How to find banned hashtags on Instagram? What’s the quickest way to remove them from your profile? Actually… You need one tool, a few seconds of your time and the job is done. 

In this article, I’ll explain why banned hashtags harm your Instagram growth, and how to use IQ Hashtags to never find yourself on Instagram’s blacklist because of them. Ready to fix your hashtags? Alright then, let’s dive in!

How to view banned hashtags on Instagram? Is there any free banned hashtags checker?

Yes! Today we’re going to discuss the tool with most up-to-date results – IQ Hashtags. Let’s look at how intuitive it is, and talk about the way it works. 

Our hashtags are now divided into two separate sections with Correct Hashtags, highlighted in green – they are obviously good to go and red Banned Hashtags – which are useless and won’t do any good to your post.

The cool thing is that after you review all of your hashtags, you don’t need to manually enter each of them in your new Instagram post, you can simply copy the entire set of Correct Hashtags and paste them in.

Let’s keep in mind that we can finally post to Instagram from the desktop, so you don’t even need to switch between devices. All can be done literally within a couple of clicks. 

How to find banned hashtags in your older posts?

Now, you have probably wondered how to find banned hashtags in the posts you’ve published in the past. Of course, you can do this manually and scan through every single post in your profile, then check each hashtag separately, but who’s got time for that? 

Thankfully, instead of this tiresome process you can quickly find and get rid of banned hashtags from your IQ Hashtags profile. 

To do that you need to go to Profile Analysis Tab and check your Hashtags information. 

This section presents the total number of your hashtags, the number of unique hashtags and the number of banned hashtags in your profile.

Click view to enter the screen with the list of banned hashtags. If you’re using the Free version of IQ Hashtags you can test this feature, track down  and remove one banned hashtag from your Instagram account. In this case we see a hashtag #boho, it doesn’t look harmful at all but it is banned on the platform, so you can see for yourself how easy it is to faHashtags categorize your content and help you get discovered on Instagram. That’s why you need to know that some of them don’t work, and can do the complete opposite – get your account flagged, disabled or in the best case scenario kill your reach and discoverability on the platform. Banned hashtags are recognised by Instagram as spam that violates Instagram’s community guidelines. When used in the post, they will prevent it from reaching the explore page, which means that it will not be shown to Instagram users who aren’t following you.

While some of them are obvious, because they promote inappropriate content with violence, abuse or nudity. There’s a long list that changes daily with banned hashtags that look completely innocent. And we talk about things like: #elevator #brain or #beautyblogger. 

Avoiding and getting rid of banned hashtags in your profile is the first step to clean up your account, avoid the dreaded „shadowban” and get on the right track with your hashtag strategy. 

You don’t need to scroll through every single one of your posts to find banned hashtags. All you need is the tool, and a few seconds to make your past and new content discoverable again.

How to check banned hashtags before posting?

We’re going to use the desktop version of the tool. You can of course use IQ Hashtags on your mobile device as well. I’ve decided to share a big screen with you guys, so everything looks a bit bigger and clearer.

First, I’d like to show you how you can review your hashtags before you add them to your new post, to make sure none of them is banned. 

You’ll need to use our Banned Hashtags checker available in IQ Hashtags free Plan, so you can start using it right away.

The process is super simple, you can enter your hashtags one by one, and separate them with spaces or commas, just like this, or simply copy and paste a collection of hashtags that you prepared earlier on. Hashtag collections feature is an absolute game changer in terms of categorising and saving your best performing hashtags (this feature is also available in IQ Hashtags Free Plan).

I’m going to go to Hashtag  Collections, copy a pre-saved set of hashtags to save even more time, and paste them into the Banned Hashtags checker. Make sure to tick the Real time check box for mll into this trap. Here’s the date and time when the post was published, and a media link or alternatively a comment link if the hashtag was placed in the comment section, that transfers you to the Instagram post, where you’ve used a banned hashtag. 

Let’s click on it, and find this little bugger. Ok, it is hiding right here – so of course to remove it, you’ll need to edit the post. Sadly you can’t edit a post from a desktop, tell us why Instagram. So you’ll need to use your phone to do it. Go to your post, click the 3 dot menu, go to edit and remove your banned hashtag.

And we’re done. 

You’ll need to go through all of the links to remove all the banned hashtags, and finally make your content and your profile discoverable again. 

Let me know in the comments what you think about the Banned Hashtags checker, or drop any of the questions you have about this feature or IQ Hashtags tool in general. If you haven’t registered yet, you can do it completely for FREE on IQ, and enjoy all the features available in the Free Plan – like banned hashtags checker, or hashtag collections.

Enjoy tidying up your Instagram profile and I’ll see you in the next one!

The post How to Easily Find Banned Hashtags on Instagram – Quick Fix To Avoid Shadowban appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Do you feel like Instagram hashtags are not working? Your insights show that you’re barely reaching anyone with your hashtags, or maybe you’ve noticed that your reach is just gradually dropping down? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it means that it’s time to look into your hashtag strategy, and make sure you’re not making any of these 8 hashtag mistakes limiting your profile’s reach. Ready to fix your hashtags?

Alright then. Let’s dive in!

Why Do We Need Working Hashtags?

Hashtags categorize our posts and help us get discovered on Instagram. They are still the best organic way to get more eyes on your content, and if you’re worried that they are a lost cause, you really shouldn’t. They do work exceptionally well, especially if you’re at the beginning of building your Instagram profile, and want your content to be delivered to people interested in your niche. 

We all know that Instagram has gone through a lot of changes over the past year, and it doesn’t matter if we like it or not, it should be the same for your hashtag strategy. So let’s take a look at the most common hashtag mistakes you should be avoiding in 2022 in order to fix your profile reach.

First Mistake – Using Irrelevant Hashtags 

The one thing that will never change about hashtags is that in this game relevance is key. Hashtags label your content so Instagram can distribute it to the right people. If you’re guilty of using irrelevant hashtags, it means that you add to spam on the platform, and ruin user experience for many people on the app. Instagram will definitely not reward you for it, and you’ll probably see barely any reach in the posts with these hashtags. 

A relevant hashtag is closely tied to your niche! It can’t be too generic, like #pretty or #love – these hashtags could describe almost anything, and I’m sure that your profile isn’t just about anything. 

For example, let’s say that my Instagram profile is all about hiking. I’ve posted a photo from the trail with a wonderful mountain view, and shared a couple of tips for mountain hiking. Instead of using a hashtag #love which describes how I feel about the view but means nothing in reference to my content I’ll go for hashtags like #mountainhiking or #hikingtips or #womenwhohike. They may not be the greatest examples but you get the point.

How do you find relevant hashtags?

Through research. Check what hashtags other profiles in your niche use. Use the search bar on Instagram explore page and search for the term that fits your content. For the sake of this example I’ve looked up the word „hiking”, and got all of these results where you can also see the volume of each hashtag which is helpful to find something suitable for your profile size. The one thing to keep in mind is that Instagram will only show hashtags that include your search term so you need to dig into a couple of different posts from other creators in your niche to find other related hashtags, or use IQ Hashtags Hashtag research tool, which I’ll talk about in one of the last points on our list, so stick around till the end of this article!

Using Overly Popular or Too Small Hashtags

Another mistake you may be guilty of making is using overly popular hashtags. With popular hashtags it’s a given that there is a huge number of other content creators competing for ranking high in top 9 posts for those hashtags. For example a hashtag #fashion. It has been used in over 1 billion posts which already tells us that it is a hugely competitive hashtag. 

To see how bad it is let’s have a look at the Recent tab where Instagram shows every new post with a given hashtag in chronological order. Let’s refresh it a couple of times and see how many posts appear under this hashtag every second. 

As you can see… A LOT, which means that an average post using this hashtag will disappear from the Recent tab in a blink of an eye, and have almost no chance of bringing any additional traffic, because no one will see it. 

Same goes to way too specific and very small hashtags. If they’re used only in a few hundred posts, chances are there are only a few people interested in what they have to offer. You can verify if a small hashtag isn’t worth your time by running the same experiment in the Recent tab, and see how often people post using this hashtag. If the hashtag hasn’t been used since 2020 it is very unlikely that it will drive any traffic to your content.

Make sure to stick to hashtags suitable for your profile size. If your account has less than 1000 followers, mix up a few small hashtags up to 5k posts. A bunch of hashtags up to 50 k, and top it off with a couple of bigger ones under 200k. We’re not going to give you the exact hashtag recipe because every Instagram account is different, and you need to test things out to see what approach works for you best. Mix your hashtags up, analyse insights for your posts to see if your hashtags bring any reach and most of all start small and build your way up to bigger hashtags.

