The pound or number sign (#) followed by a word or a phrase used on Instagram posts to bookmark them with a particular theme or content is called Instagram Hashtags. But what do you mean when you add #sunset to a beautiful photo of the sunset? That post is categorized and thus becomes searchable for users looking for that hashtag.
On Instagram, hashtags play two key roles: Improve content visibility as well as Post discovery. Users who search specific hashtags or click on the ones under Instagram posts can see a feed of the most recent public content that uses that tag.
Hashtags increase potential reach beyond only your current audience and they play an important role in every long-term growth content strategy.
The Impact of Hashtags on Instagram Post Performance
Multiple third-party studies as well as Instagram tests have conclusively validated that Instagram posts containing at least one or two hashtags perform demonstrably better than posts without any hashtags at all on a wide variety of important performance metrics.
Hashtags are great tools when applied strategically to achieve niche-specific, relevant topics where we can see measurable benefits of more reach, engagement, impressions, and sustained growth in followers.
In terms of reach, hashtags can help spread your content wider than just your own followers. A regular Instagram post without hashtags only reaches about 10-15% of your existing followers. But, with some consideration of the hashtags you choose, you can expose your content to completely new eyeballs that follow you. This provides a much greater potential reach.
Beyond that, Instagram’s own algorithms seem to privilege posts that appear to deliver meaningful engagement from real audiences. So appropriate hashtagging indirectly tells Instagram that your content resonates with niche communities organically. And in return, the platform rewards you with greater visibility.
How Many Hashtags Does Instagram Allow?
When it comes to limitations around hashtag usage, Instagram officially allows up to 30 hashtags to be included per post without any penalties or restrictions for most users. This upper limit of 30 tags provides reasonable flexibility for brands and creators to experiment with hashtag strategies.
However, Instagram also cautions that simply maxing out the 30 hashtag limit on every post tends to violate platform guidelines around providing an optimal user experience. Excess hashtags clutter up the visual flow, dominate the viewing frame, and distract viewers rather than enhance engagement.
Therefore, Instagram explicitly recommends focusing more on hashtag quality and strong relevance rather than just quantity alone when incorporating hashtags as part of your content strategy. There are always tradeoffs when optimizing social media posts, and hashtag volume is no exception.
Optimal Number of Hashtags for Different Content Types
Regular Photo & Video Posts
For regular photo and video-centric Instagram posts, a hashtag volume ranging from 8 to 12 highly niche-specific, targeted hashtags balances visibility gains with engagement rates in most cases. This moderate amount seeds posts to an expanded set of interested users without over-optimizing.
Of course, you can experiment with marginally higher or lower numbers as well. Just ensure that any hashtags you incorporate beyond 12 are ultra-relevant to the post. Otherwise, excessive tags begin to adversely affect user experience.
Instagram Stories & Live Videos
You can also include hashtags in Instagram stories and live broadcasts via text overlays or interactive sticker options. However, hashtag usage differs significantly for these ephemeral formats compared to permanent feed posts for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, Stories and Live viewers tend to skip through content far more quickly than feed posts, with lower attention spans overall. So avoid cluttering the frame with too many hashtags in these contexts. Limit hashtags to around 2 or 3 highly contextual tags maximum. Lower numbers are even better.
Secondly, feed posts actively compete with other static content for visibility in hashtag searches and thus benefit greatly from additional niche tags. But Stories and Live videos disappear after 24 hours. So hashtags have less of an impact as users mostly discover these through your main profile rather than searches.
Reels
Given Reels’ focus on entertaining short-form videos rather than static images, hashtag usage requires a different approach here as well.
Excess hashtags can interfere heavily with the immersive Reels viewing experience as they distract viewers from engaging with the video content itself.
Therefore, displaying around 4 to 8 smaller hashtags towards the end of the reel video frame is an optimal middle ground. You can add a few more niche tags via the first comment as viewers scroll down seeking more context.
The goal is seamlessly integrating helpful context for users without compromising user experience – the key to Reel’s success.
Quality vs. Quantity: Choosing the Right Hashtags
Hashtag selection plays a substantially bigger role than just hashtag volume alone when it comes to driving measurable business results on Instagram.
Rather than arbitrarily picking popular tags that rank highly in terms of usage, consciously focus on identifying the most relevant set of niche-specific hashtags tailored to each specific post.
