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.

Maybe you want to develop a better hashtag strategy, but you keep putting it off. Perhaps you’re wondering if hashtags are still working in 2021, if they can make an actual difference, and if you’re able to find the well-tailored ones which are the right choices to quicken your profile’s growth? Maybe you’ve seen hashtags’ power and possibilities before and feel like you want to boost your posts’ visibility that way again?

IS THIS YOU?

Listen: this is the sign you’ve been waiting for, and we’re here to discuss it! Let’s dive deeper into the hashtags’ magic: the way they’re still game-changing in 2021, how to make them work in your favor, and the entire hashtags’ “savoir vivre” you need to know to avoid Instagram faux-pas and activities that are simply wasting your time.

We’re big advocates for hashtags (no surprise there!) – but we won’t deny: it’s also important to acknowledge that choosing the most tailored ones is not black and white. They’re an INCREDIBLY helpful, indispensable tool to make your content searchable and discoverable, but only when you know how to use them right. Good news: it’s never too late, or too early to learn that, so the best idea is to do it… Today, right? Yup. Even if your second name is procrastination (no offense, of course – it’s human nature, we all know that)!

“I USE HASHTAGS, BUT I GOT DISCOURAGED BECAUSE THEY DON’T WORK”

How many times have we heard similar confessions and complaints? Can’t count them all, but we’re absolutely sure that if we had a dollar for every single one of them, we’d be richer than Kim Kardashian (or maybe Khloé? We’re not quite sure which one makes the better comparison).

But let us tell you: if they don’t work, something is off. 

Luckily, we’ll arm you with clear hints about what it can be so that you can fix it immediately. Let’s begin, shall we?!

DO’s and DON’Ts – what is boosting and what is hindering your profile’s growth?

Here we go. Let’s analyze what can be stunting your efforts. We also need to bust some hashtags myths – there are more than 200 million business accounts on Instagram, so you need to learn how to stand out and become more discoverable and not to fall into some popular Instagram traps. Following our dos and don’ts will help you improve your stats quicker than you can imagine – and, what is even more crucial: attract your target audience followers. That’s what it is all about.

1 // Are the hashtags you choose matching your content? 

Don’t you get a bit frustrated when you’re looking for foodie inspiration, let’s say you’re going to spend your summer holidays in Santorini, you type in the hashtag #santorinifood to do research, and then, out of nowhere, you see plenty of photos which have been taken in… Mexico? Don’t you have these “hey, that’s not my dream greek food!” thoughts running through your head? Aren’t you a bit mad that you’re finding things you don’t want to see under the #santorinifood hashtag?

That’s it. What goes around comes around, so don’t make the same mistake when you’re posting your photos!

DON’T: don’t use random hashtags, hoping they will bring you higher reach. Only those matching your content will do that – you don’t want to make anyone mad or frustrated, right? What’s even worse, people can see your behavior as spammy and notify Instagram that they don’t want to see your posts under given hashtags. 

DO: choose hashtags that really accurately describe what you’re posting. We absolutely recommend picking the ones that describe your niche, your caption, your photo, your graphics, your business, and your target market.

If you have no idea how to find 30 good ones, we know an extremely helpful tool that can find plenty of right hashtags that are a good fit for your profile. Chances are you’ve already heard about it: IQ Hashtags rings a bell, huh?

It’s a web app with everything you need to find thousands of highly-targeted hashtags that will bring in new target audience followers, boost your engagement, and ultimately lead to satisfying stats. Take it as a pro tip from us because it literally saves SO MUCH time.

2 //Hashtags’ search volume – should you really go for the most popular hashtags?

Some creators still believe that using the most popular hashtags will make their posts go viral. That’s not how it works. Using ultra-popular hashtags isn’t a beneficial strategy for getting more views and higher engagement: simply because people are posting new content with these hashtags all day long, all around the world, so their search volume is growing at a speed of light! Your post is going to disappear there quicker than you can even imagine.

Don’t: don’t use any hashtag with over 1 million posts associated with it. When you add a hashtag like this to your post, your content may appear on the Hashtag Page for a split second but is almost instantly buried by plenty of accidental posts published in the exact second.

