favourfelix
New member
I help run goso.io, a rule-abiding Instagram growth tool... and one of the most common questions we get is how to optimize hashtags.
They're a (rare) built in follower-acquisition channel, purposefully created to help users find posts like yours.
Growing without them puts you at a handicap. So after managing thousands of Instagram profiles, we've boiled down hashtag usage to 3 core principles:
1) Use 27 hashtags. While Instagram allows for 30 hashtags per post, it penalizes those who actually max out. Staying just under the limits allows you to get the full exposure without being throttled.
To get the fullest effect, post equal parts large hashtags (the ones with millions of posts), medium hashtags (less than a million posts), and small hashtags (less than 250k) posts. Big ones like #love & #coffee are so popular that you're unlikely to ever be ranked or listed there for more than a few seconds. Smaller ones simultaneously have less competition & more niche audiences, often meaning they're viewed for longer & by more interested people. If a 'dead' hashtag is very specific to what you're posting about, you can win a top listed post for a very long time, especially if you're one of the few high performing posts in that #graveyard.
2) Copycat your competitors. There's plenty of hashtag research tools out there, but we prefer to do them more personally & directly: by checking similar posts/accounts that make it to our Explore page & noting down the hashtags they use (especially when multiple Explore-page-posts have one in common). Another option is to pay for the hashtag research, there are a lot of useful companies that can provide this service for you if that's your preference.
A quick note on this, don't keep spamming the same 27 hashtags. This too is monitored (especially if you misuse one and get flagged by a user for using an irrelevant hashtag), so keep varying between a larger list of hashtags & keep em relevant.
3) Don't hashtag in the comments. As we mentioned before, hashtags are one of Instagram's few built-in follower-acquisition tools... and they don't appreciate when you hide them. Ideally for Instagram, the hashtags are there for followers to see as clearly as possible, which means within the post description. When you hide them in the comments, Instagram penalizes their weight for your post and you're less likely to be ranked on hashtag pages or the explore page.
We did a video on this (same content, if you prefer that format), and other Instagram growth tactics as well.
Good luck and may your growth be exponential
They're a (rare) built in follower-acquisition channel, purposefully created to help users find posts like yours.
Growing without them puts you at a handicap. So after managing thousands of Instagram profiles, we've boiled down hashtag usage to 3 core principles:
1) Use 27 hashtags. While Instagram allows for 30 hashtags per post, it penalizes those who actually max out. Staying just under the limits allows you to get the full exposure without being throttled.
To get the fullest effect, post equal parts large hashtags (the ones with millions of posts), medium hashtags (less than a million posts), and small hashtags (less than 250k) posts. Big ones like #love & #coffee are so popular that you're unlikely to ever be ranked or listed there for more than a few seconds. Smaller ones simultaneously have less competition & more niche audiences, often meaning they're viewed for longer & by more interested people. If a 'dead' hashtag is very specific to what you're posting about, you can win a top listed post for a very long time, especially if you're one of the few high performing posts in that #graveyard.
2) Copycat your competitors. There's plenty of hashtag research tools out there, but we prefer to do them more personally & directly: by checking similar posts/accounts that make it to our Explore page & noting down the hashtags they use (especially when multiple Explore-page-posts have one in common). Another option is to pay for the hashtag research, there are a lot of useful companies that can provide this service for you if that's your preference.
A quick note on this, don't keep spamming the same 27 hashtags. This too is monitored (especially if you misuse one and get flagged by a user for using an irrelevant hashtag), so keep varying between a larger list of hashtags & keep em relevant.
3) Don't hashtag in the comments. As we mentioned before, hashtags are one of Instagram's few built-in follower-acquisition tools... and they don't appreciate when you hide them. Ideally for Instagram, the hashtags are there for followers to see as clearly as possible, which means within the post description. When you hide them in the comments, Instagram penalizes their weight for your post and you're less likely to be ranked on hashtag pages or the explore page.
We did a video on this (same content, if you prefer that format), and other Instagram growth tactics as well.
Good luck and may your growth be exponential
