Should you use Instagram hashtags in 2022?

You are here because you are wondering if Instagram hashtags are still working in 2022?

The answer is YES. But you have to use them correctly.

Only if used correctly Instagram hashtags in 2022 will get more engagement on your posts, grow your reach, attract more followers, and finally improve your account.

Instagram is perhaps the largest platform for business, professional, and personal growth. 

So, in order to achieve a certain success, it is necessary that your Instagram page is available where its target audience is.

Instagram has various tools to help you to improve your visibility and efficiency. Instagram hashtags certainly remain the easiest and fastest among them.

If you want to know how Instagram hashtags can improve your business, you are in the right place!

1. Are hashtags still effective on Instagram?

Just a few years ago, it was unthinkable that a tag starting “#” would be able to do something for you.

An Instagram hashtag is a combination of letters, numbers, and emojis, and they are used to categorize content and make it more discoverable.

Hashtag words are clickable. That means anyone who clicks on or conducts an Instagram hashtag search will see a page showing all the posts tagged with that hashtag.

Hashtag is increasing efficiency and it is responsible for a large part of the visits that various profiles receive.

The best thing about this is the fact that it comes naturally, it costs you nothing.

Although, updating the surface processing technology or Instagram algorithm has reduced the number of users searching through hashtags. 

Their impact on Instagram as a community is still very large because it is the best way to: 

• promote content, 
• attract audiences, 
• follow certain topics,
• participate in certain discussions, and 
• find and organize information on the desired topic in one place.

2. Why Instagram hashtags aren’t as effective as before?

The effectiveness of the Instagram hashtags has decreased since the Instagram surfacing technology (the Instagram algorithm) was updated in the last few years.

This update has created a home feed and explorer pages more effective at showing the content of your interest. 

Before the update, you could find the content you were interested in simply by searching the hashtag.

This is the reason why a higher percentage of Instagram users used hashtags in their searches. There were a lot fewer hashtags per content too.

But this all changed with the update.

The improved Instagram algorithm made the content on home and explorer pages more relevant. This means that fewer people use hashtags to search for content.

As a result, hashtag feeds are less visible, the engagement decreased, and with it the traffic and follower conversion.

But this doesn’t mean that hashtags on Instagram in 2022 are completely useless.

Keep reading and find out how you can make the most out of them.

3. How to find the best Instagram hashtags for your account?

Despite the fact that more than ten years have passed since Instagram hashtags were actively used, this trend is still very popular.

By using hashtags for Instagram you are continuing to attract followers, and attracting new followers increases engagement too.

The most important thing is to use good hashtags for Instagram that define what the post is about, and thus the post will reach the target audience.

If you use Instagram hashtags correctly, they will help you in increasing your profile, get more engagement, and grow your reach. 

Also, using the best Instagram hashtags will help you reach your social media marketing goals.

Hashtags for Instagram growth are very important. This is because posts that have at least one hashtag get a 12.6% higher engagement compared to posts that do not have hashtags.

But, it is certainly significant to use the right ones to attract the target audience because that will improve or destroy the Instagram strategy.

This is not as easy as it used to be and you need to be strategic about which hashtags you use, when, and how you use them.

First, let’s talk about how to find the best Instagram hashtags for your account.

If a hashtag is very popular and has been used a lot, it doesn’t mean that it will bring a ton of likes and comments simply by adding it to your post. Such as hashtags:

• #love, 
• #dog, 
• #happy, 
• #art. 

Don’t be tempted to use them.

You want to find and use less popular but more specific hashtags that are related to your niche.

Besides specific hashtags, you should use your unique hashtags.

Unique hashtags are those that are related to your company or content and they reflect some kind of brand, so only people who know about them or their content know them.

When you make a hashtag, brand it and use that hashtag in your resume and comments.

Where and how can you find niche-related tags?

It is very important that you research your audience.  

Random hashtags at the end of your Instagram post will do you no good. The audience on your profile won’t grow by doing that.

Right hashtags help you reach a target audience, and more importantly, they help YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE find you. 

These users are more likely to engage with your post because it is exactly what they were looking for and fits into the content you want to publish.

Always check out your competitors. This research will result in very useful information. It will help you figure out which hashtags on Instagram provide the most engagement.

You may not want to compete for those specific hashtags, (you could, by the way) but you will get insight about what your potential customers respond to the most and which hashtags they are using.

This can be very fruitful research that ends in new hashtags to add to your repertoire.

Learn from industry leaders

Every industry has its leaders, the best of the best. It is smart to follow and learn from them. 

This is one of the greatest ways to find relevant hashtags that are popular in your niche.