Do: pick niche, medium-sized hashtags, try them out, experiment, and observe the results!

3 // Are banned hashtags real? Should you care about them?

Double yes.

Using banned hashtags will make your content become ‘undiscoverable’. Some hashtags only have a temporary ban, while many are permanently banned. And, what happens if you use some of them? You risk seeing a dramatic decrease in organic reach. 

DO: to avoid these harmful hashtags, you have to know which ones are banned, right? The blocklist is changing all the time, so to keep up with it – trust a tool that guarantees the most updated base of banned hashtags. IQ Hashtags is the one to recommend here as well – as in our opinion, it’s the most practical banned hashtags checker out there. You could be choosing banned and limited hashtags without realizing it – so it’s better to have your finger on the pulse.

4 // Less is more? Not this time. What about using 30 hashtags every time you post?

Instagram officially lets you use up to 30 hashtags on your EVERY post. And why do we think that using all of them is a good idea? Let us explain. Every single hashtag exposes your content to a different group of potential followers. The more exposure you get, the higher chances for valuable followers who will be genuinely interested in what you have to say, right? So don’t limit your reach and your engagement by using too few hashtags. 

DON’T: don’t listen to marketing gurus who claim that using more than five hashtags makes you look desperate. That’s completely ridiculous! When you focus on growth, and you want to take the next step towards building a thriving, authentic Instagram tribe that builds your Instagram imperium and ultimately leads to more collaborations or/and sales, you can’t ignore the opportunities that using 30 hashtags gives you. Hashtags make your content possible to find – without them, it would be extremely difficult for new potential followers to come across your posts and find your profile.

DO: Use 30 hashtags whenever you can. If you need help with the research process – use IQ Hashtags to save time and find the most effective ones for your niche. Hashtags can bring you the most loyal followers – and they have the power to turn your hobby into a business. And the best thing: they have nothing to do with money, they give you ENTIRELY ORGANIC REACH. 

5 // Where to post hashtags? Caption vs. comments? Does it make a difference?

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has confirmed: “for a post to be found in search, put your hashtags in the CAPTIONS, not in the comment section.” Caption wins and guarantees better optimization – Adam said so!

When you place hashtags in the caption area, you’re doubling their power. That’s extremely exciting – when somebody is looking for your specific hashtags, your posts can be found via the keyword search page. Hashtags put in the comment section will still work – but why would you give up on some extra exposure? 

DO: Stick to posting hashtags in the caption area, not in the first comment. This is a new principle that should be followed! 

That’s it for today. We just wanted to clear the most crucial things up! If you keep these insights in mind, we’re confident you will see a boost not only in the number of likes and comments but in long-term engagement factors as well. 

+ We’d love to hear your thoughts on this – what other things would you add to the list? What helps you maintain and improve your Instagram growth? Let’s chat in the comments!

The post Secret strategies from Instagram marketing specialists. How to use hashtags: all the do’s and don’ts appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Picture it. You’ve spent long hours polishing new content, and now you’ve got something extremely exciting to share with your tribe. A seamless carousel, eye-catching graphics with secret sauce tricks from your niche, a shiny new tutorial, immensely creative Reels. You can’t wait to SHARE IT. No wonder you want to get as many eyes on it as possible to obtain satisfying post engagement and gratifying post reach. We all know it from experience: coming up with new content isn’t a piece of cake, ever. And it’s much, MUCH worse when you spend ages doing it, and then all you hear is radio silence once you post.

But let’s go back to our scenario for a sec.

You put all your heart into it: you type out an engaging caption, even longer than ever before, add your well-thought-out photos or videos, and here you go: it’s time to post. Enter and voila. 

While you wait for the likes, shares, and comments to cascade in, you head over to the kitchen to make yourself a well-deserved chai latte (well, if you’re like Kate from our team, and you can’t live without these delicious spices), and as you’re taking the first sip, you smile to yourself as you imagine 50, no 100… Maybe even 1000 new followers appreciating your effort and rewarding it with authentic admiration. Plenty of hearts. True rapture.

