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Are Instagram hashtags important? How can they be used to improve your profile visibility on Instagram?

Continue reading to find out different ways to use hashtags across different Instagram features.

Why is using Instagram hashtags important for business?

It’s important to use hashtags on Instagram because it’s a way your audience can find you and see your content. Using hashtags will help you show up in a number of searches and help your audience find your Instagram profile.

There are three places where you can use hashtags on Instagram: Instagram feed, Instagram stories, and IGTV. However, there are restrictions on how many hashtags you can use in each feature. For example, Instagram feed posts and IGTV allow a maximum of 30 hashtags. But when it comes to Instagram stories, you can only use a maximum of three hashtags.

Instagram hashtag search feature

If you do use hashtags when posting your Instagram content, unfortunately no one can guarantee if and how often you’ll show up in searches because all of the results are sorted by Instagram’s algorithm.

There are two tabs in your hashtag search results – the “Top” tab and the “Recent” tab. Everything in the “Top” tab is sorted algorithmically based on your preferences and the type of content with which you primarily interact. And everything in the “Recent” tab is sorted chronologically with the most recent content at the top of the feed.

How do you use Instagram hashtags in your news feed?

When deciding which hashtags to use in your news feed, you should consider combining different hashtags from various popular categories. You should choose several hashtags that have been used in around 300,000 to 1 million posts and then select a few from moderately popular hashtags (ones that have been used in around 80,000 to 300,000 posts). Last, you should add a few niche-specific hashtags – like your brand name or tagline – resulting in about 20-30 Instagram hashtags in total.

If you can, try avoiding using only hashtags that are hyper-popular and overly used and choose to post more of the ones that describe your business and industry more specifically.

Another crucial thing to think about is your audience:  who they are, what they might be looking for on Instagram, and which hashtags they might be following.

Where should you put Instagram hashtags?

Should you put them in the caption or the comments section of your posts?

In reality, it doesn’t matter where you decide to put your hashtags. One tip, though: if you’re using extremely popular hashtags, put them in the caption. Why? Because if you decide to put them in the comment section, you risk losing valuable time and potential engagement in that specific hashtag hub because putting hashtags in the comment section takes 10-30 seconds. While that may not seem like a lot of time, in the world of social media and Instagram, losing 30 seconds of engagement can be crucial, especially if you’re posting some sort of breaking news story.

How do you use Instagram hashtags in stories?

Knowing that stories last only 24 hours, you should have a different strategy using them there versus using them in feeds. For example, it’s more beneficial to use broad and popular hashtags in your stories over niche-specific or brand-specific ones since it’s more likely that people will search for those in 24 hours than the lesser known ones.

When you use a hashtag in your Instagram story, you have two options: a sticker or a textbox.

If you opt for sticker hashtags you can use only one, but if it’s a text box, you can add as many as you’d like. However, when it comes to your stories, it’s smart to add only a few hashtags with the one(s) you like the closest to the top since stories are only a few seconds long.

And here’s another tip: make sure your hashtags are large enough so your audience can actually see and read them. If you minimize them too much, they won’t provide any results in the hashtag search feature.

To conclude, using hashtags on Instagram is vital to your brand’s success since they raise brand awareness, increase engagement, and reach a broader audience.

In addition to including as many hashtags as you can, it’s also important to have a strategy behind every post and story and to use the ones that will get your content most exposed to your audience.

If you need help deciding which hashtags are best for your brand, don’t hesitate to contact us at Venerate Media Group because we can help you! Call today at +1 (888) 486-4130.

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