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How to search popular hashtags on instagram


Ultimate Guide [+101 hashtags for 2023]

What are Instagram hashtags?

Top Instagram hashtags

Types of popular Instagram hashtags

Instagram Hashtag FAQs

7 tips for how to use hashtags on Instagram

Instagram hashtags can make or break your Instagram marketing strategy. Use them correctly and you’ll get your posts seen by more people likely to be interested in your products or brand.

But use the wrong and you can actually do damage, from annoying potential followers to getting penalized by Instagram’s algorithm.

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

You’re in the right place to do just that. Watch our video below, or read on!

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

What are Instagram hashtags?

A hashtag is a combination of letters, numbers, and/or emoji preceded by the # symbol (e.g. #NoFilter). They are used to categorize content and make 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 use Instagram hashtags?

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

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

Instagram hashtags can be a great way of building community online so people are motivated to engage with your brand. For example, as the way people work out suddenly changed in 2020, Nike Los Angeles used the #playinside hashtag to feature local people getting active in their homes.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nike LA (@nikela)

All that being said, times they are a changin’. We recently ran an experiment looking specifically at the effectiveness of Instagram SEO vs Hashtags in 2022. And the results, well let’s just say they were eye-opening.

Check out the article or watch the video below to see what we found:

Top Instagram hashtags

These are the top 50 hashtags on Instagram:

  1. #love (1.835B)
  2. #instagood (1.150B)
  3. #fashion (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. #nature (525.7M)
  15. #like4like (515.6M)
  16. #travel (497.3M)
  17. #instagram (482.6M)
  18. #style (472.3M)
  19. #repost (471.4M)
  20. #summer454.2M
  21. #instadaily (444.0M)
  22. #selfie (422.6M)
  23. #me (420.3M)
  24. #friends (396.7M)
  25. #fitness (395.8M)
  26. #girl (393. 8M)
  27. #food (391.9M)
  28. #fun (385.6M)
  29. #beauty (382.8M)
  30. #instalike (374.6M)
  31. #smile (364.5M)
  32. #family (357.7M)
  33. #photo (334.6M)
  34. #life (334.5M)
  35. #likeforlike (328.2M)
  36. #music (316.1M)
  37. #ootd (308.2M)
  38. #follow4follow (290.6M)
  39. #makeup (285.3M)
  40. #amazing (277.5M)
  41. #igers (276.5M)
  42. #nofilter (268.9M)
  43. #dog (264.0M)
  44. #model (254.7M)
  45. #sunset (249.8M)
  46. #beach (246.8M)
  47. #instamood (238.1M)
  48. #foodporn (229.4M)
  49. #motivation (229.1M)
  50. #followforfollow (227.9M)

Popular B2B Hashtags

  1. #business (101M)
  2. #entrepreneur (93M)
  3. #success (82M)
  4. #onlineshop (70M)
  5. #smallbusiness (104M)
  6. #marketing (69M)
  7. #branding (38M)
  8. #marketingdigital (39M)
  9. #innovation (14M)
  10. #ecommerce (12M)
  11. #retail (8. 2M)
  12. #onlinemarketing (8M)
  13. #contentmarketing (6.5M)
  14. #marketingtips (6.2M)
  15. #marketingstrategy (6M)
  16. #marketingstrategy (6M)
  17. #startups (5.3M) 
  18. #management (5.1M)
  19. #businesstips (5.1M)
  20. #software (5M)
  21. #B2B (2.6M)
  22. #instagramforbusiness (1.4M)
  23. #b2bmarketing (528k)
  24. #eventmarketing (408k)
  25. #b2bsales (125k)

Popular B2C Hashtags

  1. #training (133M)
  2. #smallbusiness (104M)
  3. #business (101M)
  4. #sale (95M)
  5. #onlineshopping (85M)
  6. #marketing (69M) 
  7. #marketingdigital (39M)
  8. #promo (35M) 
  9. #socialmedia (32M) 
  10. #digitalmarketing  (25M)
  11. #startup (24M)
  12. #socialmediamarketing (19. 7M) 
  13. #sales (19M) 
  14. #advertising (15M) 
  15. #ecommerce (12.3M) 
  16. #networking (12.1M)
  17. #onlinebusiness (11.4M) 
  18. #onlinemarketing (8M) 
  19. #smallbiz (7M) 
  20. #company (7.9M) 
  21. #startuplife (5.6M) 
  22. #contentmarketing (6.5M) 
  23. #socialmediatips (3.2M)
  24. #marketplace (2.5M)
  25. #b2c (350k)
  26. #b2cmarketing (185k)