Hashtags In the Comments Section

Now let’s keep this one short. If you’re putting your hashtags in the comment section – it’s time to stop. The endless argument on „Where the hashtags should go” has been finally stopped by the Head of Instagram himself who said that – For a post to be found in Search, your keywords and hashtags should be in the caption, NOT the comments. 

Hashtags and keywords in the caption affect how your content is ranked in the Search results, so in order to optimize your content and make it more discoverable on the platform this is the new way to go.

You’re Using the “Magic Number” of Hashtags

If you’re obsessing over the magic number for hashtags, you may be jeopardising their growth potential big time. 

By a magic number I mean following someone’s advice that 5 or 10 or lest than 20 hashtags is the perfect recipe to see incredible growth results. Well, not really. Even if the magic formula is served byt Instagram itself -and I’ve said more about it in this article – you should be careful when following such advice.

First and foremost – there’s no magic number for hashtags. Just because using 5 or 10 of them worked for one account, it doesn’t mean that the same approach will work for you. Your account may be a different size, you’re reaching a different audience, you may be in a different niche. All of these factors determine how many hashtags you’ll be able to use for your content.

And here’s another thing. Instagram still allows you to use up to 30 hashtags in your posts and each of them is an opportunity to get your content seen by new people. 

We’re not saying you should always use all 30 of them but we definitely recommend using as many hashtags as you can that describe your content and your audience very specifically.

Copying Whole Sets of Hashtags From Your Competitors’ Posts

Finding other brands or creators within your niche is a fantastic way to get inspired. See what works for them. How are they communicating with their audience? What kind of content they post but also… What kind of hashtags they use. At the end of the day, you probably want to reach a similar audience they do, so that’s completely normal.

It’s great to test a couple of  hashtags from your competitor’s profile but definitely not to copy and paste all of them. If you copy the entire set of your competitor’s hashtags that have been curated to a specific topic, specific audience and their profile size there’s almost no chance that they will all perfectly fit into your post even if you’re in a similar niche, so make sure to select only the ones that will.

Re-using the Same Set of  Hashtags

So you’ve finally decided to not rely on your competitors’ hashtags, and after adding some of your own creativity to it you start seeing some results, so… You decide to re-use the same set of hashtags all over again. We get it, they worked for you once and it feels like you broke the algorithm but unfortunately,  re-using the same set of hashtags isn’t the best tactic in the long run and here’s why: 

Number 1: You are reaching the same group of people, over and over again! Every new hashtag gives you a unique chance to attract new audience  so why wouldn’t you take advantage of it

2: it’s really unlikely that the same set of hashtags will work for every single piece of your content, which means that you may be generating spam by using irrelevant hashtags and that can be annoying and frustrating for many Instagram users – something we already talked about earlier on in this article.

3: Repeating the same collection of hashtags in every single one of your posts can also lead to your account getting banned. Instagram doesn’t appreciate any signs of generating spam so make sure to mix up your best performing hashtags with a couple of new ones every now and then to avoid getting in trouble.

Using Banned Hashtags

Another hashtag mistake you may be guilty of making is using banned hashtags. There’s a large number of hashtags that have been flagged by Instagram or reported by the Instagram community. They are blocked on the platform for either promoting inappropriate content with violence, abuse or nudity or simply for generating excessive amounts of spam on the platform. If any of your posts contains a banned hashtag it will only be shown to a fraction of your audience and never reach the explore page even if the rest of your hashtags is fine. 

Repeated use of banned hashtags in your account can lead to your account getting banned. The list of banned hashtags changes daily and contains completely innocent words like #streetphoto or #valentinesday so it is important to check your hashtags before your post.

You can do it manually by going to your Instagram profile, and searching for your hashtag in the explore page search bar. If you see a pop up message like this one that says that the recent posts for this hashtag are hidden due to some of them breaking Instagram’s Community Guidelines, then you know that this hashtag is banned.

And if you like to work smarter not harder, you can use  IQ Hashtags Banned Hashtags tool and check the entire set of hashtags in a couple of clicks. You can start using this feature completely for free on IQ Hashtags.

You’re Not Using Advanced Hashtag Research & Analytics Tools

If you’re serious about your Instagram growth it’s about time you start using professional tools that will help you achieve your goals more effectively. Hashtag research can be a tiresome task. It needs to be intentional so you don’t just put random tags in your posts hoping for some people to see your content. IQ Hashtags can help you improve this process on so many levels.

The tool helps you find relevant and targeted hashtags based on their engagement. You’ll easily filter your results by  the hashtag size,  average comments and likes count per post. You’ll be able to track your hashtag performance for your past publications and see which hashtags landed you a spot in the top 9 posts, but also create hashtag collections to make sure that all the best performing ones are ready for your next post. 

These features will make your hashtag research so much easier, and finally help you find the ones that work.

Are you guilty of making any of these hashtags mistakes? Make sure to let me know in the comments below! Thank you so much for reading, good luck at fixing your hashtag strategy and I’ll see you in the next one!

The post Instagram Hashtags Now Showing Up? Here Are 8 Hashtag Mistakes You Need to Avoid appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

How to use Instagram Hashtags in 2022? How many hashtags should you use to get maximum exposure?  The latest update from @creators Instagram page stating that 3-5 hashtags is a magic formula for Instagram growth, created a complete havoc in the community. Here’s our take on this announcement with some useful hashtag tips to help you get back on track with your hashtag strategy.

What’s the whole drama about?

There are a lot of mixed emotions around the advice served  by the amazing @creators profile. They’ve given us hashtags dos and don’ts that should help us make the most of adding hashtags to our content, some of which are a sound advice, with two exceptions that has left us all scratching our heads and that is:

Use 3-5 hashtags… And topped it off with „10-20 hashtags will not help you get additional distribution”. 

I’m going to give this one a moment of silence as well.

We are very happy to see so many comments of disbelief under this post because hashtags have never been the black or white kind of game, so let’s talk about these numbers!

Is there a magic number for hashtags? How many hashtags should I use on Instagram in 2022?

First and foremost, there is no magic number for hashtags. One size fits all rule doesn’t apply in this ever changing landscape.

Big and popular accounts won’t need as many hashtags as small profiles working to get their content in front of people’s eyes. They have already established their position on the platform and are more discoverable.

Hashtags are still one of the best organic tools to expand the reach of your post’s and you should not be afraid to use them.  On top of that, Instagram allows you to put 30 hashtags in your posts so if they didn’t want you to use all of them, why wouldn’t they cap it at 3 or 5?   

How should we interpret the @Creator’s advice?

Your hashtag strategy shouldn’t be based on a number.  3 or 5 hashtags can be as ineffective as 30 hashtags if you don’t use them correctly. 

Hashtags categorise your content and help Instagram to distribute it to the right people. So the more targeted hashtags you use the better are your chances to get discovered.

Instagram puts a lot of emphasis on the relevance of your content to hashtags you use, so what we really hear from the @creators advice is that you should be focusing on narrowing down your hashtags so they are highly relevant to your videos or images. 

More hashtags doesn’t always mean better results. Even if you use 15 hashtags suitable for your content, and the other half of them are completely random and misleading, they will spoil the overall result of your post.

With that said, don’t be afraid to use more than 10 or 20 hashtags as long as they are AGAIN relevant to your content. 

Many of you agrees that they are still worth the effort and it would be great to also hear your opinion on our channel so drop a comment below and share your thoughts on this with us. I’m very curious what is your experience with hashtags!

Do hashtags work?

The bottom line from all that has been said is that hashtags work and you should still take advantage of them. 

The feedback I hear from Instagram users clearly shows that a lot of you still drive traffic to your profiles using hashtags, and it doesn’t make sense to change something that works. 

Improve – yes. Give up on it… No way!  

Of course every single profile needs an individual approach to their hashtag strategy so yes, experiment with the numbers, observe your stats and see what actually works for you best.

How to use hashtags correctly?

Since we touched the concept of hashtags it feels like a good idea to briefly answer the question of how to use hashtags correctly and create a solid foundation for your upgraded hashtag strategy.

1. First of all, do your research – investigate your competitors’ profiles whose account size is similar to yours. Define your target audience and check what hashtags they follow on Instagram.

