scheduling in the future.

If you want to schedule a photo of a beach in San Diego, since you’ve already saved hashtags for different categories, you can we can insert relevant hashtags for beaches, California, travel, and San Diego with just the click of a button!

After you’ve written your caption, just click on “Saved Captions” and then click on the appropriate hashtag list to instantly add those hashtags to your caption.

Saved Captions is available on all Later plans — including our free plan!

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #11: Add Hashtags to Your Instagram Bio

Whether you’re promoting an Instagram contest or UGC campaign, including your branded hashtag in your Instagram bio is a fantastic way to drive engagement on your posts!

What’s so great about this feature is that it makes your bio even more functional — you can use hashtags for everything from promoting your Instagram community to highlighting your branded content and announcing your Instagram campaigns.

Including your branded hashtag in your bio is also a great way to get your followers in the habit of posting with it.

All you have to do is include a “#” before any word in your bio and it will automatically become a clickable link that leads visitors to that hashtag.

Instagram Hashtag Hacks #12: Use 10+ Hashtags to Increase Your Engagement Rate

We recently teamed up with the experts at Fohr to learn more about how hashtags are being used and what the biggest trends are for 2020.

One of our biggest insights? Instagram posts that include hashtags get more engagement… a lot more!

After analyzing influencer posts that contain hashtags, the data shows using more hashtags actually results in a higher engagement rate.

The sweet spot? 10+ hashtags per post!

This is especially true for accounts with less than 25K followers.

So if you’re a new brand or a micro-influencer looking for new ways to grow your following, having a strong Instagram hashtag strategy could be a fast-pass to a boosted follower count.

Instagram hashtags are a great way to connect with customers, find content created about you by your followers, and build long-term relationships with influential partners.

Hopefully, these Instagram hashtag hacks and tricks have sparked some new ideas that you can implement on your own account!

Ready to get moving with your Instagram marketing strategy? Later makes it easy for you to plan, manage, and schedule your Instagram posts!

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How to Hide Hashtags on Instagram (4 Hashtag Hacks!)

Did you know that Instagram marketers who use nine or more hashtags per post get more than 2. 5x the engagement of those who only use one hashtag?

Without a doubt, hashtags are critical to building followers and engagement and contribute to your entire marketing strategy. However, they can make your feed look unappealing and spammy.

So how do you keep your Instagram feed pretty and clutter-free? EASY! After finding the perfect set of hashtags for your post, learn how to hide hashtags with one of the four simple methods below.

Want to 2.5x your Instagram likes & comments? Perfect your hashtag strategy with this free guide. Get it now!

1 Should You Hide Instagram Hashtags?

1.1 Which one works better, Caption or Comment?

2 Hashtag Hack #1: Hide Hashtags on Instagram in the First Comment

2. 1 Here’s how to hide Instagram hashtags with Tailwind:

3 Hashtag Hack #2: Use the Instagram Dots Method to Hide Hashtags

4 Hashtag Hack #3: Hiding Instagram Hashtags in the Caption

4.1 Use Tailwind’s Instagram Hashtag Lists to Hide Your Hashtags

5 Hashtag Hack #4: Add Conversational Hashtags in Your Caption, Hide the Rest

6 Hashtag Hack #5: Use Tailwind to Find, Hide Hashtags & Schedule Instagram Posts!

6.1 Start a Free Trial of Tailwind for Instagram!

7 Pin It for Later 📌:

Should You Hide Instagram Hashtags?

There’s no harm in hiding your Instagram hashtags to neaten things up. Whether you put your hashtags in your caption directly or move them to the first comment, your content will still appear in hashtag discover feeds if relevant to the hashtag topic.

So, there is no need for concern as you’re pondering how to lower your hashtags on Instagram. It’s just a matter of choosing the right method for you!

Which one works better, Caption or Comment?

We understand that looks are not everything; sometimes, you want to do what is best for your content. So which one is better? Which one gives you more visibility? Our teammates Alisa Meredith and Melissa Megginson took over YouTube to give you answers. Take a look!

Now that you’ve made up your mind, keep reading, we’ll give you some hashtag hacks on how to make the most out of them!

Hashtag Hack #1: Hide Hashtags on Instagram in the First Comment

The cleanest method to hide hashtags on Instagram is by tucking them into the first comment. Just have your list of hashtags ready to go, and add them as a comment after making your post live.