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, but it also means there’s a ton of content on it 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 nine distinct types:

Product or service hashtags

These are basic keywords to describe your product or service, like #handbag or #divebar

Niche hashtags

These get a little more specific, showing where you fit in the context of your industry, like #travelblogger or #foodblogger

Industry Instagram community hashtags

Communities exist on Instagram, and these hashtags help you find and join them. Think #gardenersofinstagram or #craftersofinstgram

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Special event or seasonal hashtags

These can refer to real holidays or seasons, like #summerdays, or they can be used for all those National [Thing] Day holidays, like #nationalicecreamday or #nationalnailpolishday

Location hashtags

Even if you geo-tag your Instagram post, it can still be a good idea to include a hashtag that refers to your location, like #vancouvercraftbeer or #londoneats

Daily hashtags

Every day has plenty of its own hashtags, from #MondayBlues right through to #SundayFunday. We created a whole list of daily hashtags for you to choose from if you’re looking for an easy source of hashtags to add to your posts.

Relevant phrase hashtags

These hashtags combine elements of product hashtags, niche hashtags, and community hashtags. Basically, they’re phrases people use on Instagram to connect to existing communities in a slightly insider way, like #amwriting or #shewhowanders

Acronym hashtags

Perhaps the best-known acronym hashtag is #TBT for Throwback Thursday. Other popular acronym hashtags include #OOTD for outfit of the day, #FBF for flashback Friday, and #YOLO for you only live once.

Emoji hashtags

These hashtags can include emojis on their own, like #????, or words or phrases with emojis attached, like #sunglasses????.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cartems Donuts (@cartemsdonuts)

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

Instagram Hashtag FAQs

How many hashtags to use on Instagram

How to hide hashtags on Instagram

How to find trending hashtags on Instagram

How to search multiple hashtags on Instagram

How to find the best Instagram hashtags for YOUR brand

How many hashtags to use on Instagram

You can include up to 30 hashtags on a regular post, and up to 10 hashtags on a Story. If you try to include more, your comment or caption won’t post.

That said, just because you can use that many hashtags for Instagram doesn’t mean you should. There’s no right number of hashtags for every business, or even for every post by the same business.

The consensus is that about 11 hashtags is a good number to start with. But the most common number of hashtags to use on Instagram is between 3 and 5.

You’ll need to do some testing to determine what works best for your particular business.

How to hide hashtags on Instagram

When you’ve spent time crafting a great Instagram caption, you 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. Once your post is published, simply click the speech bubble icon under your post to leave a comment.
  3. Write out or paste the hashtags you want to include in the comment box and tap Post.
  4. On mobile, your hashtags won’t be visible unless a user taps View all comments. However, on desktop, your comment will remain in the top position, so this trick works better if you’re targeting a mobile audience.


Source: VW on Instagram

How to hide Instagram hashtags in the caption

You can also use hashtags within the caption itself without them being super-visible.

  1. At the bottom of your caption, tap Return or Enter. If you don’t see a Return or Enter button, tap 123 to bring it up.
  2. Enter a punctuation mark (try a period, bullet, or dash), then hit Return again.
  3. Repeat steps 2 to 4 at least three times.
  4. Instagram hides captions after three lines, so your hashtags won’t be viewable unless your followers tap … more. Even then, your hashtags will be visually separated from your caption so they don’t distract from your copy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rocky Mountain Soap Company (@rockymountainsoapco)

How to hide hashtags on Instagram Stories

You can hide hashtags on Instagram Stories, too. One option is simply to minimize the appearance of your hashtags by pinching and shrinking them to make them quite small. You can also tap the hashtag sticker to change it from a white background to a semi-transparent one.

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


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 use that hashtag. You’ll also see a list of other popular Instagram hashtags using similar words, with post counts included too.


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, then tap Tags.

If you’re paying attention to your Instagram feed, you’ll learn to quickly spot trending hashtags as they emerge. Don’t be too quick to jump on a trend, though. Only post using a trending hashtag if it 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 up search streams in a social listening tool like Hootsuite to track the hashtags you’re interested in so you can see all the relevant content on one screen without having to conduct each one as an individual Instagram hashtag search.


Source: Hootsuite

Instagram business profiles can conduct up to 30 unique hashtag searches in any given seven-day period.

We wrote a full post about the benefits of social listening if you want to dig deeper into how this works.

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

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How to find the best Instagram hashtags for YOUR brand

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

Here’s some tips to try for coming up with Instagram hashtags that will actually drive reach and engagement.