2. Keep your hashtags fresh – avoid the copy and paste method. Try a couple of new hashtags every time you post to reach new audiences. Also re-using the same set of hashtags looks like spam to the algorithm so that’s definitely a no-go.

3. Use Hashtag search engines to improve your research – we all run out of ideas sometimes, and looking for new niche hashtags every day can be a tiresome job, so give this free Hashtags Search tool a go. 

4. Keep your hashtags in the caption – That’s one of the latest advice from Instagram that you should apply in your hashtag strategy right now to increase your chances of ranking higher in the search results. Keywords and hashtags in your captions help the algorithm understand what your profile is all about which leads us to another piece of advice

5. Stop confusing the algorithm – whenever you use random or too generic hashtags you only complicate the process of distributing your content to the right people. Use only highly relevant hashtags to your content, keep them narrow and as niche as possible. Don’t generate spam under some worn off hashtags like „instagirl” or „beautyblogger” used in millions of posts just because they are popular. If a hashtag doesn’t describe your image or video, just leave it for another time or let it go for good.

I hope that now you feel a bit more at ease with the recent @creators’ announcement. They are a legit source of knowledge and we all should follow their updates since everything they tell us comes straight from the guys in charge. However, let’s not blindly follow tips that could be generalised or targeted to creators with the established position on the platform. Every journey is different so test things out and see what approach is best for your growth.

The post How to Use Instagram Hashtags in 2023 – Instagram Hashtag Update appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Kate, everyone knows what hashtags are in 2022 – you might want to say. I know, I know, of course. However, not everyone knows how to use them properly. And it makes a difference! When used well, they make it possible for users to find the content they enjoy. They increase the visibility of your posts and boost your chances of attracting new followers. Unfortunately, when used the wrong way, they can negatively impact your reach, or even your credibility. The issue is more complicated than many of us think. This can’t be said enough: even the most gorgeous content in the world will become “not enough” with poorly researched (or random) hashtags. 

That’s why today I’d like to take a moment to clear up the confusion about the dilemma I’m reading about way too often these days: is it bad to repeat hashtags on Instagram? How frequently should we rotate our hashtags? Do copying and pasting hashtags work? Do you really need to come up with 30 new hashtags every time you post? Can you copy someone else’s hashtags?

Do you already know the answers? Let’s say it out loud: managing your hashtags can be a bit of a chore, as there are so many questions and very rarely straightforward answers to them. Is it a guessing game? Well, it doesn’t have to be. Luckily, you can rely on people who are living and breathing Instagram (like me, haha). Let’s go!

Is It Possible To Find New Hashtags for Every New Post? How Often Should You Change Your Hashtags? Should You Change Hashtags Every Post?

I’d say it’s much more about rotating, than changing!

I believe it’s possible to find new hashtags for every new post – but we aren’t that crazy, are we? Finding so many new hashtags for every new post can be highly time-consuming. While it might be tempting to use the same set of hashtags too often – and many of us are guilty of that, hey, finding 30 different ones every time you post is a big challenge, and you don’t need to do that. It’s totally okay to have some “core hashtags” which you repeat more often than the others. 

The thing is, you need to be willing to test new hashtags. Mix them up.

Analyze the results, and rotate old ones, as well as the ones you’ve just found. 

Do Hashtags Work When Copied? Do Copying and Pasting Hashtags Work?

You won’t like this answer, but I need to say it: it depends. Let me explain before judging!

Copying and pasting the same set of hashtags into every post is a horrible idea. First, the algorithm doesn’t like that. Your people don’t like that – because it can look spammy. And finally: your stats don’t like it, because you’re reaching the same groups of people repeatedly. That’s why you need to rotate your hashtags.

But by “it depends” I meant: on the other hand, it’s a pretty smart idea to create multiple hashtag sets that are organized by content pillars and post categories. That’s the way I do it too. And honestly, I find it the best and most practical way to organize and rotate my hashtags. And yes, they work when copied and pasted. I’ve also heard some strange rumors that content with self-written hashtags does better in terms of reach and explore page, but they simply aren’t true: you don’t have to bother, I’ve checked it myself many, many times. 

There are some simple but effective tricks you can use to create the most optimal number of hashtag lists. We’ll start off with my methods, and I’ll walk you through why it works so well for me and my profile and why it might work well for you as well. But before we do that – let’s answer some other most common questions about the hashtag rotation process!

Can You Get Banned on Instagram for Using the Same Hashtags?

You can get banned for using banned hashtags – hashtags that are on Instagram’s black list because posts using these hashtags go against Instagram’s guidelines – and yes, you can even lose your account because of them. 

When it comes to using the same hashtags – Instagram will penalize you a bit differently. When you use the same list of hashtags on each post, you risk having your profile treated as spam, which means lower reach, as your content will no longer show up in the hashtag search results. So the price is still high.

Can I Copy Someone Else’s Hashtags?

Practically: yes, you can (but only with the desktop version of the app, or using the ‘Gram in your browser), but to be honest: what for? Wouldn’t it be better to find hashtags that work for you, and your profile?

The perfect set of hashtags for any given creator varies in much the same way as the ideal meal, the perfect pair of jeans, or the perfect pair of sandals. What works really well for other creators may be totally incompatible with your content. That’s why my answer would be: don’t copy someone else’s hashtags, create and analyze your own hashtag sets.

Hashtag Research – Can You Find and Save the Best Hashtags for Later?

The protip, which can literally save you plenty of hours? Use apps and tools that make the process easier. Before you can get started with storing your hashtags for later, you need to – surprise, surprise – actually find the most relevant hashtags for your different content pillars, the ones that revolve around your niche. Fortunately, there are tools out there to help you with that. 

When it comes to me, over the past years, I’ve developed my hashtags-rotation process, and woah, it works for me.

I use one tool for both researching and storing my hashtags. And it’s incredibly intuitive, so I love the way it works. I have created multiple sets of hashtags depending on what I’m posting – I have saved them all in one place, so I can easily reach them whenever I need to (= everytime I’m preparing a new post). What’s the app you’re using, you might want to ask. Well, I’m recommending only the ones I’ve personally tested and loved, you know that. I keep all of my hashtag sets in IQ Hashtags -I store my hashtag collections there, and I update them from time to time when I find new hashtags I want to include.

The good news is, there’s no limit to the number of hashtag collections you can have – you can create as many different sets as you like, which I think can be really helpful for social media managers and marketing agencies as well. You simply create a library of reusable hashtags for future use or different profiles you take care of. 

How do I use the hashtag sets I’ve prepared? Easy peasy, to be honest. When I’m preparing a new post, I navigate to my stored collections of hashtags. I choose the one most relevant for this particular post. I copy the hashtags. And voila!

I also track my hashtags’ performance with the tool I mentioned – but we’ll discuss that much deeper in the following article, because that’s a topic worth elaborating on as well.

That’s all for today, thank you for reading. The key takeaway? Don’t be deceived by how easy it is to find some random hashtags. Take your time and do the research the right way. Take that research aspect exceptionally seriously. Over time, you will learn what works for your target audience – and that’s our ultimate goal!

PS. If you have different ways of managing your hashtags, please share them!

The post Is It Wrong to Repeat Hashtags on Instagram? appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Hashtags most definitely still work wonders for Instagram creators. Even though they have been around for such a long time now, their effectiveness is still very much accurate. If your posts don’t include any hashtags, you will miss out on views and organic engagement. Why risk it?

On the ‘Gram, hashtags are primarily used for attracting new potential followers, creating higher engagement, and categorizing your posts. If you want to reach your target audience – people that you believe might be interested in what you have to say – using specific, well-tailored hashtags might be the most optimal way to bring more (targeted) traffic.

Let’s go back to the start, for a sec. Hashtags were basically introduced on Instagram so that content on similar topics can be categorized together. This process makes it easier for all the users to find and track the content they are interested in! That way, hashtags are incredibly effective – but only if you can research and find the relevant and popular hashtags in your niche before adding them to your content, of course.

Chances are, you already know the basic principles of using hashtags:

1. You need the consciously picked ones for higher performance! Never everrr overburden your captions with hashtags that are irrelevant to your post.

2. Be strategic, and try to use 25-30 relevant hashtags in a post.

There are many, many other rules and strategies it’s good to know to make the most of your hashtag game – but we will talk about them a bit later. Today, I’d love to dive deeper into all the benefits of using good hashtags (and by “good” I mean – well researched), to boost your motivation, and make you more aware of all the aces in the hole that are yours to use!

Why Are Hashtags So Powerful? 