Does this sound too manual for your liking? Tailwind does the work for you!

When you add hashtags to your Instagram caption in Tailwind’s Instagram planning app, you’ll see a checkbox to hide your hashtags in the first comment. This allows you to move your hashtags from the end of your caption to the first comment on the post.

That’s it! No more cluttered captions, no more remembering to return to a post and add your hashtags. Your post is ready for engagement the moment it goes live!

Here’s how to hide Instagram hashtags with Tailwind:

Upload your image or video to the Tailwind Instagram planning app, craft your caption, and then type the # symbol to get predictive hashtag suggestions.
Click to choose or add frequently-used hashtags from your list.
Check the box to move those comments from your caption to your 1st comment.
Click “add to queue” to automatically schedule your Instagram post for the best time.

Now, doesn’t that make you look professional!? 👏 Get the Tailwind Instagram Planner for iOS and Android today!

@HappyArkansan

Hashtag Hack #2: Use the Instagram Dots Method to Hide Hashtags

One of the classic methods of hiding hashtags is Instagram dots.

This is a cuter way of saying adding a series of periods between the end of your caption and your hashtag list so that they’re hidden beneath the “More” button for your followers.

Here’s how to do it:

Type up your caption
After the punctuation at the end of your last sentence, make sure there are no spaces. Then hit return
On the new line, put one period, and then hit return again
Keep repeating until you have plenty of Instagram dots between your caption and your hashtag list
Paste in your hashtags and press publish!

It’s really important to make sure that you don’t include any extra spaces at the end of your sentences or after each Instagram dot. If you do, it will cancel out the line break and ruin the effect!

It used to be necessary to type out your caption with the line breaks on a separate word processing app like Notes. But now Instagram allows you to form line breaks in your caption directly through the Instagram app! Just click the “123” at the bottom left of your phone’s keyboard and tap “return” to jump to a new line.

Hashtag Hack #3: Hiding Instagram Hashtags in the Caption

Looking for tips on how to put your hashtags lower on Instagram captions?

There IS a way to put your hashtags in your caption while keeping your posts and feed looking good, and it works similarly to the Instagram dots method.

Simply format your caption so that it adds line breaks, pushing your valuable hashtags into the “more” section of the caption where they still do their job of increasing reach and engagement, but aren’t easy to see!

Remember, take out any extra spaces lingering after the punctuation at the end of your line breaks. It also includes after emojis in your captions!

As with the dots method, you can type out the caption with the line breaks directly on Instagram now. But just remember that any hidden spaces will cancel the line break.

This Instagram post from @harpermaven is too pretty be covered in hashtags! See how her formatting moves them below view?

Did you know? You can also compose captions with hidden hashtags in Tailwind! Just copy and paste in your caption and formatting, and then use Hashtag Finder to find the best hashtags for your Instagram post.

Here’s a Tailwind hack that makes this incredibly simple and quick:

Use Tailwind’s Instagram Hashtag Lists to Hide Your Hashtags

Tailwind’s Hashtag Lists make hiding hashtags on Instagram captions unbelievably easy.

From Tailwind’s Instagram publisher, create a “Hashtag” list which in this case will actually store ONLY your formatting:

In the Tailwind Instagram Publisher, click on the “#” button
Now click the “+” button. I called mine, “formatting.”
Add line breaks and characters, symbols, or emojis on each line. In this hashtag list, I included a camera emoji, and then double asterisks, each on their own line. This will add a camera emoji to the end of my caption and then insert line breaks with asterisks on them to move my hashtags down and out of view!

The important thing to note is that you need to have SOMETHING on those lines in order to sustain the line break for publishing. You could use a dash, some ellipses, or an emoji, but make sure there is nothing else on that line (no spaces following the characters) or the line breaks will disappear when you post to Instagram, even if it looks fine in the Instagram scheduler.

Now you have a handy template that will save you time every time you schedule a post – AND keep those hashtags out of sight!

Type your caption, add your “hashtag” list plus hashtag recommendations or your premade hashtag list, and post!

Want to plan the perfect feed, find the best hashtags and post at the best times for your audience right from your phone? Its time to meet your new Instagram Smart Assistant from Tailwind - now available on Android and iOS.

Hashtag Hack #4: Add Conversational Hashtags in Your Caption, Hide the Rest

Here’s a method on how to hide Instagram hashtags that make your post look spammy but keep the ones that create fun conversation.