Check out the competition

You don’t necessarily want to model your competition’s strategy too closely, but taking a look at the hashtags they use can give you some good clues about what’s working for others in your industry.

Maybe you’ll discover new hashtags to add to your repertoire. Or you could decide you don’t want to compete for the same eyeballs, in which case you can search for alternative hashtags to use.

See what hashtags your audience is already using

After all, if your audience is already using a certain hashtag, then other people just like them are probably using it too. Finding these existing Instagram communities is a great way to expand your audience and reach the people who are most likely to be interested in your business.

Keep an eye on your top followers and see what hashtags they’re using. Instagram’s search tool can give you 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 you follow also follows that hashtag. (Note that this only works on mobile, not on desktop.)


Source: Instagram

Use Instagram’s Related Hashtags feature

On any hashtag page, right above the “Top” and “Recent” tabs, you’ll find a list of related hashtags that you can scroll through by swiping left.


Source: Instagram

This is a great way to find relevant hashtags that might be a bit more niche than the big keyword-based hashtags you originally searched for. That means 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 best hashtag for your brand may be one you create yourself. A branded hashtag is simply a tag that you create to promote your own brand or campaign.

You can then let your audience know about your hashtag by including it in your Instagram bio and highlighting it in your captions and Instagram Stories. You could also consider running a contest with a branded hashtag to popularize the hashtag while also collecting user-generated content.

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A post shared by lululemon (@lululemon)


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 you can monitor how it’s being used. Look for opportunities to reshare great content or connect with influential members of your audience.

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


Source: Instagram

Use Hootsuite’s hashtag generator

Coming up with the right hashtags for every. single. post. is a lot of work.

Enter: Hootsuite’s hashtag generator.

Whenever you’re creating a post in Composer, Hootsuite’s AI technology will recommend a custom set of hashtags based on your draft — the tool analyzes both your caption and the images you’ve uploaded to suggest the most relevant tags.

To use Hootsuite’s hashtag generator, follow these steps:

  1. Head to Composer and start drafting your post. Add your caption and (optionally) upload an image.
  2. Click the hashtag symbol below the text editor.

  1. The AI will generate a set of hashtags based on your input. Check the boxes next to the hashtags you want to use and click the Add hashtags button.

That’s it!

The hashtags you selected will be added to your post. You can go ahead and publish it or schedule it for later.

7 tips for how to use hashtags on Instagram

1. Use Insights to see which tags work best

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

1. Select the post you want data on and tap View Insights below the post on the left.

2. Swipe up to see all the insights for that post, including the number of impressions from hashtags.

This data helps you figure out which hashtags are most effective for improving reach.

2. 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.


Source: Instagram

There are two ways to add hashtags to your Stories. The first method is to use the hashtag sticker.


Source: Instagram

Or you can simply use the text tool and the # symbol to type out the hashtag the same way you would on a photo or video post.

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, it means that if you click on the tag, you will only see top posts. You won’t see recent posts, and there won’t be any Stories associated with the hashtag.

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


Source: Instagram

The only way to know if a hashtag is banned is to check it before you use it. This is a good practice to put in place every time you add a new hashtag to your repertoire. Using banned hashtags can cause a drop in engagement, as your use of legitimate hashtags might also become less effective because you could be dropped in the algorithm.

Even if they’re not banned, you should avoid hashtags that shamelessly solicit likes and followers. Examples include #followme, #like4like, #follow4follow, #tagsforlikes, and so on.

Using these will attract bots, spammers, and other Instagram users who have no intention of engaging with you in any meaningful way. They also show your followers that your brand is okay with engaging in spammy behaviour. And that’s not a good look.

4. Understand how hashtag pages work

Hashtag pages are a great way to expose your content to a new audience, especially if you can get featured in the Top section.

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 thing they see in the Recent section.

Of course, it’s much easier to stay at the top of the Recent section for a less-popular or really niche hashtag.

Keep in mind that the Recent section is sorted based on when each post was originally shared. If you add hashtags later, either through a comment or by editing the caption, this won’t bump your post up for recency.

5. Don’t use irrelevant or repetitive hashtags

It might be tempting to simply copy and paste the same long list of hashtags on every post, but don’t do it. Instagram’s community guidelines clearly state that “posting repetitive comments or content” is not okay. If you use the same hashtags for every post, your content will be penalized by the algorithm.

When you create a post, only use hashtags that make sense. If you tag a post with #wanderlust, for example, your content must be something globetrotters will want to comment on, like, and share.