To put it all in a nutshell: they can help your content reach a target audience, attract new followers in your niche, increase organic engagement, and develop a more positive (and recognizable!) profile image. 

As you may already know, hashtags play an essential role in:

• increasing your organic visibility
• categorizing your posts
• giving you the power of being found in search queries

But the list is EXTREMELY longer. Let’s dive in much deeper and elaborate on why hashtags can help you maximize the potential of your posts . If Instagram is one of the social media platforms to focus your marketing efforts, this blog post is for you. Today we’ll discuss in detail 7 practical benefits of using well-targeted hashtags. Let’s go!  

1. Thanks to Hashtags, You Become Discoverable, and You Make Your Content Easier To Find

Actually, that’s how you gain visibility. One of the biggest reasons to start using well-researched hashtags on the ‘Gram is to help your posts get found. When someone clicks on a hashtag, it allows them to quickly find related posts and Reels that use the same hashtag. That’s why it’s incredibly important that any hashtags you use need to be relevant to your content and to your niche. If someone finds your posts while looking for something totally different, they’ll be enormously disappointed. 

From a practical business standpoint: Instagram hashtags are crucial both for your personal branding and visibility. When picked consciously, they give people from your target audience the easiest way of finding your profile and give you an additional way to engage with your potential followers.

The algo is smart, so when your engagement increases, it leads to more followers. More followers =higher brand/profile awareness. 

When posting new content, by adding hashtags to it, you indicate its topic and its context with the intention that people looking for content like yours will see your posts. Once added to a post, every hashtag phrase becomes searchable (and clickable).

It’s extra powerful. Hashtags basically help people find stuff they like. They are like organizational tools for the ‘Gram. They are here to make it possible for people to find posts on a given topic (when those posts use the same hashtag that is being searched for). 

Finding new great posts by looking for specific hashtags has become an evergreen form of Instagram communication. More and more people are using hashtag searches to discover new profiles, which is a way of searching you can surely take advantage of!

2. Join the Community, and Learn What Others Are Saying About Your Niche and Your Topics

You can browse through your fav hashtags, to see what other creators have to say and show, and what they’re posting. For example, if your brand is in the fashion industry, you can perform a search for hashtags such as #newtrends, #sustainablefashion, to see what other creators are currently talking about. This allows you to learn new tendencies, gain inspiration and insight from others, and join interesting conversations (in the comment section) about topics that you’re also an expert in.

3. The Power of Trending Hashtags Is Real

If you’re trying to get noticed on the ‘Gram, you REALLY need to have a strong hashtag strategy. Trending hashtags can massively increase your visibility, along with your organic reach. Side benefit? They can give you great content ideas by helping you notice what other creators in your industry are producing.

Keep in mind trending hashtags can change in a blink of an eye, so you need to make sure to research them before you put time into creating a post for a specific hashtag.

To find which hashtags are trending at the moment, or are best to be used for short term use, there are several trending hashtag research tools available. One of them is IQ Hashtags, which works wonders for quick and intuitive hashtag research. It does a great job of finding relevant and trending hashtags – give it a try to make your Gram life easier. It’s also a good idea to keep track of which hashtags are currently trending.

4. With Current Content Overload, Hashtags Are a Crucial Part of Almost Every Creator’s Instagram SEO Strategy

Using hashtags appropriately will not only help your posts show up in an Instagram search, but they also help your content rank higher on Discovery Sections. There are many aspects of Instagram SEO right now, but it’s essential to ensure that well-targeted hashtags are one of them, so your content remains discoverable.

5. Categorize Your Posts

Did you know you have the power to create your own hashtags?

Using hashtags puts your posts in specific categories. If your followers (and potential followers) are interested in posts that have something to do with a certain topic, and if you use these hashtags in your posts, your followers will be able to see your posts when they enter that hashtag into the search field.

This way, you will generate a thread of all posts that contain that hashtag, and anybody, whether they’re your followers or not, will be able to see your posts and browse through them.

6. People Can Follow Hashtags They Love

Instagram users can follow hashtags they’re really interested in, so choosing good ones can enhance the success of your profile and boost your engagement.

The best practice to find hashtags your target audience follows? Always try to keep up with the current insights and trending hashtags to ensure that your hashtags are updated and that you’re using the ones people are truly looking for. 

If it’s difficult or time-consuming for you to find these hashtags, there are apps or websites that will help you – as you know, I always recommend my choice, that is IQ Hashtags.

7. Hashtags Give You So Many Opportunities for Organic Growth – But Only if You Play Fair

Hashtags work wonders only if your account has real followers (what I mean here is: you don’t buy bots, and you don’t use follow4follow methods).

It’s worth mentioning that hashtags catalog and rank posts based on many different engagement metrics! The algo pushes relevant content to potential followers based on their engagement and their interest in similar posts.

Hashtags are an art – and Instagram algo is REALLY SMART. Or the accounts that have many fake followers, bots or too many ghost followers, hashtags aren’t working the way they’re meant to. 

It can be tricky, but the truth is: it depends on how much your followers (and potential followers) have engaged on your posts. The maximum reach with hashtags is possible mainly when your followers are interacting with you – so the algo knows your profile is exciting and worth promoting.

Hashtags Benefits – It’s Time for Q&A!

Hashtags advantages Q&A, here we go! Let’s be honest, I get asked a lot of the same questions, so I thought I would cover some of them in a little Q&A. So let’s get into it!

What are the benefits of hashtags IN A NUTSHELL? Are they really working to make something viral?

As you already know, hashtags are still essential for Instagram in 2022. It’s a challenge for Instagram to deliver the right posts to the right people, and the thing is that hashtags really help to do it well. Need more benefits?

• They can boost up your content’ views.
• Your profile gets discovered by new people (your potential followers).
• They bring you higher engagement.

So yeah, use relevant, right hashtags on your posts and stories to increase your chances of “going viral” and getting discovered by new audiences on Instagram. They can bring you into more engagement, more engaged followers, and more potential clients for your business.

Why are hashtags usually irrelevant to posts on Instagram?

That’s a good one! Well, people are using generic hashtags as a way to reach more people (even if they’re random and they’re not from their target audience), and boost engagement under their posts – and they’re hoping it will work. Simple, it’s done for cheap likes and F4F.

But as you already know: it’s irritating for other users, and from what I know, Instagram is trying to get rid of these tactics. So don’t use irrelevant hashtags!

You will attract the right kind of followers only if you give your audience what they’re TRULY looking for: quality posts that speak to their interests.

There is a golden rule: the more general the hashtag is, the less valuable it’s gonna be. Instead of hashtagging #every #single #random #idea, use the well-tailored hashtags that are more niche to your target audience.

Relevance (and hashtag research) is the key. Identify hashtags that will contribute towards your goals.

Do hashtags really help you grow on Instagram, or are they a waste of time?

A waste of time? WHAT?

Instagram hashtags are still superuseful to get more eyes (and engagement!) on your Instagram posts. Posts with at least one hashtag get on average 12.6% more engagement than posts without a hashtag. So it really is worth creating a hashtag strategy if you want to grow your account!

Are hashtags a waste of time? NO NO NO, NO WAY, but it also depends on how you use them, of course. 

But they genuinely help you get noticed. If you know which hashtags to use, then it helps you grow – woah – a LOT.

The post How Can Hashtags Be Effective? 7 Reasons Why Instagram Hashtags Are Important (All the Benefits of Using Hashtags) appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

You’ve just done your hashtag research and created many gorgeous sets of promising hashtags, all well-tailored and matching your niche. Ta-dah!

You’re ready to start using them to attract new followers and potential customers to your business. You have a bunch of bulletproof choices, and you’re going to use this power, along with your awesome content.

First of all – a smart move, good for you! With its engaged audience (at the moment, more than one billion monthly active users – according to official data, and Statista platform), a wide range of different user personas, and features like Reels, Instagram Stories, and Lives, you have so many opportunities to attract and interact with your ideal audience.

But, wait, wait.  Hold up.

Questions may start crowding in with the Instagram landscape wide open right before you. As a result, new doubts may start creeping in. 

When should you use these hashtags? How often? Even better question – you see many Instagram creators posting the same set of hashtags multiple times, sometimes dozens of times – how often should you change your hashtags? And how many hashtags should you use per post?

This is the evergreen question. The thing is, the honest answer probably isn’t what you want to hear:

It depends. However:

If you’re a newbie and have a small account, the key is to make your profile as discoverable as it can be. And hashtags are here to help, so don’t underestimate their power. Every hashtag = your chance to attract a totally new group of people. Kick off with as many relatable hashtags as you can – sure, quality over quantity, but if you can find 30 well-tailored hashtags, then use them! 