So you skip back to your desk, sit down comfortably, wiggle your smartphone, and click on the ‘Gram icon.

And here comes the WTF thought.

What. What’s happening here? ZERO likes. ZERO comments. Zero, zero, zero. Not to mention (heavy-breathing): only 2 users have even SEEN your content. Two people out of 1000.

You start to lose your enthusiasm (let’s be honest: you lost it exactly ten seconds ago), sweat a little, and raise your brows. Why, WHY doesn’t anyone see your new content?!

Keep calm. We can fix it. Breathe in, and breathe out. Let the dark thoughts and heavy complaints wash over you and be with those feelings.

Then, it’s time to face the truth: most probably, Instagram’s algorithm isn’t hurting you. You’ve done it to yourself. Why did your strategy lead to this? Great question. What SHOULD you do? Come on in!

How can you get people to see and ENGAGE with your posts?

Let’s discuss it – when it comes to good tactics, you need to think about at least a couple of things. First of all, the initial issue may be the fact that you’re waiting for new people to come to your profile. It can be the biggest reason for you not having ANY traffic: you’re not promoting your content. You would prepare your perfect post, publish it and expect it to get a lot of views and engagement without doing anything more. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. At least when you’re not from the Kardashians family.

There are so many outstanding accounts out there that getting views by chance/ or by being found randomly (without hashtags and without any kind of self-promotion) simply doesn’t happen anymore. You need to MAKE IT happen. And the best news? You can! And we’re here today to show you how.

First of all, we need to analyze your profile’s situation.

Let’s do it now: Check your recent posts and see which posts got the higher engagement and most likes. What for? This will help you understand your audience a bit. If all your friends are fit-food lovers and you’ve been sharing donuts recipes, this can be a SERIOUS reason for the lack of comments or any engagement on your posts. That’s just an easy example, but yup: that’s how it works. 

Let’s dive deeper. So what’s the MAIN problem? 

We often see people blaming the Instagram algorithm for a drop in reach and engagement, and it’s well… Partly true. But only PARTLY.

The algorithm actually is trying to work in your favor – of course, if you know how to master the tricks to collaborate with it and discover how to tickle its fancy. There can be over a million reasons under the sun as to why people aren’t seeing your content. Nevertheless, the main reason is that you haven’t quite worked out how to become genuinely DISCOVERABLE.

Let’s dig deeper to really hit this home for your problem, find out where you’re leaving engagement and views on the table and discuss quick fixes you can IMPLEMENT right now to destroy the worries. So, if you’ve seen a decent drop in your engagement, likes, comments, and pairs of eyeballs, it’s probably one of the following:

1 // Your content isn’t encouraging engagement – and the algorithm notices that! 

Want to discover where you’re dropping the engagement ball? 

The truth is, Instagram profoundly cares about their users enjoying the time spent on the platform, so they will stay there the longest they can. Instagram wants users to log in, pull up a chair, and scroll, scroll, scroll. How can they make it happen? By displaying content that they actually LOVE to see. But hey, hey, wait…how does Instagram know if people want to see something?

They analyze what people engage with. Yup. The algorithm analyses what people like, comment, and share. It takes notice and serves up MORE of similar content to keep users fascinated and addicted. That way, users see content that they surely enjoy all the time and keep coming back for more ALL THE TIME.

Now back to YOUR PROBLEM. 

It will hit hard. On the contrary: if your followers never interact with your posts, they’ll rarely see updates from you. That doesn’t mean they’ll never see posts from you. If you post something that’s earning a lot of engagement – REALLY A LOT – that post will likely appear in their newsfeed.

Essentially, that’s what Instagram algorithms (because actually, there are many of them) do. They take all the data they have about your community and wheel and deal to come up with the best possible newsfeed experience for every user. 

Vital tip: It’s a bit similar to karma circle: you get out of Instagram what you put into it. Instagram engagement isn’t only about how people engage with your content, but it’s also about how YOU engage with other creators.