It’s not about getting seen by a lot of people, it’s about getting seen by the right people. That’s how hashtags lead to higher engagement and more followers. Pick and choose the right keywords for each post individually.

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

Hashtags are often a string of words stuck together. That can create some problems when it’s not clear where one word ends and the next begins.

One of the worst examples of this was the #susanalbumparty fiasco from way back in 2012. It was a launch celebration hashtag for Susan Boyle’s new album. But read it slowly and you might pick up some words in the middle that clearly make the hashtag a bit… problematic.

Amazon played with this kind of hashtag mistake to promote Top Gear. This was done on purpose, but it would be an easy mistake to combine a possessive “s” and the word “hit” by accident.

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A post shared by Mathew chronic (@clarkson_and_memes)

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

And sometimes a brand just doesn’t check to see if a hashtag is already in use before creating a whole campaign. Burger King was guilty of this back in 2013, when they used the hashtag #WTFF to mean “What The French Fry.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by #WTFF (@wtff2013)

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

7. Save hashtags for future use

If you often use the same hashtags, you can save them in a note to reduce time typing them in over and over.

Wait, didn’t we just tell you not to use the same hashtags on every post? It’s true—you should not overuse the same set of hashtags. That said, it is still really useful to have a list of hashtags relevant to the various kinds of content you post. You could even create separate 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 pick and choose a few hashtags to use each time, rather than having to remember the hashtags or search for new ones for each post. This also gives you the time to check out what kind of content is already being posted for these hashtags, so you don’t make one of the mistakes mentioned above.

Just remember that every one of the Instagram hashtags you use on a post must fit with the content and should not be too repetitive. Don’t copy and paste your whole saved list onto every post.

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6 Easy Ways To Find Trending Hashtags On Instagram Today

Strategy

Hashtags are a popular trend on social media platforms, especially Instagram. Hashtags create a niche-specific collection of categorized Instagram posts that can easily be searched and even followed by Instagram users. In addition, they are a tool that assists marketers to better understand their consumers interests. Hashtags are an important component to improving rankings and visibility for brand content on social platforms all while gaining a specific audience of followers.

In this article, we will cover the benefits of hashtag use on Instagram, the most effective way to find trending hashtags on Instagram, and how to have hashtags trend on Instagram.

By

Karina Gandola

Published on

BENEFITS OF TRENDING HASHTAGS ON INSTAGRAM

If you are a Twitter or Instagram user, you definitely are aware of the popularity of using a hashtag. As a business, however, you may not be as familiar with what benefits a hashtag can provide for your brand. Hashtags are truly an integral part of digital marketing. Here’s why:

  1. Branding and Visibility

Fundamentally, the biggest benefit to using hashtags on Instagram are branding and visibility. Hashtags are an opportunity for your business to expand an audience and increase brand awareness. This can occur in two ways. First, when a user searches your brand they will see hashtags you are using. And second, when they search a specific hashtag, they’ll see your branded posts in the relevant results. This optimizes the brand awareness and the visibility of content.

  1. Competitor Research

Instagram hashtags are a benefit when it comes to checking out the competition and determining your own brand strategy. A business can use hashtags to gather research on competitor accounts, posts, and hashtag use. This information can then be used to gauge audience interest and what is working with your consumers. Competitor hashtag research will also help your business stay on top of the constantly changing hashtag trends on Instagram.

  1. Promotion

Hashtags are a huge benefit when it comes to promotion of a campaign. It’s the Instagram version of word-of-mouth. A business can post about a promotion with a hashtag, followers pick up on it using the same hashtag and it can spread like wildfire as more and more users use the hashtag. Hashtags create visibility among your target audience and connect you with followers.

  1. Embed Hashtags On Your Website

A lesser known benefit of Instagram hashtags, but one that should be mentioned for businesses, is by embedding them on your website. A business can embed Instagram hashtag feeds directly into their website, collecting and generating additional content from followers and customers about your brand. The feeds are engaging and grab website traffic’s attention quickly. This can lead to longer visitor time on the website and increased engagement and customer retention. It will also add unique content to your site that builds trust with the user.

MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO FIND TRENDING HASHTAGS ON INSTAGRAM

Trending hashtags on Instagram are constantly changing. It can be challenging to stay on top of the hashtags that are most relevant and effective for your brand. Here’s an in-depth list of 6 effective ways to find trending hashtags on Instagram.