In most cases, a smaller set of contextual hashtags targeted to your content and audiences generates better engagement and conversion outcomes relative to a broader collection of generic tags.
So make hashtag quality and strong alignment with post themes your north star. Then optimize quantity based on performance indicators down the line. Prioritizing relevance over scale or vanity metrics is key.
Useful Tips for Choosing Quality Hashtags
- Leverage hashtags research tools like RiteTag or Hashtagify that help you efficiently discover fresh, relatively untapped niche tags with high potential to specifically boost engagement and reach for each of your Instagram posts. These tools search based on related keywords and then score hashtags using engagement as well as usage signals.
- Thoroughly analyze relevant competitors and influencers in your particular niche or space to uncover which precise hashtag strategies seem to tangibly resonate best with your shared target audiences. Learn directly from what content forms and hashtags spark their engagement, and model what works.
- Strategically create your own branded hashtags aligned with your products, services, or campaigns. Encourage followers to easily adopt these in their own user-generated content featuring your brand. Showcasing such UGC in branded story highlights then further fuels community engagement.
The Risks of Using Too Many Hashtags
The first risk is that intentionally including irrelevant or excessive hashtags across multiple posts blatantly violates Instagram’s community guidelines around maintaining an authentic, non-spammy user experience. If your account appears to demonstrate persistent spammy behavior aimed at manipulation, you risk being shadowbanned by Instagram.
Secondly, outside of explicit shadowbanning, incorporating too many low-relevance hashtags can directly overwhelm post captions and dominate the central viewing frame. This excessive clutter distracts viewers rather than seamlessly enhancing context. Too many hashtags disrupt visual content consumption instead of enriching it.
So while the 30 hashtag limit technically provides reasonable leeway for experimentation, aim for balance rather than aggressive over-optimization when putting this guidance into practice. Think long-term sustainability rather than short-term growth bursts.
Optimizing Hashtag Usage for Results
Strategically incorporate hashtags into your content for visibility gains without compromising user experience.
Balancing Niche and Popular Tags – Mix both popular and niche hashtags in posts to balance visibility and relevance. Consciously skew towards targeted, long-tail niche tags aligned to content themes per Instagram’s recommendations.
Updating Tags Based on Performance – Continuously update hashtag lists based on performance over time instead of relying on the same static tags. Actively remove persistent low-performing hashtags showing poor engagement. Aggressively test new niche hashtags with each post to prevent stagnation.
Seamless Integration into Captions – Integrate hashtags into main post captions using natural language flow rather than cramming tags randomly at the end. You can also add some supplementary high-volume tags in the first comment for visibility without distracting from visual content.
Leveraging Tools for Management & Analytics
Specialized tools provide invaluable assistance with efficiently managing and optimizing hashtags.
Smarter Hashtag Discovery
Hashtag research tools like RiteTag allow searching for the most relevant, relatively untapped niche and community hashtags to incorporate alongside core high-volume tags. These recommend fresh, aligned hashtag ideas.
Tracking Performance Over Time
Hashtag analytics capabilities offered by tools like Iconosquare and Agorapulse help capture detailed performance data associated with specific hashtags you use. These actionable insights around engagement and reach fuel data-backed optimization of future hashtag mixes to drive results.
Conclusion
Finding the right hashtag volume for your brand on Instagram is ultimately all about systematically finding a balance between manual trial-and-error content experimentation and data-backed performance insights tailored to your niche.
For most standard photo and video feed posts, dedicate some time to identifying 8 to 12 highly relevant, niche-specific hashtags customized to each post. Seamlessly integrate these tags focused on quality rather than distracting from the visual content itself.
FAQs
Does the number of hashtags I use really affect post visibility and performance?
Yes, absolutely. Numerous third-party social media studies and Instagram experiments have conclusively shown that posts with a reasonable number of niche hashtags (typically 8 to 12) tend to noticeably outperform posts without any hashtags across critical performance indicators like reach, engagement rate, and impressions.
Can I use the exact same set of hashtags on all my posts?
We’d advise against relying on more than a few repeated core hashtags across ALL posts. Though some foundational tags will likely overlap between posts, that scalable formula gets stale over time.
For the best results, consciously update your wider hashtag lists periodically based on themes of your latest content as well as the performance of past tags. Mix it up even within related themes to keep improving relevance.
