Tips on Researching Hashtags & How to Use them Properly:
We’ve been doing a ton of hashtag research for clients lately and realized how confusing the process can be for most people. There are so many articles and how to’s online about what to do and what not to do, and often the information is conflicting. So we’ve decided to break it down in the simplest way we could!
Well-chosen and researched hashtags:
- Will get more likes and comments
- Are popular, but not so popular that they’re too competitive, or so obvious that they seem spammy.
- Will generate feeds with high-quality, consistent content, therefore making them more likely to be discovered by users.
To begin initial hashtag research, we recommend using the search tool on Instagram to find hashtags that are relevant, yet not so popular that your content would disappear in a flooded feed. For example, if you are growing your pizza restaurant’s instagram, your initial search may look like this:
In this search tool, you’re able to see the popularity of the tag you’re searching while also seeing other related tags that might be a better fit for your content.
Our rule of thumb when doing research for clients is
Nothing with less than 10k searches and nothing with more than 500k searches.
Another way to quickly find hashtags is by visiting one hashtag and looking at the “related” hashtags (only available in the mobile app).
Do’s and Dont’s:
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DO keep your hashtags short.
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DO capitalize the #FirstLetterInEachWord.
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DO use hashtags in every post.
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DO use at least 10 relevant hashtags.
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DO use hashtags in comments.
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DON’T use unrelated popular hashtags for the sole purpose of being found.
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DON’T use hashtags #where #they don’t #belong, #this is #spam!
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DON’T just use your brand name as a hashtag, but DO create a hashtag that represents your company.