  1. Research Hashtag Trends Using Instagram

The most effective way to find Instagram hashtags that are trending is by using the app. Write down a list of niche phrases and words that describe your brand. Using these keywords, start researching on Instagram. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Instagram app and tap on the search icon (bottom of the screen)
  2. Type in the key phrase from your niche list in the search area and then tap Tags
  3. If the photos on this list are similar to what you are posting, it’s probably a good match.
  4. Check out the “Related” section of hashtags that are located directly above the photos and write them down. You can also use these terms to see if they are a match for your brand and how many posts are using that particular hashtag.
  5. Another way to use Instagram is to scan the posts of successful influencers in your niche and write down what hashtags they are using. 
  1. Find Trending Hashtags Your Community Already Uses

To make Instagram hashtags effective, you want to pick the ones that fit with your niche. The more relevant your hashtags are to a specific audience, the more traction the posts will receive. 

  1. Take a look at the posts that are already happening in your community. What hashtags are being used with the content?
  2. If there’s a trending pattern, take advantage of it.
  3. Check out what the competitors are posting. What’s working for their content? Use the same hashtags that are already creating visibility.
  1. Review Instagram’s Explore Page

Instagram’s Explore page provides posts and reels that are driven by the content you are interested in. The Explore page uses an algorithm based on your interaction with the app and selects content that is relevant. Everybody’s Explore page is different.

A user can manually search for hashtags on the Explore page. These hashtags are note-worthy since content that makes it to an Explore page is usually aligned with trending Instagram hashtags. Write down the hashtags that you see numerous times and use them in your own content.

  1. Use A Social Listening Tool

This type of tool is a great way to find trending Instagram hashtags. A social listening tool essentially takes note of keywords that are used all over the web. Depending on the tool or tools you choose, you can quickly come up with a list of hashtags that are trending. Here are a few popular ones currently.

  1. Task Ant– You simply enter a keyword in their search engine and it shows you all of their hashtags associated with it. It will also give you an in-depth analysis of each hashtag so you can determine if it is a good fit for your niche.
  2. RiteTag– This tool is a comprehensive tool that suggests trending and popular hashtags based on the content you post. It will use the image and caption of the post to put together a list of hashtags. An added bonus is it is simple to use!
  3. Tagstagram- This tool will allow you to find and copy trending Instagram hashtags based on either a keyword or a specific category. Although some hashtags are more generic with this tool, it is a quick process without a ton of research.
  1. Use a Hashtag Suggestion Tool

There are two ways that you can use a hashtag suggestion tool. 

The first is the autocomplete feature in Instagram. Using the Instagram search engine, begin typing a keyword. The search engine will show you similar hashtags and other popular hashtags. These hashtags are from the accounts that you are following. Just make sure when you are using autocomplete that you are not choosing hashtags with millions of posts, your post could be lost in the crowd.

The second is by downloading a suggestion app. There are options, but one that I have found useful is Later. The app will make suggestions for hashtags based on the content of your post and for ones commonly used in your industry. You simply type a hashtag into the search bar and hit “Suggest”. The app will sort the generated hashtags by relevance for you! Again, be cognizant of how many posts are in the hashtag category to ensure your content isn’t swallowed up.

  1. Use Instagram’s Tag Search Tool

As discussed in the above numbered item, post volume matters when it comes to finding the best hashtags. To keep your post from being lost among the masses, check the hashtag volume using the tag search tool.

To do this, access Instagram’s tag search tool on the Explore page. Review the hashtags that are similar and would fit with your niche. If the hashtag has hundreds of thousands or even millions of posts in the category already, opt for another hashtag that works with fewer posts. On the flipside, you would not want to use a hashtag that only has a couple hundred posts because no one is searching for it. Using the tag search tool is a great way to discover new niche hashtags that you are not aware of. 

HOW TO GET YOUR HASHTAGS TRENDING ON INSTAGRAM

Having a trending post on Instagram is not as easy as it may seem. Instagram has an algorithm that takes into consideration several factors before it catapults your post to the top of everyone’s page. The algorithm reviews things like number of comments and likes, how popular the hashtag is, and how fast your post receives audience engagement. 

Trying for a trending hashtag on Instagram? Try these quick tips to optimize your results!