If you like and comment on other creator’s posts, you show your appreciation for them, engagement on your own posts will also increase. To increase engagement, you can also prepare captions that encourage others to like, comment or share your post. 

Welcome EVERYBODY in, reply to every comment, engage with your followers, and pretty please: make sure they feel welcome. Instagram makes your content much more visible if it believes it’s what people enjoy seeing. 

Top tip #2: What’s also crucial: ensure what your audience wants and needs. When you’re posting stuff your tribe doesn’t truly like, Instagram can see that your engagement is down, so it significantly reduces your content reach. And then you get down on your photos or videos when you see the stats in the insights section.

Always keep in mind that Instagram prioritizes showing content that gets a lot of engagement. Posts that get a lot of QUICK engagement (right after being published) will be shown to a broader audience. The more engagement you get from your current followers, the more new eyeballs will discover your content. 

2 // You neglect hashtag research and use banned hashtags

This is huge, HUGE!

You’ve started using risky hashtags – Instagram hates hashtags that have been used too often for spammish photos and graphics and for content violating Instagram’s policy. Nothing slaughters reach like using the banned ones – Instagram’s team is trying to make the Instagram community an extremely safe place where people can feel comfortable expressing themselves. They impose a set of rules in order to make the platform enjoyable for everyone. Breaking these rules can result in a lower reach of your posts, a warning, a temporary ban, or – in the most extreme cases – even permanent removal from Instagram. Some hashtags are blocked because Instagram doesn’t want you to search for illegal, pirated, and inappropriate content – so they put those hashtags out of action!

Using them will cause your reach to plummet. They ruin your reach. 

Top tip: How do you know if a hashtag is banned?

The list of banned hashtags is long, and the problem with it is that it’s ever-evolving, and it changes daily. So how to avoid the risk and be 101% sure that your posts are banned-hashtags free?

There are online tools that can do the check for you: what is more, they have constant access to official Instagram’s list of banned hashtags updates, so you don’t have to worry whether your source of banned hashtags lists is valid.

Moreover, you can scan all your existing posts and detect all banned hashtags used in the past: so your posts will be entirely free of those forbidden ones. From our own experience and our clients’ ones, the tool most worth recommending is the one we’re using as well – IQ Hashtags. It’s the most innovative and intuitive tool out there – it’s definitely worth a try, as it will do all the hashtag scanning for you. More good news? IQ Hashtags gives you more helpful features to help you skyrocket your profile: you can find new hashtags trending in your niche, analyze your account’s data and see how your posts are performing in time. Give it a try. 

3 // Your posts have become predictable, generic, and… A bit boring 

As Jenna Kutcher has said once: your posts need to educate, entertain or empower your followers. So yeah. It’s all about E’ing it right. How to achieve it? Ask intriguing questions. Not just questions that are a clear cry for comments. Ask REALLY interesting questions relating to topics from your niche – because your audience can get easily bored too. 

Diversify your publications, so that it isn’t just “look at my products”, “buy now”, “visit my website” CTAs, and short posts that are almost THE SAME every week. Do you need some inspiration? Here we go:

• Share behind the scenes posts and backstage of your daily work
• use storytelling; it has the power! 
• hop on lives or IGTV
• create funny memes
• and focus on your followers as HUMANS

In a nutshell – you need to post content that encourages your followers to engage. Believe us when we say that.

To wrap-up!

We wanted to help you remove frustration by exposing the possible reasons your reach and engagement are dropping down. We hope we’ve also provided some quick fixes, and we believe these strategies will help you bring your good stats back to life and create stronger relationships with your followers. Play around with these strategies. Experiment. We’re SURE you’ll be pleased with how quickly you can increase the engagement of your posts. Because your goal is to have a highly engaged community and a profile with content so engaging that it knocks your followers’ socks off and makes them never want to leave, right? 

The post The real reasons why no one sees your posts (and what to do if your engagement rate is DEAD) appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Your hashtags may not work for several reasons, but that doesn’t mean that hashtags don’t work at all.

The most common reason for this is our own mistakes.