But that’s just the short answer, to put it in a nutshell. 

Let’s dive deeper into all the hows and whys so you can get the most out of the hashtags’ power. Let’s go!

How Many Hashtags Should I Use? What is the Right Number of #Hashtags For my Posts?

There is the golden rule: keep ’em, and use them – as many as you can (as long as they’re accurate and well-researched), and people will find you and stick with you.

Each Instagram hashtag works as a keyword that you can use to help the ‘Gram identify your content and make it much easier for users to know what your post is about. Side benefit? Hashtags can be valuable tools in establishing the topic and relevance of your regular posts or Reels! That’s why you need to select your hashtags wisely to correctly classify your posts so that they will be found by the right audience – your target followers. 

Instagram is home to billions and billions of different posts and Reels, with that number growing exponentially on a daily basis! Needless to say, to make sure your ideal followers actually see what you’re posting, you need to use hashtags, and if you can find 30 good ones every time you post – excellent! More is more, at least when it comes to well-targeted hashtags. 

How Many Hashtags Is Enough?

Is there any magic formula, a well-kept secret about the most optimal ratio, or some other insider secret-sauce knowledge you can employ to help your profile grow and get seen by the people you try to attract? Can you Harry Potter the heck out of Instagram?

I WISH! If only!

Instead, look carefully at the hashtags you choose. As I said before – every single hashtag is a new chance to attract people from your target audience. That’s why I would recommend using 30 hashtags every time you can. It doesn’t necessarily have to be 30 – this rule is not that strict, don’t you worry. If you can find 25-28 good ones, that’s totally okay. You don’t have to use 30 hashtags just for the sake of using 30. 

Every business and every profile is different, with different marketing goals, target audiences, means, and approaches. What works for other creators may not suit you and who you want to attract, but hashtags are a universal helper; they’re a tool for every profile and business. 

How Often Should You Change and Update Your Hashtags, and Come Up With New Hashtag Sets? 

Some trending hashtags become outdated pretty quickly, that’s why it’s such a good practice to do hashtag research at least once a month. 

“Why SO OFTEN?” you may want to ask.

Well, that’s what brings the best results for my clients and for me, so I always recommend updating your hashtags every 4-5 weeks – because it WORKS, and it’s always the most crucial reason for me. Don’t forget you can also outsource your hashtag research a bit – for example, you do it with the IQ Hashtags Search Hashtag feature – that’s the most optimal choice. That way, it will take you up to 5-10 minutes, and you’ll gain this clarity and confidence that your new hashtags are the ones you truly need. 

Instagram wants freshly baked, early morning apple pies, tasty as hell, and still hot from the heat. Likewise, they want your content to be valuable, up-to-date, and trending. They do not want your day-old, stale apple pies – that’s why you need trending hashtags, to keep delivering the best content and make sure your target audience sees it when it’s still hot! 

Naturally, to make your fresh content seen, you must choose the best trending hashtags for your niche in the first place.

My personal research showed me that when you update your hashtags once a month and add some fresh trending ones every time you do so, your posts perform better than posts without trending hashtags (yes, that’s the critical takeaway).

How Many Hashtags Are Too Many on Instagram?

On the ‘Gram there isn’t such a thing as overtagging (overhashtagging to be exact, right). So you can use 30 hashtags every time you post – and there’s no need to worry, that it will be TOO MUCH. No way! Hashtags are yours to use, and the platform allows you to use up to 30 – so why would you give up on this chance? 

The only thing you need to keep in mind is to make sure that your hashtags don’t mislead Instagram users: having random and inaccurate hashtags can increase your bounce rate, and users can report your content as SPAM (and we don’t want that, so good hashtag research is really worth it).

Will Using Hashtags in Instagram Video Posts Increase the Number of Views?

Essentially, hashtags on the ‘Gram are carefully chosen tags and keywords, telling the algorithm and platform users what your content is about. You can assign hashtags to each post as you post them on the platform. Then, as people use hashtags to search out different posts and Reels as well, the Instagram algorithm will scan hashtags to help determine what results to show off!

So, yeah, we need hashtags to categorize and organize content, draw attention to it, promote, and connect with the target audience. Using Instagram hashtags gives your posts a significant boostand organic promotion, right off the bat! That’s truly powerful.

Instead of only showing your posts to your current followers, you’re opening up the floodgates to all the potential followers who are already looking for what you’re sharing. For example, if you use the hashtag #carrotcaketutorial, your post will join the other posts under that same hashtag. The idea is that if someone is looking to learn how to bake a delicious carrot cake with a simple recipe when they search “#carrotcaketutorial”, your post will populate under that hashtag.

Side benefit: if you’re using trending hashtags, your Reels (and regular posts as well) can also be pulled into relevant Discovery pages for millions of users to discover.

How Many Hashtags? 3 Common Questions, Answered 

Still have some lingering burning questions over how many hashtags should you use? Here we go! I’ve gathered answers to common ones on the most optimal number of hashtags, hashtag research, and hashtag collection updates frequency.

To grow faster on Instagram, should I post as often as I could, maybe even twice a day? And should I use 30 hashtags every time I post?

Don’t start hair-pulling. Not yet. Repeat right after me: quality over quantity.

These days, Instagram prioritizes trending, high-quality posts with mega-relevance to the ‘Gram users. That means it’s far better to post 3-4 times a week, more awesome content versus 2 times a day but mediocre posts, just for the sake of posting.

Coming up with new posts ideas isn’t as straightforward as it seems. You have to research best practices for pleasing your target audience and the Instagram algorithm while balancing your own creativity and content strategy in the mix. Create user-friendly posts. Keep on providing value, and you’re already way ahead – you don’t have to post two times a day.

And when it comes to 30 hashtags – if you’re able to find 30 GOOD, RELEVANT ONES – that’s gorgeous. But remember that research is the key. 

How do I use hashtags on Instagram to get more followers?

There are no universal, “one fit all” best hashtags to use on the ‘Gram. Instead, I would focus on choosing hashtags that match the topic of your posts, so your target audience can find you. This way, users that are looking for content around that topic will be able to discover your profile which leads to a more targeted and engaged community. 

I’ve read so many posts and articles about the most right number of hashtags you should use to reach more people, and I was surprised to read on the official Instagram blog that 4-5 hashtags can be enough! Do you think there are cases in which using fewer hashtags can actually help instead?

As I said before – every hashtag gives you a totally new opportunity to reach a different group of people. I believe that what @creators truly meant in their article is that the quantity of hashtags doesn’t matter as much as the relevancy to the content.

Generally, most posts should have 25-30 hashtags, but it’s better to use fewer, than to use 30 random ones!

Be sure to include the hashtags that are the best descriptors to make it easy for your target audience to find your posts and for the Instagram algorithm to understand its contents. Continue to monitor how successful your hashtag sets are performing and adjust them as you learn more about what gives the best results.

And let’s end today’s article with these wise words:

Remember: Growth looks different for everyone. 

So does Instagram hashtag research.

I hope that you got some value from this! Please like or share this Instagram lesson, especially if you know somebody who should read it. I share a lot of this information for free because I rely on word of mouth to reach people!

If you’ve got any questions or doubts, let me know down below. I’m here to help.

PS. Some time ago someone from our community asked me about the Instagram photo editing process, and presets I personally recommend – and SPOILER ALERT – I will spill the tea, and reveal all the parts of the process I use in the upcoming post. For now: I’m testing new Lightroom Instagram presets – have you heard about them? I find them pretty cool – hopefully we will analyze them in our next post!

The post The Optimal Number of Hashtags – How Many Hashtags Should You Use in 2023? appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Let’s be honest: 2021 was a bit crazy. Oh, it really WAS. The biggest news to come out of Adam Mosseri’s official announcement was definitely that Instagram no longer wants to be seen as a “regular photo-sharing” app. Well, at the same time, with the Tiktok’s phenomenon, this shouldn’t be so shocking. What about 2022? Are we expecting a year full of big surprises? What content formats and features should you focus on to make the algorithm like you? 

I’ve decided to do something refreshing to keep you updated!

Let’s discuss all the critical trending formats you need to jump on (or at least: test them out!) to succeed in 2022

I want to show you exactly how to use them strategically, how to create unique content using these features, and how to grow an engaged following and not fall behind.