  • Pick the correct hashtag for your post. The hashtag should be relevant to the content that you are posting. Make sure that you are connecting the hashtag with your specific niche. You will want to choose a smaller hashtag versus a longer hashtag because they tend to have more staying power.
  • Make a call to action. Get your audience involved with re-posting the hashtag by asking for a comment using the hashtag. You can even have followers respond to a question you pose on the post by using the hashtag.
  • Tag an Influencer in your niche. You can create momentum for a hashtag by bringing in reinforcements in the way of influencers. Create a post that ties in an influencer or two and tag them in the post. Hopefully, they will take note and boost your trend by using the hashtag or sharing it.
  • Add the hashtags before publishing the post. Instagram will not position or review the algorithm for your post in the same way if you add or remove hashtags after it has been published. To optimize your hashtag positioning within Instagram, make sure the hashtags are present before posting.

WRAP UP

Hashtags are used across a variety of social media platforms and have become a strategic part of digital marketing. It is important to remember that hashtags can help your business with visibility and branding. Whether you are looking to grow your audience or launch a new product, hashtags have a place in your social campaign. There are a number of ways to effectively use hashtags to attract people to your brand and raise consumer’s level of engagement. 

In this article, we took a closer look at the benefits of hashtags on Instagram, ways to find trending hashtags on Instagram, and how to get a hashtag trending on Instagram. If you want to be visible on Instagram, hashtags are a surefire way to make it happen.

The most popular hashtags on Instagram: everything you need to know

There are many theories about popular hashtags on Instagram: how they work, increase reach and help promote your account. We’ll tell you how everything really works and how to work with hashtags, select tags for a post and analyze effectiveness.

What are Instagram hashtags

A hashtag is a word preceded by a # symbol that acts as a link within a social network. Users use hashtags to mark posts related to a particular topic. Sometimes personal hashtags are created to separate the posts in the account into different categories. nine0003

On Instagram, you can put up to 30 hashtags under one post. All subsequent words simply will not work as hashtags, but will look like plain text.

Hashtags can be placed not in the body of the post, but in the comments. The main thing is that this comment is left by the owner of the account.

It does not matter how much time has passed between the publication of the post and the addition of hashtags. But if the hashtags are added much later, the post will not reach the top for them: this is greatly affected by the speed of gaining likes, and for old posts it is low. nine0003 There are also

hashtags in stories. They work on the same principle as hashtags in an account: when clicking on a tag, the user goes to the feed with other publications where the same hashtag is used.

Why Instagram hashtags are needed

Hashtags solve several problems: from contest mechanics to account promotion.

  1. Sort photos by subject

Initially, hashtags were invented to determine the topic of publications: it is really convenient to find all posts about food in one click. And now Instagram hashtags work that way, especially on people's personal accounts. nine0003

  1. Create rubrics

Bloggers or brands write about different topics. So that posts in one account do not mix, they use personal hashtags with a category designation, for example: #mashaest, #mashasport, #mashatravels original).

  1. Help run a contest, giveaway, sfs

Without hashtags, most contest mechanics would be impossible. By hashtags, the organizers find participants and determine the winner. nine0003

  1. Group UGC content

Brands find publications with UGC thanks to hashtags. Users post reviews, photos from establishments, shots of products on their personal pages, but at the same time indicate the brand hashtag. With the help of the hashtag, the company finds this content and can react to the publication or use the author's post on their page.

  1. Attract new people to the account

Users find new accounts through hashtags and like or follow the account. nine0003

  1. Help find clients

In some areas, unspoken rules have been formed for publishing hashtags, through which you can find the accounts of people or companies that interest you.

For example, nail salons and private masters indicate the hashtag #manicure NAME OF THE CITY (district, metro station). Customers know about this and search for a service in the right place using hashtags.


What is a shadowban

This is a myth. For several months, the topic of the shadowban has been very relevant for marketers. According to the theory, Instagram bans for some tags, and the account does not appear in the search results for them. nine0003

Instagram support denied this information. Representatives of the social network explained that the algorithms for generating hashtag results are very complex and not all posts, in principle, can get into this feed. Therefore, sometimes (rarely) the post is not shown by the hashtag, but the point is not at all in the shadow ban.

However, there is a blacklist of hashtags: they are associated with prohibited topics (violence, swearing, sexual content). They are prohibited from being used.

How to get to the top by hashtags

Being in the top 9 posts for a popular hashtag on Instagram can bring additional likes, reach, and sometimes followers.

Hashtags are conditionally divided into:

High-frequency - more than 100,000 publications.

Medium frequency - more than 50,000 publications.

Low frequency - up to 50,000 publications.