Find the top Instagram influencers in your field.

Their target audience will be the same or similar to yours. Check out the hashtags they are using. This is how you will learn which hashtags are bringing the most engagement on Instagram.

Finding related hashtags is fairly easy, but can help you figure out the trends that are relevant to your hashtag.

Do this by typing the hashtag into the search bar on Instagram. You will then be able to see all top hashtags closely related to the one you plan to use.

Not only that. This search will reveal other ways to reach out to and engage with your community.

Comb out the TOP POSTS on Instagram.

Researching top posts on Instagram will help you identify the most valuable hashtags on Instagram you could add to your hashtag list.

These posts have been selected by the Instagram algorithm to be top posts. Hashtags used with them have helped, among other things, for the posts to be on the top.

Search for the hashtag that has the largest number of posts in your niche. 

There is always one in every niche. This hashtag broadly describes a general topic.

You don’t want to use it because it is not describing your content the best. But it is the perfect place to start searching for hashtags high in traffic that more accurately describe your content.

4. Trending hashtags on Instagram 2022

If you’ve wondered why the trend of using hashtags is still so popular, the answer is simple. This is because this is still the best way to attract viewers to your page, or your post.

Their main purpose is to help users find relevant content. Therefore, it is necessary to use the correct hashtags. They will define you and what the post is about. This will lead you to the right audience. Finding the right hashtags requires a lot of thought.

To make it easier for you to discover the best Instagram hashtags in 2022, we suggest you take a look at our list, where we are sure you will find some relevant for 2022.

Top 10 most popular Instagram hashtags (Overall):

1. #love (2.1B posts)
2. #instagood (1.5B posts)
3. #fashion (1B posts)
4. #photooftheday (988M posts)
5. #art (888.6M posts)
6. #photography (864.7M posts)
7. #instagram 828M posts)
8. #beautiful (792.1M posts)
9. #picoftheday (692.8M posts)
10. #nature (696.4M posts)

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for quotes

1. #quote
2. #quotestoliveby
3. #quotes
4. #quotesoftheday
5. #quotesofinstagram
6. #dailyquotes
7. #quotestags
8. #quotesaboutlife
9. #quotesdaily
10. #quotestagram

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for dog lovers

1. #dog
2. #dogsofinstagram
3. #doglover
4. #dogs
5. #doglovers
6. #doglife
7. #dogsofinsta
8. #dogstagram
9. #doggo
10. #doggy

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for music

1. #music
2. #musicvideo
3. #musician
4. #musicproducer
5. #musically
6. #musical
7. #musicians
8. #musicislife
9. #musiclover
10. #musicproduction

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for business

1. #business
2. #businessowner
3. #businessman
4. #buinesswoman
5. #businesstips
6. #businessquotes
7. #businesscaoch
8. #businessowners
9. #smallbusiness
10. #businesspassion

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for handmade products

1. #handmade
2. #handmadewithlove
3. #handmadegifts
4. #handmadeisbetter
5. #handmadeaccessory
6. #handmadejewelry
7. #handmadecards
8. #handmadesoap
9. #handmadefont
10. #handmadejewellery

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for travel bloggers

1. #travel
2. #travelphotography
3. #travelgram
4. #travelling
5. #travelblogger
6. #traveltheworld
7. #traveller
8. #traveling
9. #travelblog
10. #travellife

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for artists

1. #art
2. #artistsoninstagram
3. #artoftheday
4. #artwork
5. #artofinstagram
6. #artist
7. #artcurator
8. #artgallery
9. #artcollective
10. #artstudio

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for bloggers

1. #blogger
2. #blog
3. #bloggerstyle
4. #bloggers
5. #bloggersofinstagram
6. #bloggerlife
7. #blogging
8. #blogpost
9. #bloggerlifestyle
10. #instablog

5. What are hashtags and how do they work on Instagram?

Hashtags work on the same principle as keywords.

Therefore, the hashtags should be relevant to the post and that your target audience would probably use to find the post. The hashtag starts with “#”.

In order to know how to use Instagram hashtags correctly, it is necessary to give a definition of what they are and what they are intended for.

They are different tags, or as they are called in jargon, thematic groups, whose task is to categorize content on a website, blog, or social network, making it easier to see.

Once we have defined what hashtags are and why you should use them, we also need to choose the right one for your Instagram account.

When using hashtags, two important facts should be taken into account:

• the relevance of the hashtags with the post we plan to publish
• their popularity

In terms of relevance, it would be unfair and illogical to use hashtags that have little or no relevance to a topic covered in a particular post, just because they are popular.