Hashtags have been around so long that sometimes it just makes sense – and can feel a bit playful – to include them in the conversation!

With Tailwind’s Hashtag in first comment feature, only the hashtags at the END of your caption will be moved to the first comment.

So, go ahead and include some in the caption just for fun.

Hashtag Hack #5: Use Tailwind to Find, Hide Hashtags & Schedule Instagram Posts!

When it comes to hiding Instagram hashtags, do you prefer to put them in your caption or first comment – or a bit of both?

Now that you know how to hide hashtags on Instagram, grab a free trial of Tailwind for Instagram to try it on desktop – or on our new Instagram Planner app!

Start a Free Trial of Tailwind for Instagram!

Schedule photos and videos directly to your Instagram feed with Auto Post.
Optimize every post for more engagement with SmartSchedule and Hashtag Finder.
Automatically hide your post’s hashtags in the first comment to keep your caption clean & clutter-free.
Make your posts more discoverable with user tagging & location tagging.
Analyze what's working across every post and profile with smart analytics.

No credit card required

Pin It for Later 📌:

in a post or in the first comment?

When it comes to the best place to put hashtags on Instagram* (in a post or comment), SMM experts are divided.

To break down hashtag myths, Socialinsider partnered with Quuu to analyze 649,895 posts from 6,784 business accounts with varying follower counts. The research report contains useful information for choosing the location of hashtags, their number and design, depending on the size of the accounts and the purpose of the post. nine0003

1. Most brands use hashtags in the body of a post

There is a perception that having hashtags in the first comment makes a post neater and more attractive, while piling up hashtags in the post itself can look spammy. It seems that not all brands think so.

87.7% of brands use hashtags in profile text, compared to only 12.3% in comments.

Among all the analyzed posts, in 93.8% of cases, hashtags were placed in the text, in 6.2% - in the first comment. nine0012

2. Reach and number of impressions is higher when hashtags are placed in the text of the post

Having hashtags in the post gives more impressions, regardless of the size of the account. However, a detailed analysis reveals clear differences between accounts with up to 100,000 followers and more than 100,000.

How to use hashtags for maximum reach

Using hashtags in your post text gives you more reach for posts with small and medium profiles. However, for accounts with more than 100 thousand followers, the situation is different: the average reach of posts with hashtags in the text is lower (14.8%) than posts with hashtags in the first comment (16.9).%).

Jenn Herman, social media strategist, notes: “It makes no difference to the algorithm where exactly you place your hashtags. The exception is the most frequent hashtags like #love. Using such a hashtag in a comment can lead to a drop in reach.”

PromoPult module for targeted advertising in social networks: all channels in one account, minimum budgets, automated creation of creatives, automatic bid management, convenient selection of targeting. nine0003

How to use hashtags to increase the number of impressions

If the main goal is to get the maximum number of users to see the post, while engagement is not important, impressions will be the key metric. In this case, hashtags should be placed in the body of the post, regardless of the size of the profile.

Unlike small and medium-sized accounts, the average number of impressions of a post of large Instagram* accounts (more than 100 thousand followers) practically does not depend on the location of the hashtags. nine0003

Naturally, the result also depends on the number of hashtags.

3.

Brands love extremes: if not 7, then 30 hashtags at once

Experts regularly try to determine the ideal number of hashtags in an Instagram* post.

Some people think that the optimal number is up to 7, others - up to 11, others are sure that it is worth using all 30 hashtags (maximum on Instagram*). And someone simply advises brands to “find your magic number.”

Socialinsider and Quuu experts also recommend doing your own experiments. Read more about it in the Instagram* hashtag guide. nine0003

The recommendations below are based on how the analyzed brands use hashtags.

Among the brands that place hashtags in the text of the post, two extremes can be distinguished: either there are 7 hashtags, or their number is close to 30.

These extremes are clearly visible on the chart: in most cases there are only two:

However, is this the best option?

Alex Khan, Social Media Coach: “I think A/B testing is always a must. In my experience, there is no difference in where hashtags are placed. Since Instagram* changes algorithms regularly, it's much more important to constantly test what works best for you, use a variety of hashtags, and experiment with new ones."

4. Engagement depends on the number of followers, placement and number of hashtags

At first glance, it may seem that the location of hashtags has little to no effect on user engagement rates. nine0003

A closer look reveals that engagement is affected by both the location of the hashtags and the number of followers.

