🟢 Rule number one – use only these hashtags that accurately describe the content you’re publishing.
🟢 Rule number two – pick hashtags that align with your account size. They shouldn’t have too low/too high a search volume.
How to choose the subject area of the right hashtags?
Hashtags make your posts discoverable 👈🏻
They help people look for the things you post to find your profile.
When somebody is in the mood for cat memes, they browse Instagram to find memes with cats, not selfies, photos of wedding dresses, or foodporn! 😉
Hashtags are some labels – they tell users what they can expect under particular tags.
👉🏻 What happens when you use hashtags that have NOTHING to do with what your post is really about?
Users across your posts can feel disappointed, frustrated, or even irritated.
Will they engage with your content? 🤔
No way – not in a positive way; that’s more than obvious.
When the irritation grows, the user may report your post as SPAM or use the reporting option “Don’t show for this hashtag” 😬
Yes, they can tap on the three-dots icon at the top right of hashtag-based posts and select this option – which results in Instagram algorithms noticing that you use hashtags that don’t go hand in hand with your content 🙈
What’s even worse?
Your efforts won’t be appreciated, and your post won’t reach an audience who might be genuinely interested in what you have to say.
And you do it to yourself!
👉🏻 That’s why we can’t stress this enough – your hashtags HAVE TO describe what your post is REALLY about.
The second crucial factor we should analyze is SEARCH VOLUME.
Size of hashtags you use matters more than you think!
- The broader the hashtag’s search volume is, the more search engine results we will get (the higher number of posts under a particular hashtag). Those results will be baffling and random, and using those most general hashtags will attract accidental, arbitrary visitors who aren’t exactly looking for what you have to offer. It’s the tactic we should rather avoid!
- The more specific the hashtag is, the fewer search engine results we get. Who is scrolling through the content described with these more detailed hashtags? Most users are genuinely interested in a particular domain.
- Good hashtags don’t have to be vast and popular; reversely, they rarely are.
👉🏻 Can you see why popular hashtags aren’t helpful and won’t bring you meaningful traffic?
They’re too generic, and most valuable Instagram users won’t use them because users you should value the most KNOW what they want to find.
As the criteria limit the keywords (hashtags) they use and more specific hashtags, the posts and photos they see are narrowed down to meet their particular requirements. And the competition there is much lower.
If the hashtags you use are too broad in scope, they’re being used by many other content creators, your content can get lost in the ocean of thousands of posts, and it won’t make it to the top.
👉🏻 Don’t use hashtags that are too popular. They won’t bring you the traffic you’re hoping for 👈🏻
Stick to niche and good size hashtags.
How to figure out the most accurate search volume of hashtags for your profile?
What you’ll need?
Some time to do the research and some patience as well!
It’s a strategic idea to conduct in-depth research to find some practical, high-performing, relevant hashtags. Those will help you reach your target audience! 🚀
When you use extremely popular hashtags, your posts get lost in the sea of random content.
When you use too low of search volume hashtags, almost nobody knows it sees your posts, and you aren’t expanding your reach 👎🏻
To fully understand why the search volume of hashtags is so important, you need to realize how you gain traffic.
Often to expand your reach, you need:
- people who follow particular hashtags to view your posts
- good position at TOP 9 for particular hashtags
We can’t directly control how many users follow hashtags from our niche – but the good news is we can maintain the visibility of our content.
And that’s enough.
👉🏻 When your post shows up in the TOP 9 for particular hashtags, it’s your key opportunity to get more eyes on your content, which means potentially much higher engagement and more satisfying insights into your stats 🔥
That’s why getting there should become your priority!
👉🏻 So, how do you get to the TOP 9 on Instagram?
It’s a matter of:
- how quick do you get the engagement after your post is published
- your engagement ratio to your likes and overall profile size
- hashtags matching the content you post
- the visual side of your post – the more aesthetically pleasing it is, the better
- the speed of interactions
In our eyes, it is crucial to your Instagram marketing strategy to aim to appear in the TOP 9 for the hashtags you use, as it will help you grow your follower base and obtain higher engagement.
So how can you figure out which hashtags are the most brilliant choices to get you there?
Our tool will help you find the most relevant hashtags for your post ⭐️
Head over to Search hashtags, and type in one hashtag that describes best what the photo/caption you want to post is about.
Then, determine the size of hashtags (search volume) that interests you, and set the maximum and the minimum size of hashtags you’d like to obtain.
👉🏻 How to determine the size of the most optimal hashtag (search volume) matching your profile’s size?
- Head over to the Hashtags performance feature and analyze the charts to find out which hashtags gave your posts the position in TOP 9 most recently (pay attention to their sizes – this will tell you which one is optimal for your current level of growth)
- Use different sizes of hashtags (ten hashtags with low volume search, ten medium-size, and ten most general, with high volume search) to check out other methods of attracting new followers and expanding your reach, and also to test different solutions that may work out for your account
- You can also skip this part and research new hashtags without choosing any hashtag search volume – but we’d instead recommend doing it more consciously to test different sizes and observe which ones are the most effective for your profile’s growth
Good luck! 💜