But don’t worry.

They can be fixed very quickly.

In this article we will explain why your hashtags are not working and how to fix it.

Let’s start!

#1 Instagram hashtags not working because… you use banned hashtags

Banned hashtags violate the rules of the Instagram platform, which is why Instagram blocked them.

That’s the fact.

If at least one of your 30 hashtags is banned, all others are restricted.

Some hashtags (for example related to pornography, terrorism, hate speech, verbal and physical violence) are permanently blocked.

Hashtags reported by other users or generating a lot of spam are blocked temporarily, so their status may change from day to day.

Therefore, it is important to check the hashtags before each publication.

You can check them here.

Be sure to check them in “real time”, because some of them can be banned temporarily, and then unbanned and blocked again.

In addition, use the same hashtags tool to check if you have banned hashtags throughout your profile, because it can affect visibility of your account.

If you publish a lot of such content, Instagram may think that your account is focused on publishing content that does not comply with the regulations and may begin to treat all your content as suspicious and limit your reach – and we do not want that!

Go to the IG profile analysis tab, open the list of banned hashtags and be sure to edit the content and remove the banned hashtags from the posts or archive posts with these hashtags.

#2 Instagram hashtags not working because…. you use too large or too small hashtags

Did you know that hitting the TOP9 of the hashtag is responsible for the highest reach of your photo?

TOP 9 is the most popular photos that were published under a given hashtag.

Whether a photo is popular is primarily influenced by the interest it creates: likes, comments, shares, time spent on the photo and reading its description, etc.

Under a large hashtag, the competition is very large and maybe that’s why you don’t get to the TOP9 and have the impression that your hashtags are not working and you do not receive enough views from hashtags.

It is possible that you are also using too small, niche hashtags, under which no one is looking for content, so you have low hashtag reach.

What can you do to get to the TOP9 to increase your hashtag reach?

Correctly specify the hashtag size.

You can use the Hashtags Performance tool by IQhashtags.com to check exactly which hashtag you get to TOP9.

Experiment and then analyze and on this basis determine the range of hashtags.

How do you specify a good hashtag range for your account?

It’s simple!

• Add photos to Instagram and check Hashtags Performance tool, check which hashtags hit your photo to the TOP9,
• Analyze and save hashtags’ ranges,
• Choose hashtags from given range for next photos on Instagram!

#3 Instagram hashtags not working because…. hashtags do not match the subject of the photo

Users searching for content under a given hashtag.

The first thing they see is visual content, so if what they see does not match what they were looking fo, they can report to Instagram that this content is inappropriate.

They can hide your photo using the “Don’t show for this hashtag” from the hashtag view or while they are watching the selected hashtag, and the wrongly described photo will be displayed in their feed.

That is why it is important to add hashtags that are related to the subject of your visual content.

Resume

Don’t worry if one in several photos doesn’t get a high reach.

It happens!

Analyze, experiment and be consistent!

After a few publications, you’ll begin to understand better how hashtags work and see the first results.

The post Instagram hashtags not working? Here are the 3 most common reasons! appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

If you have read the previous article, you already know what they are and why you must avoid them:

However, how do you recognize and check banned hashtags on Instagram?

In this text you will learn:

• The methods for checking banned hashtags on Instagram,
• The tools you can use to automatically check for hashtags,
• The pros and cons of these methods and tools,
• Why checking banned hashtags from the past is important.

Methods for checking hashtags on Instagram

Among the available methods we can currently mention manual analysis and automatic analysis.

It is worth adding that both options have their pros and cons, so read carefully the study for each method to finally choose the best.

Manual analysis is, simply, manual checking of hashtags on Instagram.

Automatic analysis is the use of tools that will check hashtags for you.

Manual analysis

• Method:

Enter the hashtag that you want to use under your new photo or video in the Instagram search engine.

Search for it and then go to its website.

For hashtags permanently banned that also grossly violate the Community Rules, you will not be able to search for them on the site.

Hashtags banned permanently or periodically due to reports or spam, you can easily search.