My goal? Make you pretty open to trying new things on the Gram and see what’s working FOR YOU. 

In 2021 a few things have revealed themselves. First, jumping on trending formats is essential. Because look, are you having difficulty drawing attention to your IG profile? Be honest. It can be dramatically confusing to pour your whole heart and soul into content creation without reaching as many potential followers as you want. You probably already know about trending formats, but you may not know how to use them to gain the kind of traction you dream of. Trending features are significant for aspiring influencers and businesses to use because they can attract new attention for your profile, translate to thousands of sales, and create stronger relationships with your community (and potential followers from your target audience). So let’s go! 

Here’s what you can expect to learn today:

• Does New Year mean new trending formats? 
• What formats are trending right now, and why they can help you get back your points in growing your IG
• How to experiment with these formats with an openness that sounds like: “I haven’t tried ya, but I’m intrigued!”
• Why Reels are literally the most fantastic format ever
• Which trending formats will get you more followers/sales?

Video Content – The King of Trends 

As you probably already know, in 2021 video format was slowly but surely becoming the king of the Gram. We have to keep in mind that TikTok was announced as the most intensively growing social media platform out there, and Instagram didn’t want to fall behind! To survive in this competitive world, the Gram had to adapt. That’s why all the video updates started to roll out, and our fav platform started prioritizing Reels. From my perspective, it was a smart move, as Instagram is so saturated with regular posts, described with irrelevant hashtags, slam-bang content, and plenty of ads that it was hard to break through this noise at times.

New formats give us new opportunities for being discovered more quickly – it’s proven that the algorithm rewards you for using new trending formats. So what kind of content should you be prioritizing? 

Reels: yup, yup, you already know that! Reels are currently considered the ultimate number one tactic for organic growth on Instagram. Look at this:

They’re bringing us back to the old days of good organic growth from producing creative content. If you haven’t hopped on the short, entertaining videos bandwagon, but you want to reach your target audience and attract new people, it’s high time to start creating reels, because we don’t like statements like this, but if you aren’t making any short videos, your profile can easily fall behind. Take your chance! I’m taking mine as well!

Anyway, we know what can be stopping you from trying: creating videos can seem like a daunting, time-consuming challenge if you’re used to publishing only regular, static posts. We won’t lie: sometimes it gets tough, and it’s too easy to lose track of time, but never fear, there are some nice ways to create appealing content in less than an hour. The good news? Reels have a low-key nature. Hey, you’re not trying to produce high-quality, huge budget films for yourself or your business! You’re trying to create funny, relatable content that supports the topics you talk about on your profile, so NO PRESSURE! 

Reels are fueled mainly by trends. Side benefit? You often don’t even have to come up with your own concepts, you can just adapt trending ideas from your niche.

How to make people enjoy your short videos, and how to get potential followers to watch your reels without skipping? 

You basically need to do one of the following two tricks:

• make your videos entertaining, short, and sweet. Your goal is to make your potential followers laugh and make them think “well, that’s brilliant, haha HA (the last “ha” is really important), I can relate!”
• give them a smart teaser to make them intrigued (so they simply can’t skip watching it), ex. “The craziest tactic of mine which helped me attract 36 000 new potential followers!” 

To give the algorithm a more straightforward message that your content is engaging, and worth spreading further, use CTAs like “double tap if you can relate!” or “Drop an emoji below if you’re feeling the same!”. It REALLY helps a lot. 

Benefit #2: Every time you publish a new reel, it will pop up in your audience’s feed as they scroll through new content. Also, for every new reel you can decide if you want to include it on your profile’s regular feed, and believe us: it’s beneficial if you’re going to experiment with formats, and you know your reels won’t necessarily match your feed’s aesthetic. Your reels post also shows on the dedicated reels feed, which is the magic spot for all the miracles. The Reels gallery includes videos from all Instagram creators, not just content from people you follow. What does it mean in practice? Your reels can be easily found by new potential followers from all around the world. That’s more than awesome. 

How Do You Make Your Posts Go Viral?

At this point, it’s pretty challenging and sometimes even impossible for a regular, static Instagram post to “go viral”. Why? Because in most cases, the people seeing your new content are people who already follow your profile (+ some random people browsing through hashtag galleries). 

Reels are different. With reels, your chance of your post going “viral” increases almost tenfold.

Check out the stats of one of IQ Hashtags reels below. The regular, traditional Instagram post had a reach of 800 accounts. This reels hit 11 279 views – that’s way over 10 times more than the reach of  regular Instagram post! 

Next Trending Format? Live Videos

Alright, alright, so this format isn’t totally new, but it is well worth the reminder when it comes to trending formats. Live videos are a bit intimidating for many creators (for me and for all our team as well, so you’re not alone!), but at the same time, they’re one of the least time-consuming forms of video content to create. Really.

When your audience hops on to your live, they know they won’t see the perfect, polished video. They know you’re recording it right there and right now. You can try this format and go into a live video with a scenario, a list of topics you want to discuss, or you can choose more spontaneous options and just engage with followers who join you.

Do you need fancy equipment to go live? NOT AT ALL. Chances are, you already own the only camera you truly need. Your smartphone. Anyway, when arranging a live video, make sure you’re in a quiet room so your tribe won’t hear any distracting background noise. Lighting is crucial for appealing video content as well! Our tips? Sitting next to the window is the best, budget option, but if you live somewhere where the sun sets really early or you have a chance to record only late at night, we suggest investing in an affordable and truly helpful ring light, so you can go live anytime, and anywhere. Shaky and unclear video will quickly turn your community off, so a tripod is also a purchase you should consider (there are many affordable options). 

Benefit #2: After you finish your live on Instagram, you can easily save it to your profile (like we did with the videos below), so new people can watch it later, and those live videos can become a permanent part of your profile. 

Next Trending Format I Adore (and chances are you will too): Carousels

There was a brief moment back in 2021 when we thought this format would fade away, because many creators were complaining that it doesn’t bring them good insights. But like the phoenix rising from the ashes, good days of carousels are back, and it seems they’re here to stay! Personally, I LOVE LOOOVE THEM – they’re a huge opportunity to keep your followers viewing your posts for a longer amount of time. 

That’s not magic, that’s simple math: swiping through many slides (up to 10!) takes a longer moment than looking at a single photo. If you aren’t a pro at Correl, Photoshop, Sketch or Illustrator, you can still achieve creative results with Canva (my fav tool, to be honest). Inspirations? Look at THIS:

Instagram Trending Formats – Q&A!

I get so many questions from all you guys asking alllll about Instagram trending formats. That’s why I gathered the repeating questions and I decided to start answering more of them via the Display Purposes Q&A column! Let’s go!

Should I experiment with Reels if I’m camera shy and I identify as an introvert?

That’s a great question, but hey, look, it doesn’t matter if you are an introvert or if you are a lil bit camera shy. 

First of all: you don’t have to be a super confident extravert to make it on the ‘Gram. There are plenty of introverts on the platform and they’re having fun as well! So the answer is: go for it! Exercise your creative muscles. 

You’re getting an official permission to be YOURSELF on your social media. If you have that goal to grow your profile, it’s important to do things that maybe make you feel a bit uncomfortable – many times, that’s exactly how you grow. 

Do I need fancy equipment to start enjoying creating video formats?

To be honest: if you’ve got a mobile phone, and maybe a laptop… Energy and a lil ambition and you can make it work, cause you have ALL you need  

Which trending formats will be the best choices for my profile?

I’m always trying to find the easiest ways for you to make friends with the current algorithms, and right now, the official research shows that the trio: reels, live videos and carousels posts are taking over Instagram. Which formats will be the best FOR YOU? Well, you need to experiment, test them out, analyze the insights and check for yourself. 

But you know me. I firmly believe pursuing Instagram mastery is one of the most valuable investments you can make in growing your personal brand/your business. If you’d like ME to audit your profile and research which formats can work wonders for YOUR content creation, there’s still a chance. 

Right now, I want to make this 1:1 game-changing work accessible to as many of you as possible. I have dropped the audit’s price from last year to prove my commitment. Book it now (for 29$) as this is the only way you can get this kind of 1:1 audit and my personalized insights

Do I have to dance and sing on my Reels?

Holy moly, no (if you don’t want to) ! Want tips for creating Reels for your personal brand/business without twerking? That’s what we will discuss here next week!

Honestly, the key to winning Reels strategy might be to find a balance between lowkey, spontaneous and highly entertaining content and a bit more educational to keep more demanding users engaged. Or knowing which your target audience prefers!