So respect other users in the community and do not spam via an infinite number of hashtags, especially if they are not relevant to the published content.

The next factor to consider is their popularity – The more popular a hashtag is, the more users search for content related to the topic it represents.

This means that with one or more popular hashtags you can easily increase the visibility of your posts.

6. When to use Instagram hashtags?

The answer is WHENEVER YOU CAN.

If you want to be seen by as many people as possible you should use hashtags every time you post on Instagram, this includes Instagram stories too.

But, you should think before using it. On some occasions, you may want to post without any hashtags.

Very often this is the case with Instagram stories. They tend to be more casual in nature and display a personal anecdote or story.

You can also use Instagram hashtags for followers, and thus gain more followers and greater popularity.

You should consider the tone or topic of your post coupled with your intent and then decide if you want to use a hashtag or not.

And finally, when you decide you want to use hashtags, don’t use them without control. 

Instagram recently advised that creators should use between 3-5 hashtags on their posts, despite allowing up to 30 per post.

7. How to use Instagram hashtags correctly?

These are several ways we find to be the best in which you can use Instagram hashtags in 2022 and grow your Instagram page.

1. Know how the TOP POSTS are selected on the Instagram
2. Randomize the order in which you use hashtags
3. Don’t use too much hashtags per post

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How does Instagram select TOP POSTS? 

The idea behind the TOP POSTS on Instagram is to showcase the most engaging and accurate posts for a hashtag.

Therefore, the more accurately you describe the content on your post with Instagram hashtags, the more likely your post will be selected as a top post.

But it is not that easy for a post to be selected as a top post.

Randomize the order of your hashtags every time you post. 

Randomizing the order of your hashtags every time you post on Instagram is a very important step that will increase the chances of your post being selected to be in top posts.

NEVER COPY-PASTE YOUR HASHTAGS ON INSTAGRAM. Consecutive posts shouldn’t be described by hashtags placed in the same order.

The reason for this is again the Instagram algorithm. Users who post like this are very likely spammers and Instagram wants to avoid placing spam posts as top posts.

This is why you should steer clear from copy-pasting hashtags on Instagram and choose only the ones that accurately represent the content on the post.

How many hashtags on Instagram is enough?

You should not use too many hashtags. The reason behind it is again the intent of Instagram to reduce inaccurately tagged content.

Keep in mind that you should not use more than thirty Instagram hashtags per post, and eleven would be best.

So, by using the right ones, you contribute to increasing your visibility in search, and thus reaching new people. 

Ideally, use two to three relevant hashtags, or four to five if you think they are particularly valid for your post.

This type of content creates ineffective hashtag feeds that are deterring users from being a part of the Instagram family.

ONLY USE HASHTAGS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO YOUR POST AND CONTENT.

Be precise, insightful and clear, and think about your target audience and the types of hashtags they are likely to explore.

The Instagram algorithm also follows the number of hashtags on a post to weed out spammers. The higher the number of hashtags, the more likely that the post is not accurately described.

If you copy-paste hashtags and use too many irrelevant ones your content can be shadowbanned. Trust us, YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SHADOWBANNED.

What is Shadowbanning?

If your account is shadowbanned, this means that when you use Instagram hashtags on your post, they will not be public.

Only people who already follow you will be able to see them and they won’t be selected to be top posts.

8. How to find out which hashtags are working?

To make sure which hashtags work best on Instagram, we offer you three tools that can help you choose the right ones.

1. Hashtagify – this is a service that is free and that allows you to search all hashtags taking into account popularity and current trends.

2. KeyHole – this tool allows you to track hashtags in real time.

3. SeekMetrics – this tool is a hashtag generator that finds all popular hashtags based on the requested hashtag.

On Instagram, you can always check which hashtags are used by your competitors and followers by typing the desired term in the search bar. 

Instagram will give you a list of the most closely related hashtags and how many times they have been used.

9. How does Instagram search work?

By typing in the search you can find specific posts, photos or profiles that interest you.

You can search by entering a specific name or title, by entering the hashtag more precisely “#” and then the desired post.

Clicking on the search without typing and searching for a specific term shows you the latest posts of Instagram users.

This way you can come across interesting profiles that you can start following even though you didn’t know about them before.

To conclude 

Instagram hashtags still work in 2022 but you must be smart about using them.

We presented to you everything you need to know about Instagram hashtags and how to use them.

Hashtags work on the same principle as a keyword, which means categorizing content and making it more discoverable

The Instagram algorithm has evolved and is being more effective in bringing the right content to its users and weeding out the spammers. 

You don’t want to be categorized as one.