You will recognize their status by the fact that the tag page (at the very top) will display a short annotation about their “blocking” (hiding recent content due to community reports).

• Pros:

This method is very effective because the analysis is carried out in real time directly on the platform.

Another advantage is that it is completely free.

So much for pros, time for cons.

• Cons:

Inability to bulk check the entire set of tags.

This means that you must manually enter each hashtag and see if the content is blocked.

If you add 30 hashtags under a photo, you must repeat this action 30 times before each new Instagram publication.

Another downside is that checking old photos with this method is very tedious, although of course possible.

Assuming, however, that during the life of your profile you have used several hundred or even several thousand unique tags, you would have to manually check all of them in the Instagram search engine.

And then get rid of them, for example by archiving the photo (if you used it in the description) or by deleting the comment (if you entered the hashtag in the comment).

I will write why you should do this in the last paragraph

Automatic analysis

Otherwise, hashtag analysis using dedicated tools is also an effective method if you use solutions that allow you to check hashtags in real time.

This is done automatically after entering the hashtag or the whole set in a special field of the tool.

Then the platform is polled for each of the selected tags.

• Method:

You enter a hashtag or a set of hashtags in the search field and wait for the tool to check your queries and provide their results.

iqhashtags/bannedhashtags

You copy the hashtags that have been confirmed as valid by the tool (they are not blocked).

• Pros:

The biggest plus is the time saving, which you can use for other activities, such as preparing an engaging description under the photo.

Unlike Instagram, the tools allow you to check even whole sets of hashtags in one search (IQhashtags , BannedHashtags).

However, this is not all of the advantages over Instagram analysis.

Some hashtag analysis tools allow you to check published photos from the past, whose descriptions or comments contain banned hashtags (IQhashtags).

Information that the tools are in a free version (BannedHashtags, IQhashtags) is definitely a plus, although they have their limitations.

In case of paid versions of tools (IQhashtags), hashtags are checked in real-time, which is why the results are 100% up-to-date and compatible with the platform, and the analysis itself takes place instantly.

Time for cons!

• Minuses:

Free solutions also have some disadvantages.

In some tools hashtag database in the free plan is updated every few days (BannedHashtags & free version of IQhashtags), so some tags may be “not caught” by the tool.

However, this problem does not occur in the paid plan (IQhashtags), where the “Real Time Check” option is available.

Why do you need to constantly check which hashtags are banned?

Hashtags can be blocked overnight.

Therefore, checking them “here and now” is the only option that will protect you from using banned tags and further consequences.

What consequences do I mean?

First of all, limiting the visibility of your photos, and thus a smaller reach (reaching new recipients), which can be translated into a number of new observations and likes.

In addition, frequent use of banned hashtags can lead to flagging the profile as publishing content that violates the regulations.

Consequently, this will shadowban or hide any new publications, even if you stop using banned hashtags under them.

I usually receive information about two weeks, but there is no official Instagram position on the length of such a blockade and the consequences for repeat offenders, so … it can last much longer.

Hashtags that are banned and have been used on your profile in the past

This action is from the “being on the safe side” category.

If a frequent use of banned hashtags results in blocking the visibility of new publications, having them in your profile also does not improve the perception of your intentions in the eyes of the platform.

They signal to the platform that the profile has in the past violated community rules and published content that does not comply with the regulations.

That is why it is worth cleaning your profile from the sins of the past.

For photos for which the banned hashtag appears in the description, it is best to edit the photo and delete the banned hashtag used in the description.

Deleting photos is not recommended.

Instagram uses machine learning system and by changing data on your profile in such a drastic way, you introduce chaos through which it must “learn you” again.

However, hashtag comments are divided.

I recommend you simply delete them and not fiddle at the main post, but if you prefer to archive the post this time, nothing stands in the way.

Let me know if you have experienced firsthand the hiding of Instagram posts, reduced hashtag reach or limited account visibility for the frequent use of banned hashtags and how long your blockade lasted

Meanwhile, I encourage you to read this article, which explains how to choose hashtags to the content of your profile: Instagram Hashtag Guide 2020 – How to find the relevant hashtags? [TOOLS, METHODS]

The post Banned Hashtags on Instagram: How to recognize and check which hashtags are banned? appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Instagram banned hashtags really exist and negatively affect the reach of your posts.