Depending on the size of your account, choose the appropriate type of hashtags. Hundreds of factors affect reaching the top by hashtag, but the main one is the speed of a set of reactions under the post. nine0003

  1. Select the tag you want to rank for.
  2. Look at the current top: how many likes are on the posts and when they were published.
  3. If your account usually gets fewer likes for the same amount of time, choose a less popular hashtag.
  4. Set a time to post when your audience is active (via Instagram stats or more advanced with Popsters.ru, details below).
  5. Post with a hashtag. nine0026

An easy way to rank for a popular hashtag on Instagram: Stories with this tag are also displayed in the hashtag results. In them, the competition is lower than in the tape. Try to get into the collection of stories.

Most popular hashtags on Instagram

Users search for the most popular hashtags on the social network. There are millions of posts with these hashtags. They have a common theme, for example:

#love #instagood #me #tbt #cute #follow #followme #photooftheday #happy #beautiful #selfie #picoftheday #like4like #instagramanet #instatag #smile #friends #fun #fashion #summer #instadaily #igers #instalike #swag # amazing #tflers #follow4follow #likeforlike #bestoftheday #l4l

As you can see, most hashtags on Instagram are aimed at mutual activity. Once upon a time, users could honestly reply with a subscription to users who posted the #follow4follow hashtag. But now you will only collect mass followers and mass likers. These hashtags are not suitable for popularity.


It is impossible to reach the top for such hashtags, and you will quickly fail in the general feed. They only give autolikes from users who are set to post with popular hashtags. nine0003

Why do you need it? What will the most popular hashtags on Instagram give you? You may get more likes. But this is activity from irrelevant accounts, most often commercial or bots.

There is a way to get to the top of thematic hashtags , thanks to the use of popular hashtags without cheating.

  1. Post with 30 popular hashtags.
  1. After 5-10 minutes, delete these hashtags and put thematic, low-frequency ones that will remain in the post forever. nine0026

This scheme does not look like an example of competent promotion, whether to apply it is up to you.

How to find popular hashtags on Instagram

Services for selecting hashtags

Popular tags are published on different resources - there are a lot of them in Google search results. You can find collections in apps like MyTager.

Instagram recommendations when searching

Start typing a hashtag in the Instagram search bar and the social network will suggest similar options. nine0003


Does account promotion through hashtags work?

The scheme to get likes only for the right words in the signature looks attractive, but this method is outdated. Some users believe that popular hashtags on Instagram will help them promote their account, but in practice it turns out that they receive only a few dozen likes (and this is not a bad result) from irrelevant accounts.

Whether popular hashtags are suitable for you to promote your Instagram account, you can only find out by experience - test the effectiveness of different hashtags. nine0003

Users do not search for information on thematic hashtags, new accounts are found in the "Recommendations" section. Getting there is a separate challenge. The list of recommended publications is individual for each user. It is affected by what the user likes, comments and saves.

How to find topical quality hashtags

Use no more than 5-10 hashtags per post. Choose hashtags that are relevant to your account. To find them, refer to the accounts of competitors. See what hashtags your audience is using. nine0003

Come up with hashtags yourself - define the keywords for your account. Keep in mind that Instagram doesn't differentiate between word declensions, so nouns must be in the nominative case.

Don't use too long phrases, because spaces don't work in hashtags and it looks sloppy.

How to put hashtags on Instagram

Just like in the real world, Instagram has its own unspoken rules of communication. In order not to look stupid, stick to the rules for posting hashtags. nine0003

  1. A hashtag is a word, not a phrase.

#Don't #write #sentences from #hashtags. This looks messy.

  1. Do not use other people's personal hashtags.

Make sure that if you are not just not the hundredth #waving, but not the second, so as not to confuse your subscribers and the subscribers of the hashtag author who took it first.

  1. Remember that hashtags get read too.

And #super #cute #sexy #girl will confuse your friends and colleagues. nine0003

How to analyze hashtags with Popsters

Popsters analyzes posts with hashtags from any Instagram account. Using hashtag analytics, you can find out which hashtags have the most influence on the activity and reach of publications. See your statistics, statistics of your competitors or any accounts you are interested in.

To start the analysis, find the account using the search bar. Select the date range you need and click the "Upload" button.

nine0002 On the left is a section with graphs.

The following indicators are of particular interest here:

Hashtags

The graph shows the number of posts with a certain hashtag for the given period. This indicator counts the number of hashtags used in publications, finds the most popular hashtags in the Instagram account.

Hashtags/ER

The graph shows the average ERpost for posts where hashtags are used. This graph will help you evaluate the effectiveness of contests or categories. nine0003

Relative activity by hashtags

The ratio of average activity in publications with certain hashtags to regular publications.