Will Reels increase my reach?

Engagement is key when it comes to growing your profile and you want your followers coming back for more. Reels can definitely do that. See what you can do with them, keep testing and learning. Follow along with Reels trends and trending sounds and try to hop on them as quick as you can. And most important: have fun with them! 

Should I use hashtags when posting Reels?

You definitely should! I cover every aspect of this dilemma right here: Are hashtags for reels important? Does adding them hurt or help your content? Here’s what you should know

That’s all for today! As always, let us know if you need anything – what else would you like to know?

The post Jump on Trending Formats! New Year=New Instagram Trends? appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Hey pals! Christmas and New Year’s Eve are coming. Or should we write #newyearseve? 

It’s time to start prepping our Instagram content for this holiday season and all those white days filled with winter wonderland landscapes (if you’re lucky, of course – if not, don’t worry, half of our team probably won’t see snow either). But before we do, and before you start the traditional seasonal hashtags hunt, we have one critical tip. Be careful with #gloves, #ice, and #skateboarding – these hashtags are banned! Using them in one of your posts can result in your account getting the infamous “shadowban” symptoms. So all kidding aside, because we don’t want that, right?! 

Every year around the second half of December, Instagram feeds start filling up with #winterwonderland and #christmasiscoming posts and videos. You’re probably witnessing that right now! Do you want to join with your festive reels and creative winter holidays posts? That’s a perfect idea. Let’s go!

Decide how you want to address this winter season in your Instagram strategy and pick the best festive and winter-related hashtags to boost the reach of your content. Not sure where to start? Good. We mean… We’ve prepared EVERYTHING you should know! Better yet! We have created a free Instagram handbook with a HUGE bundle of festive and Christmas season-related hashtags to help all of you: influencers, creators, business owners, and solopreneurs get the most out of your upcoming posts by using the most effective hashtags there are for this time of the year. Our Instagram hashtags directory features over 400 of the best festive and winter-related Instagram hashtags for you to use for maximum reach and highest exposure.

We’ve done in-depth hashtag research, so you don’t have to! Come and get it (as Selena Gomez sings in one of her old songs *don’t judge us, it’s our guilty pleasure SOMETIMES*)

If you’re an Instagram enthusiast, aspiring influencer, or ambitious business owner looking to up your hashtag game, click here to skip straight to our list of over 400 festive and winter-related hashtags for your posts. Simply download it, keep it on your phone for reference, and paste your desired hashtags whenever you need them!

Curious about what’s included in our festive hashtags handbook? Let’s take a look!

CATEGORIES INCLUDED IN OUR FESTIVE AND WINTER-RELATED HASHTAGS INSTAGRAM HANDBOOK:

• Winter holiday season
• Christmas
• New Years

Safe Christmas season, New Year’s Eve, and winter time-related hashtags – yass, most effective hashtags for #christmasperiod and #newyearseve to grow YOUR Instagram

At the time our wintertime hashtags handbook was created, every hashtag we have included was 101% SAFE. Meaning, none of the hashtags we picked are currently banned on Instagram. And if you’re extra careful, you can always double-check, just to verify if nothing has changed (sometimes banned hashtags change in a blink of an eye) and head over to IQ Hashtags Banned Hashtags checker (that’s always a good idea). 

To wrap-up!

There you have it – the most effective hashtags you can use to amp up your festive and wintertime Instagram posts. Track your stats to make sure you reach the target audience you’re going after, and – that’s for extra points – don’t forget to measure your hashtag performance (you can use IQ Hashtags to do it). Good luck!

[download_after_email id=”1308″]

The post The most effective festive hashtags – our FREE festive hashtags handbook appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Move over Ethereum, engaging content is the new currency. All day we’re consuming new posts and reels like hectolitres of coffee on your best friend’s birthday morning (or the morning after). People are literally glued to their screens all day long.

So, it should be easy to catch their attention, right? Nothing more deceptive – it’s harder than ever because they’re getting more and more selective. Did you notice your latest content gets a much lower reach than it used to? You blame hashtags. We know it. They don’t work as they used to. Instagram needs to fix the algorithm; hashtags need fixing as well. Sounds a bit like your thoughts?  One of the things I’ve wanted to do in 2021 for my Instagram profile is to grow my follower base and attract my target audience, but hashtags aren’t by my side, so there’s no practical way to do that. Familiar as well? 

We’re discussing with many creators every week, EVERY DAY, and believe us: these words are surprisingly common. Been hearing this a lot lately! So, the first question that pops up in our head sounds: can it be true? Should we blame hashtags, or are they innocent, and something else is off? Is there anything wrong with the way hashtags are working atm?

People around us get SO CONFUSED with Instagram and hashtags. And we guess it’s also because there are so many conflicting insights out there. So we need to stop it. We need to make it much more straightforward. 

We’ve done our due research and have come up with some pretty fantastic facts and debunked myths. Today’s blog post is all about our insights, followed up with ways to implement the tips we’ve prepared for you. What’s more, most of what we’re about to show you, you can accomplish with just one tool — IQ Hashtags (if we had a dollar for every time we mention this tool here, we’d be richer than Kardashians. But we’ve noticed that IQ Hashtags created an affiliate program, so maybe it’s a bright idea to join). 

So, without unnecessary ado, allow us to share with you everything you’ll need to know about Instagram hashtags and the way they work in 2022. In today’s Instagram lesson, we’ll be covering the following topics:

• Are hashtags still working on Instagram the way they used to?
• Why don’t you see any results from your hashtag strategy?
• Is hashtag strategy overrated, and do you really need it?
• Should you use 30 hashtags every time you post?
• How to use the power of hashtags for stellar growth?
• Should you listen to those skeptical YouTubers who claim that hashtags are already passee?
• What should you do when you can’t figure out why your hashtags aren’t working anymore?
• Are hashtags a good way to get trending on the Instagram explore page?
• What should you do when hashtags are acting weird for you?
• Is it true that you don’t need hashtags, you only need to pump out valuable posts?

First things first. Let’s answer the most burning question, and let us tell you… 

Hashtags are alive. They’re definitely not dead!

Hey, we don’t have anything better to categorize our content, and we won’t anytime soon!

Hashtags are also the most basic way to connect with new potential followers. You know – Instagram is ever-evolving, the algorithm changes, Adam Mosseri’s statement may surprise you at times, but the basics of the platform definitely won’t change, and the basics of content-discovery and content-categorizing are still the same: hashtags.

If they’re alive, why don’t they guarantee high reach every time you post something new?

Well, sometimes hashtags perform really well, your post reach + engagement skyrocket, and you can’t be happier, and sometimes you can’t get sadder because all you get after you post is radio silence. Actually, there are many factors which determine that – not only hashtags (and we’re discussing them in many of our Instagram lessons, for example here: Why aren’t you getting likes and views through hashtags on Instagram anymore? 5 mistakes you may be guilty of making without even knowing ) 

Why do so many creators claim that hashtags aren’t working anymore? Well, sometimes hashtags don’t work because other people are simply not interested in what they’re posting – and hashtags shouldn’t be blamed for it. That’s the harsh truth nobody really likes, but there’s already too much average content out there – take your time and create valuable, authentic posts. Generic content isn’t enough anymore. No matter how great of a hashtag you find, you won’t get many views and high engagement if you don’t have appealing content. Period. So prepare the best content that you can create. 

Hashtags are still your most effective way to get discovered.

Are you a celebrity?

A Hollywood actress?

Ryan Gosling’s wife?

If none of the above, you certainly need hashtags

Why? You can create the most creative or entertaining to tears content, but how can your people find it if you don’t add hashtags? Even good luck needs some help! No matter what pessimistic marketing gurus are telling you, people use hashtags to hunt for new content and new accounts to follow. Do you want them to find you? 

If you’re sick of hearing “hashtag strategy, you need a good hashtag strategy” all the time, listen – it isn’t as problematic as some Instagram gurus make out

Instagram hashtags are an incredible way to reach new audiences. You already know that. They can lead relevant people right to your fantastic content. Win-win. 

But, how do you choose those right Instagram hashtags? That may sound like a challenge, right? But to be totally honest, it doesn’t have to be complicated. AT ALL. 

Focus on your ideal follower intent. In everything we create and post on Instagram, we should always be focused on fulfilling the potential follower’s wants, needs, and desires. Someone from your target audience. 

Just focus on choosing hashtags that match your target audience.