Well, you already know everything. You can go home.

And seriously, this is probably the shortest thesis, or rather a fact that you will read today in any article.

Below you will find the proof for it and explanation why it is so.

Banned hashtags – # that have been blocked by Instagram, are one of the most common reasons for the reduced reach of your content.

I respect your time, so I leave a list of subsequent headers, allowing you to assess which ones correspond to your problem:

• What is not a hashtag?
• What is a hashtag?
• Reasons for blocking hashtags on Instagram.
• Types and characteristics of banned hashtags.

1. 1. Hashtags permanently banned.
   2. Hashtags banned temporarily (not permanently).

• Consequences of using banned hashtags

1. 1. What does the external platform coverage mean?
   2. What does the internal reach in the platform mean?

• Why is your reach really falling?

I recommend, however, to read the whole thing because it may turn out that seemingly bright elements are not as bright as you think.

Here we go!

Each subsequent text is a step closer to the text on how to choose hashtags

Meanwhile, I encourage you to read this article, which explains how to choose hashtags to your content: Instagram Hashtag Guide – How to find the relevant hashtags? [TOOLS, METHODS]

WHAT IS NOT A HASHTAG?

Hashtag is not a magic code with which the accounts of other social media users click in a crazy rush on the “follow” button on your profile or leave a “like” under your photos.

If you think about a strategy built with hashtags in this category, you are unfortunately wrong.

The correlation between coverage and observations may of course occur (and it really happens), but a hashtag is neither an observer nor a like generator.

WHAT IS HASHTAG?

This question may seem trivial, but if you try to put a clear definition in your head for a moment, you may find that this is not entirely true.

Hashtag is a tag (not only on social media) that allows you to sort content by topic, category or other accepted scheme.

That’s why you will find shrimp content under the hashtag # shrimp .

At least it should be like this.

They are like shelves in a store where, when looking for milk, you will look for a section with the word DAIRY 

And if you think about juice, you will pay attention to the one where the inscription JUICES or BEVERAGES appears 

Hashtag is a shelf that directs you to specific content that suits your current needs.

 

On Instagram, if something works for you, it also works the same way for other Instagram users.

Instagram users who can be potential recipients of your content, as long as the content meets their needs and is easy to find (described with the right tags).

Hashtag helps creators (and brands) reach more people interested in a specific topic or product.

Whether they decide to observe your profile or like your content depends on many other factors (e.g. content matching, content quality, consistency, regularity of publication, and even the current mood of the recipient, etc.).

REASONS WHY HASHTAGS ARE BANNED

Now that you know what hashtags are, you should also be able to explain what banned hashtags are.

Banned hashtags are tags that have been blocked by Instagram itself.

The reason for their blockade may be:

• collecting content on topics covered as prohibited on the site (pornography, terrorism, hate speech, violence, etc.),
• spam hashtags,
• users’ reports.

TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTAGRAM BANNED HASHTAGS

There are two types of banned hashtags:

• hashtags permanently banned,
• those that are blocked only temporarily.

Permanently banned hashtags include tags that clearly violate community policies (pornography, terrorism, hate speech, violence) and often spamogenic hashtags.

Hashtags banned from time to time also include spam tags and those under which the content has been reported by users themselves.

You probably wonder why I mention spam hashtags in both groups of tags?

This is for a simple reason.

Some of them, regardless of the type of blockade, are constantly abused by users.Therefore, despite the absence of gross violations, they remain banned or even completely removed as a search page in the platform ( see #iphone ).

It is also intended to limit the activity of spammer accounts.

„Instagram has put certain methods into place to stop the reach of spammy Instagram accounts, as many hashtags can do.” 

 

Important information.

Hashtags from group two can be blocked and unlocked overnight, because just because a tag worked yesterday does not mean that it will work tomorrow.