Search by hashtags with criteria

To find posts of a certain type that contain a hashtag, select "Search by hashtags" in the search bar. Enter the hashtag you are interested in and a set of parameters: "+has:audio", "+has:video", "+has:photo", "+likes:100". This will filter posts by media type and number of likes. nine0003

Pins:

  1. A hashtag is a link within a social network that helps you find similar publications, organize a contest, and create headings.
  2. You can add up to 30 hashtags to one post. Spaces do not work in them, and social networks also do not distinguish between word forms.
  3. Promotion using hashtags no longer works.
  4. Collections of popular hashtags can be found on dedicated websites or apps.
  5. You can find relevant hashtags for your Instagram account from competitors or followers. nine0026
  6. Popsters analyzes the effectiveness of hashtags.

Interesting articles in continuation of the topic:

  • How to live stream on Instagram: tips for better account growth;
  • How to create an effective Instagram carousel post;
  • How to do effective Instagram account analytics;
  • How to use Reels on Instagram for promotion.

How to put the right hashtags on Instagram 2022, selection of Instagram hashtags for promotion and likes

Update: 2022-11-23.

Instagram audit

Correct hashtags for Instagram promotion.


The most common misconception when promoting your Instagram is to find and post popular hashtags, instead of those that match the photo and are able to interest users. This can be judged by the activity of search queries, such as: " popular hashtags instagram "and" most popular hashtags on instagram ".

For example, the life of the most popular hashtag on Instagram #love (point A on the graph) lasts only a couple of seconds, because an avalanche of photos is published on it. According to my latest measurements, from 500 to 1000 photos are fasted per minute on the #love hashtag, and the volume of published photos on this hashtag is approaching a billion.0293 #B2Cgram can live forever until it becomes popular, but the probability that a user will click on this hash throughout the day or even a week is very small (point C on the chart), because The hashtag is new and unknown to anyone.

So it turns out that these two extremes (points A and C) are not suitable for a typical case of Instagram promotion, except for those options when you already have 30,000, 90,000 or even more subscribers. For promoted accounts, completely different tactics are needed. In the meantime, you have 1800 - 900 subscribers or even less, then you need to be especially careful when choosing hashtags for each new photo, and these hashtags are located at point B, or more precisely in the area of ​​​​points B1, B2 and B3 on the chart below.

Collecting these hashtags is not difficult, for starters, just go through the users who post the same photos as you, for example, let it be the hashtag #landscape and see what hashtags people use on the topic of landscape. Landscapes include photographs that depict sunrise or sunset, snowy mountains or a forest glade, green meadows or a lifeless desert - all this is a landscape, but in different thematic groups. Pay attention to what tags are used, if the photo shows water (ocean, sea, lake, river), there will definitely be a hashing word _water_, if there are huge clouds and a beautiful sky, then words such as: _sky_, _cloudscape_ etc. nine0003

To the collected list of hashes, it remains to add the country and place where the photo was taken, as well as special hashtags of various thematic contests, so that you get a pretty decent hash array. Today, it is allowed to place a set of 30 hashtags under a photo on instagram, i.e. not 2 or 3, but as many as 30, so that there is where to turn around! True, there are some tricks that allow you to publish more hashtags, but these are tricks that can only be learned in a private conversation :) So, you have collected a certain number of hashtags, for example 50 or 130, and now you need to systematize them and determine them graphics, in order to end up with just such a plate that I make in Excel. nine0003

What do you need? And to solve such a problem, you absolutely need a free and most useful service for promotion on instagram - http://websta.me/. On this resource, you can collect lists of competitors, and see the most popular hashtags on Instagram, and at the same time get complete statistics on your list of hashtags and expand the hashtag list itself through Tag Search Results.

Then it’s a matter of technology, sort all hashtags by numerical values ​​in descending order, mark up with a color or put a label in front of each (water, sunrise, sunset, forest), follow the links of each hashtag and visually control the output of images so that there are not too many spam photos that do not correspond to the topic, it is better to delete such hashtags, as a result you will get a ready-made hash array of 100-500 pieces in size. Now you can already work with this data to post this photo on Instagram. nine0003

Before publishing the next photo, use filters to "turn off" all "clouds", all "water", all "sunrises" and "sunsets" and leave the classic hashtags (brown text color), mixed (black color) and competitive ( green), those that are most suitable for the new published photo. Select 30 hashtags from the middle of the list and use them for this photo. The selected list from the entire array of hashes falls approximately into the most obscure "region B" on the curve of our graph, where not the most popular hashtags on the selected topic, but not the youngest ones either.

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