The Golden Rules of Using Instagram hashtags

The question I get asked the most by small businesses using Instagram is how to use hashtags correctly. It is one of the most important things to grow your reach, but like anything in digital marketing, the answer is constantly evolving (pesky algorithms).

However, there are some simple guidelines to follow:

1. Keep hashtags relevant - Don't stick in lots of hashtags to try and gain reach, but that have no affinity to what you are talking about. You will be penalised by the algorithm for that.
   
   
2. Change the hashtags you use every time - This follows on from keeping hashtags relevant; none of your posts are the same and your hashtags shouldn't be either. 
   
   
3. Do your research on which hashtags to use - Spend time playing with different hashtags' search results and looking at hashtags your competitors and, most importantly, your target audience. What appears on these hashtags and does your content match it.
   
   
4. Include a mixture of highly and less used hashtags - When you are checking your hashtags you can see how popular it is. Hugely popular will mean lots of eyes are on it, but you will quickly get lost. Less popular will mean you are more likely to be found by users who are really interested.

And here are my top tips for making your hashtagging life a little easier:

• Keep a list of your most used hashtags to paste into your post every time and then edit around; deleting some, adding others. That way hashtagging doesn't have to become a time consuming blackhole.
  
  
• Click into a hashtag to check that the content being posted on it is relevant to you and then you will see ideas of other hashtags related to it, make sure to include these in your research.
  
  
• Use the hashtag finder when you are typing your caption to look for alternative spellings and variations of your chosen hashtags.
  
  
• Instagram will let you see the hashtags your audience follow; go to the profiles of your highest engaged audience members, click into 'Following' and select hashtags. Checking these is a must to make sure you haven't missed something.
  
  
• Remember that Instagram does ban some hashtags - and these can be popular i.e. #valentinesday - steer clear of these to avoid being penalised. You will notice if a hashtag you are looking at is banned because there is a notice when you click into it, or have a quick Google for hashtags to avoid.​

As I said at the beginning, as Instagram's algorithm is constantly evolving, you do need to regularly run a hygiene check on your hashtags. Not the most fun of tasks, but easy to do in front of the box on a Monday night!  

If you have any golden rules that you would like to add, any hashtag tips or any questions, please do leave a comment.