So, where to place hashtags and how many should there be?

By segmenting profiles by number of followers and looking at each group individually, you can get a general idea of which posts are most successful.

Below are recommendations on the number and placement of hashtags for accounts with different numbers of followers (peak values are taken into account). nine0003

Ed. We would like to remind you that the recommendations are based on a specific study conducted in 2018-2019. These recommendations are not absolute - everything needs to be tested on your account and your audience.

Less than 5 thousand followers: 6 hashtags, placed in the post.

Orange line - hashtags in the post, green - in the first comment

From 5 to 10 thousand followers: 5 hashtags are placed in the first comment. nine0054

Orange line - hashtags in the post, green - in the first comment

From 10 to 50 thousand subscribers: 2 hashtags are placed in the post.

Orange line - hashtags in the post, green - in the first comment

From 50 thousand to 100 thousand subscribers - 8 hashtags are placed in the post.

Orange line - hashtags in the post, green line - in the first comment nine0054
Orange line - hashtags in the post, green line - in the first comment 30, does not have top indicators, regardless of the size of the account.

5. Posts with hidden hashtags have a higher engagement rate

Hashtags can be hidden to make the post look neater and not distract readers from the content. nine0003
This is very easy to do - just add empty lines (or more text) before the list of hashtags. This way, users won’t see the hashtag clutter until the full text of the post is expanded.

You can hide hashtags both in the post and in the first comment.

Traditionally, lines with one dot are used instead of empty lines. To make such a block, you need to prepare it in a text editor (since the Instagram editor * still does not allow you to create new lines). nine0003
So let's see how hiding hashtags affects reach and engagement.

Most brands that use hashtags in their posts don't hide them.

However, posts with hidden hashtags have a (slightly) higher engagement rate:

Shane Baker, Digital Strategist and Brand Consultant: “I prefer having hashtags in a post because it creates more trust.

We are marketers and using hashtags is a useful marketing tool, so don't be ashamed to hide them. nine0003
However, if you feel that too many hashtags make your posts trash, you can hide them so that only those who expand the post and read it to the end can see them.”

When posting hashtags in the first comment, most brands also do not hide them:

The engagement rate is higher for posts with visible hashtags in the first comment:

In the end, honesty pays off. If you want to put hashtags - put them and do not be ashamed. nine0003

6. On average, you can get 1-2 more comments on a post if hashtags are placed in the first comment

As a rule, the larger the account, the larger the brand, which means more budget for advertising and other paid promotion tools.

To understand how brands get comments naturally (organically), we calculated the median number of comments.

The placement of hashtags has little effect on the number of comments. nine0003

We can safely say that posts from accounts with up to 100,000 followers get 1-2 more comments if hashtags are placed in the first comment.

7. On average, posts with hashtags in the first comment get slightly more likes

Looking at the median number of likes, the scores are also higher for posts with hashtags in the first comment.

True, you should pay attention to the exception: posts of accounts with 10-50 thousand subscribers have better results if the hashtags are placed in the text. nine0003

Posting hashtags in the first comment seems to get more likes for most accounts.

And what to do with all this? How to proceed in a particular case?

Ed. Let's be honest - in some cases, the difference between the hashtags in a post or comment was more than insignificant. But some points in the study still deserve attention.

It is worth trying both options in practice, and at different posts with different goals. Perhaps the strategies described here will work. And yes, still don’t do 30 hashtags in a post, such redundancy is just annoying. nine0003

When choosing a hashtag strategy, consider your KPIs and account size.

If the goal of a post is to convey information to the widest possible audience, then reach and impressions will be performance indicators. In this case, it is not so important whether users will interact with the post. For example, accounts with less than 100k followers should place hidden hashtags in the body of the post.

If user interaction with a post is more important to you, then pay attention to the recommendations for increasing engagement, reach and impressions depending on the size of the account:

Less than 5k followers: 6 hidden hashtags per post.
From 5 to 10 thousand followers: 5 visible hashtags per post.
From 10 to 50 thousand followers: 2 hidden hashtags in a post.
From 50 to 100 thousand followers: 8 hidden hashtags in a post.
Over 10 thousand followers: 6 visible hashtags in the first comment.