Pro-tip #2: Look at each hashtag’s search volume. Search volume gives you a clear idea about how many users are searching for that given hashtag! Sure, it should be beneficial to choose hashtags that many people are looking for, but – cliche quote alert! – remember that quantity doesn’t always equal quality. Many, many times, it’s much better to opt for medium and lower-volume hashtags because chances are, they will be much more relevant to your target audience, so your content gets easier to be found. 

Where can you find the best ones for your niche?

We know what you’d like to say! Hashtag research takes up way too much time. Finding the targeted hashtags with the right volume in your niche can be stressful. Want an easier way to find great hashtags that real people from your target audience are looking for? Let the hashtag research tool do this work for you. It’s your turn to be a bit lazy. Pardon our French – SMART, NOT LAZY!

A hashtag research tool like IQ Hashtags (that’s the one we’re using as well) will do the trick! This magical tool allows you to find new hashtag ideas in two main ways. Our fav is typing in a hashtag and getting back related ones.

Alright, that’s all for now! Targeted hashtags can open doors for opportunities that you can’t even imagine yet. When we started, we thought we’d only attract people from a small part of the world. Instead, we ended up writing and creating content for Instagram users from literally all around the globe! We can’t possibly predict what good hashtags could do for you, but we’re excited to find out! Let us know in the comments, and, if you need some extra help (regarding your profile, attracting your target audience, or some other Instagram-related advice) – we love reading your questions, and then we answer them in our Instagram lessons, so don’t you ever hesitate to ask

The post Do Hashtags Still Work on Instagram in 2023? Are They Really Dead? Do They Still Matter? appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

You see the danger with sudden reach drops is, you don’t always see it coming. It can creep up on you like an unexpected zombie in one of those haunted house experiences, and before you know it, you’re terrified of checking your stats, analyzing all the last month’s insights, or even creating new content. To be honest, we don’t think enough people talk about this, and fair enough, no one wants to admit they’re having a hard time with Instagram, and they’re truly worried about the numbers behind their profile. The reality is that it happens to the best creators as well – sometimes your hashtag strategy fails or simply needs some updates, and well-thought improvements. 

In many of our sincere conversations with you, we hear that you often get a creative Instagram rut, and you have no clue how to get out of it because you keep on trying, you spend long hours polishing your content, and no matter what, your reach remains low – absolutely no matter how inspirational and educational your posts are. 

We know it: it’s a wild journey of self-doubting, constant fear of not being good or inspiring enough for a content creator. That’s where the imposter syndrome craps in. 

The good news is that most probably, it’s not you!

It’s your hashtag strategy that needs some extra work, and you need to stop it from standing in your way. What you focus on indeed expands – so we need to focus on making sure that your hashtag strategy is working FOR YOU, not against you, okay?

But how? Because when you’re there, and your reach is constantly dropping down, it feels impossible, right? Yup, we know those feelings, and you’re not alone. But what’s cliche, but accurate as well: nothing changes if nothing changes.

Some hashtag strategy changes may be highly needed. Let’s check it! 

Today we’ll discuss in detail:

• Why your hashtag strategy doesn’t work, and how to fix it?
• Why do you feel like the hashtags you’re using are dead?
• Why don’t your hashtags bring any new engagement?
• Are you following the most crucial hashtags do’s and don’ts?
• How to effectively attract new followers?
• Is it still possible to grow a big tribe with relevant hashtags?
• Are relevant hashtags as important as social media gurus are telling you?
• What hashtag strategy mistakes may be ruining your growth?
• How to avoid reach drops?
• What are the critical hashtag strategy rules you should never forget about?
• Where should you place your hashtags? In the caption or in the comments area?
• Can you repeat the same set of hashtags and still see good results?

Are you ready to dive in deeper? Let’s go! If you’d like to tap into the consciously developed hashtag strategy’s potential to reach a bigger audience, you’re on the right track. Upping your hashtag game is the ultimate way to go. It’s essential to be more strategic, creative, and intentional about your hashtag research and strategy implementation.

How? Let’s begin with discussing the most common hashtag strategy that may seriously damage your efforts and hinder your growth. Learning from the mistakes of other content creators is a path with so many advantages. So, what are the most frequently repeated mistakes that you need to avoid?

1. You don’t care about hashtags relevancy

That’s actually a really common mistake!

Your hashtags should primarily be the phrases that describe the content you post or the audiences you want to reach. A relevant hashtag is closely tied to your niche! It can’t be too generic, like #pretty, #today – these hashtags won’t attract the people you care about, the ones with high potential to become engaged members of your community.

Relevant hashtags are so beneficial because they make your posts discoverable – and people can easily find content related to a particular topic they’re interested in, and you can quickly gain new followers from your target audience. It’s like a win-win: they find what they’re looking for, and you’re attracting potential high-quality followers.

How to identify the most relevant hashtags? You can do it manually by researching your competitors’ picks and observing tendencies, or you can use both free and paid tools to find relevant hashtags and explore the best fits. The latter is a huge timesaver and can save you from many troubles as well – so we wouldn’t hesitate and trust one of the most extended hashtag research tools. Can we recommend anything trustworthy? We use IQ Hashtags – in our opinion, it’s the most intuitive and comprehensive one out there. Its Hashtag Search feature gives you the best options, driving actual results, as it provides an extensive list of hashtags that relate to a primary keyword (it can be your niche or one of the key areas of your profile). 

2. You overuse popular or… too specific hashtags

Hashtags with low search volume are often too specific and won’t bring you any satisfying results, as almost no one is looking for these hashtags. The ugly truth: content associated with these types of hashtags are unlikely to be seen simply because there are too few people interested in it!

At the other end of the spectrum, we have many overly popular hashtags. Will they become a better choice? Not at all! They have nothing to do with boosting your reach and attracting new followers from your target audience as well.

Another word of caution: high competition hashtags mean there are too many other content creators competing for ranking high for those hashtags. They’re just too competitive, and your posts will disappear in a blink of an eye at the speed of light, as plenty of new posts described with those hashtags are being uploaded every second of the day.

There’s also a high risk that they won’t attract anyone from your target audience, as they’re just too generic and overloaded with spammy content.

Stick to medium-size, niched, and targeted hashtags – they’re the most strategic choices!

3. You don’t have time for in-depth research

We’ve already talked about hashtags relevancy and how to find the best fits, but hashtag research is so crucial, it deserves another point! Far too many content creators shoot themselves in the foot by neglecting to choose and use hashtags strategically.

Hashtag research is worth EVERY MINUTE OF IT. Don’t be in such a hurry, you don’t have time for researching the most beneficial choices and analyzing the performance of your current hashtags.

Analyze, analyze, analyze and draw conclusions—test different hashtag sets. Save many collections of the most relevant hashtags. Observe your competitors. Good research can tell you vital information. Actually, research should be one of the very first steps in the hashtag strategy developing process, so getting it wrong or neglecting it and not doing it at all sets you up for a massive disappointment, and we don’t want it, right?

4. You repeat the same set of hashtags all over again

While you may think repeating the same hashtags all over again will drive more targeted followers to your profile, it could actually do the opposite.

Why? You’re reaching the same group of people, over and over again! Every new hashtag gives you a unique chance to attract a totally new audience – so don’t you waste it! While it might be tempting to repeat this one golden set, avoid using it too often. Instead, mix old hashtags with some new ones, research trending ones, and save at least 4-10 different sets of hashtags for different types of posts.

5. You put your hashtags in the comments

In the past months, Instagram has become much better at letting people in on how the algorithms and Instagram search engine work, and Adam Mosseri promises he won’t slow down. Most recently, he has ended the as old as the hills debate about “where should the hashtags go?” – announcing that putting hashtags in the caption gives you extra opportunities for ranking in Instagram search engine results and is much better for the platform’s content optimization.

“For a post to be found in Search, your keywords and hashtags should be in the caption, NOT the comments” – that’s what he said.

We know what you may want to say: ugh, Instagram and this whole hashtag strategy thing is giving me a headache! We know, we know, analyzing your hashtag strategy and sticking to the updates rules can be overwhelming at first. But if you’ve identified your main mistakes, have a polished strategy in place, and take courageous action, you’ll be rewarded with an engagement boost and new targeted followers!

Nothing magical comes easy. It’s hard work polishing your Instagram strategy and keeping up with the news – but you’re capable of staying on track regardless! 

The post Why aren’t you getting likes and views through hashtags on Instagram anymore? 5 mistakes you may be guilty of making without even knowing appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.