That is why I do not recommend any banned hashtag lists.

It’s pulling your legs. No one who creates them can guarantee that tags are still banned even within a few hours after the list was published.

I will explain how to control which hashtags are banned in the text update or in a new part.

• Hashtags permanently banned

Permanently banned hashtags can be divided into two categories:

• first group – completely banned (pornography, terrorism, hate speech, violence),
• second group – contributing to the generation of large amounts of spam.

Permanently (forever) – they will not return for future use.

Hashtags permanently banned from the first group cannot usually be searched on Instagram.

The page does not appear to exist.

Therefore, the content that is published under them is also invisible to other users.

Examples of such tags are #tits or #booty :

Hashtags permanently banned from the second group are usually visible only in part, and after scrolling the list (to about 36 items) a short information appears:

• Hashtags banned temporarily (not permanently)

Hashtags banned periodically are tags contributing to the generation of large amounts of spam or those reported by other users.

Hashtags banned from time to time usually return to use after some time (decrease of interest or being checked by the website administration).

(Website administration – I must admit that I do not know the name of the content moderation team, so I conventionally define the support part delegated to tickets with reports of violations on the platform)

Examples of such tags can even be those you create for your own brand, niche, but have been reported (flagged) by an “unfavorable” person.

CONSEQUENCES OF USING BANNED HASHTAGS

At this point we reach the so-called “meaty content”, i.e. the reasons why using banned hashtags has a negative impact on your account, especially on the external reach.

(For the purposes of the article and proper explanation of the topic, I use two terms: external and internal coverage.)

• What does external reach mean?

It’s reaching people who are on the platform but are not following your profile.

It is obtained, among others, using hashtags, location markings, ads, DM (direct messages) sharing, markings of other profiles in the photo / film or when another profile decides to recommend you.

• What does the internal reach in the platform mean?

It’s reaching recipients who are already following you.

It’s time to answer the title question, i.e. …

Why is your reach really decreasing?

# 1 REACH RESTRICTION BECAUSE OF HASHTAGS (BANNED)

If a hashtag is completely disabled, no new publications appear below it or the page has been completely removed, you will not be able to reach the recipients of this tag.

# 2 REACH RESTRICTION BECAUSE OF OTHER USED TAGS

Banned hashtags are like a virus.

One is enough to infect all the others.

No, don’t worry.

This does not mean that they will be banned on the platform.

This means that one banned hashtag in the content, hides your content no matter how many other hashtags you added under your photo.

If 1 banned has appeared in 30 hashtags, your photo will not be visible under it and under 29 others.

Where does it come from?

From automatically considering content as breaking the rules (because you describe it with tags that collect such content).

# 3 REACH RESTRICTIONS IN THE EXPLORE TAB

Unfortunately, but there are more consequences.

Your photo will also not be displayed on the Explore Instagram tab.

# 4 REACH RESTRICTION IN LOCATIONS

To make matters worse, you won’t find it in the marked location either.

# 5 ACCOUNT RESTRICTIONS (#REBELSTYLE )

The sources I have visited so far share the opinion that regular use of banned hashtags and having them in old posts can… periodically hide all publications in Instagram results, even if you only add the correct tags under the latest photos.

„This has been a big year for the company with their every changing algorithms and platform updates. In their efforts to implement methods to protect the app’s authenticity, Instagram’s bot detection has started flagging accounts as spam if they use certain hashtags.” 

„Using temporary or forever banned Instagram hashtags could shadowban, block or penalize your account.”

Conclusion 

This is due to flagging the account as potentially violating regulations – after all, without interruption (in the meaning of Instagram) you publish content that is not allowed.

In fact … it seems quite logical.

I hope that I managed to dispel a lot of doubts and above all show that Instagram is not so bad at all, as long as we follow its rules.

Meanwhile, I encourage you to read this article, which explains how to recognize and check which hashtags are banned: Banned Hashtags on Instagram: How to recognize and check which hashtags are banned? [TOOLS, METHODS]

The post Instagram banned hashtags 2023 – why your statistics are falling? appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.