Ed. And remember, these recommendations are based on a large 2018-2019 study. in the western segment of Instagram*. Any recommendation you want to apply needs to be tested, not taken as an absolute rule. nine0003

Research Key Findings

87% of brands prefer to use hashtags in their post text.
Posts from accounts with less than 100k followers have higher impressions and reach when hashtags are placed in the post itself.
Most brands use either 7 or almost 30 hashtags and place them in a post.
Engagement rates depend on account size, number and placement of hashtags.
Posts with hidden hashtags in the text have higher engagement rates. nine0012
Posts from accounts with less than 100k followers get 1-2 more comments on average if hashtags are placed in the first comment.
On average, posts with hashtags in the first comment get slightly more likes.

Download the original study (PDF).

*Instagram and Facebook are banned in Russia. On March 21, 2022, Meta was recognized as an extremist organization in Russia.

How to hide hashtags from Instagram posts and stories

allow Instagram network By adding up to 30 hashtags to a regular post and up to 10 hashtags to a story. However, just because you can use a lot of hashtags doesn't mean you have to do it most of the time. Excessive use of hashtags not only makes your posts cluttered, but it can also look like “ Struggling to get attention . Luckily, there are ways to hide hashtags in both your stories and posts. So, here's how to hide hashtags from posts and Instagram Stories. nine0003

How do hashtags work on Instagram?

Assuming your profile is public, when you use a hashtag in your Instagram post or story, the image will appear in the public group of those hashtags. However, there is no guarantee that your story or post will be accepted into the hashtag group. Acceptance depends on various factors such as participation, post quality, competition, etc. However, don't be discouraged, the process of adding a hashtag is still worth a try. nine0003

Part 1: Hide hashtags from Instagram stories

1. Change the hashtag color.

This is the best method if your story has a solid background color or if you have an image without a gradient. Here's how to do it.

First, open an image with a solid background or an image with regular colors. Enter your desired hashtags in text form. You can also click on a suggestion at the bottom to match them with related hashtags or get some ideas.

The next step is to select all the text and click on the circle of the color wheel at the top. To change the color, click on the color picker in the bottom left corner. Now just drag your cursor over the color you want to mix the hashtag with and you're done!

2.

You can hide it behind another object.

If your story contains an image in bright colors, the above method probably won't work for you. Hence, another solution is to add hashtags with the same steps in the first method and hide them behind other elements such as GIF files, graphics, posters or even other text. Here's how to do it. nine0003

Add a hashtag and tap the "Sticker" option at the top of the list. You can then select a sticker, find a GIF, or add any other element. Now drag it onto the hashtag to hide it behind the element.

3. Significantly minimize the size of hashtags.

You can do this with the slider and it provides the fastest way to do it, and if you have a hashtag you can easily make it as small as possible without the viewer noticing. The only drawback is that in some photos it may look like a small mark. To reduce one or more hashtags, keep minimizing them until they are very small. You can also move the hashtag to match the color of the photo or video to hide it completely. nine0003

4. Hide hashtags by moving them to the side.

If you don't take advantage of any of the three methods above, for example, you don't have a solid background image and don't want to add a sticker/GIF on top of it, and you won't. If you want to make it smaller, then the cleanest way is to get rid of the display of hashtags.

When using a hashtag, try to drag it off the screen from both sides. It can be tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes very rewarding. If you can't do that, try making the line big and then move it to the side. nine0003

Part 2: Hide hashtags from Instagram posts

Since posts are long, they will always be on your profile until you delete them. Even if you want to use the ideal 15-20 hashtags in your caption, it will look too messy, and the reader's attention will instantly switch to it, and not to your caption. There are two ways to hide these hashtags in the title in the app, but note that they will be displayed on the desktop.

1. Use a space in signature

This method is especially effective when the post appears in someone's feed or when someone views your profile. Just type in a title and press the Enter / Return key. Now add some punctuation, like bulleted 4-5 times or more, and add hashtags at the bottom.

By doing this, you separate the hashtags from the caption because the Instagram app only shows the first few lines in the preview. Thus, you can see hashtags only by clicking on the "button". nine0053 over ".

2. Add hashtags to comments.

Another way to keep your post clean is to use the comments section to add hashtags. You can do this by writing a caption as usual, but without hashtags, and posting. Once posted, click the Comment Bubble icon at the bottom of the post and type/copy the hashtags you want to add.

When you post a comment, you will notice that the comments will not be visible to your followers using the Instagram app.