Instagram Tags: All You Need to Know About 2022

Instagram hashtags remain one of the best ways to get more engagement (and eyes!) for your posts. Instagram hashtags will continue to be a powerful tool for increasing engagement and attracting more eyes.

But how can you use hashtags on Instagram? How can you discover the most popular hashtags to use on your Instagram account? What hashtags have been trending? What should they be in your captions or in the comments?

In our ultimate guide to Instagram hashtags, we answer these questions and many more.

How does Instagram Hashtag generator work?

The Instagram hashtags serve a fundamental purpose: to categorize and label content. They allow Instagram to display your posts to the most relevant users.

In the simplest form, hashtags are used to fuel search results on Instagram's Explore page.

Instagram Explore page following a search for a particular hashtag

But that's not all. Instagram also uses hashtags as a reference to the algorithm. It can categorize your content in order to suggest it users that it believes will be of high interest.

So... Will Hashtags still work on Instagram in 2022

Hashtags have been the subject of much debate since their inception, particularly after Instagram recommended that users use only 3-5 hashtags. (More on this later).

Instagram's gradual shift towards semantic keyword search opens up new opportunities for content discoverability. It means that your captions and videos topics will also be searchable.

Despite all these advancements hashtags still work well on Instagram. These hashtags can bring about impressive results when paired with a strong content strategy.

Want to get the complete download of Instagram hashtags? Take a look at our YouTube video guide:

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The Top 50 Most Popular Instagram Hashtags of 2022

The best strategy for increasing engagement on stories and posts is not to use popular hashtags. They are less likely to be noticed.

However, it is useful to know what's popular on Instagram. This list shows the top 50 Instagram hashtags, based upon their usage over the last month.

#love

#interiordesign

#design

#fashion

#instagood

#style

#inspiration

#art

#travel

#summer

#realestate

#foodie

#homedecor

#smallbusiness

#shoplocal

#motivation

#wellness

#health

#lifestyle

#beauty

#food

#home

#selfcare

#photography

#fitness

#nature

#handmade

#ootd

#photooftheday

#skincare

#architecture

#selflove

#shopsmall

#luxury

#supportlocal

#instafood

#beautiful

#mentalhealth

#mindset

#business

#vegan

#linkinbio

#healthy

#family

#interior

#entrepreneur

#interiors

#delicious

#explore

#realtor

*Updated June 2022. Data are based upon usage within the Later App.

Looking for #Inspiration Later's Hashtag Suggestions feature is a great resource. Find the top hashtags to use for your account in just seconds!

Find the Perfect Instagram Hashtag to Match Every Photo

Later's Hashtag Suggestions makes it quick and easy to research hashtags!

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How many Instagram Hashtags should you use for your posts?

Instagram advised creators to use between 3 and 5 hashtags in posts. This is despite Instagram allowing for up to 30 hashtags per post.

This is contrary to all we've heard about Instagram hashtags, but it does make sense, based on their focus on keywords.

Instagram is now offering more "suggested" content feeds, such as the Instagram Reels Tab. Instagram must be able accurately categorize content to ensure that it is suggested content that is a good match. Is this the theory? The theory?Less hashtags equals more reliable self-categorization.

Later examined 18M+ Instagram feeds to verify this theory. We compared the number of hashtags used per posting with their average reach rates.

Line graph showing the ratio of reach rate per feed post in 2020 and 2021 versus the number of Instagram hashtags

As you can see, more hashtags means better results. The number of hashtags you use increases your reach rate by 11% (from 24 to 35%).

For an account with 20K following, that's an additional 22.2K accounts reached for each post.

We also looked at whether the trend had changed since 2020. However, the results were consistent.

What hashtags should you be using on Instagram? For the moment, increasing your reach and engagement via Instagram feed posts is best. While Instagram has introduced more "suggested content feeds," it is worth exploring the possibility of focusing on smaller, more relevant hashtags.

#TalkDataToMe

What are the Different Types of Instagram Hashtags

It is a good idea, before you choose hashtags to use in your posts, to look at the different types of hashtags available.

This will allow you to make sure your hashtag strategy covers all bases.

There are five major types of hashtags:

Diagram of 5 Instagram hashtag types: Industry, Community, Location and Descriptive

Location-based hashtags such as #BryantPark, #LowerEastSide

For events or campaigns, use branded hashtags like #LaterCon or #LaterCon.

Use hashtags from your industry to describe your niche, such as #SocialMediaManagers/ #WeddingPlanners

You can use hashtags that focus on your community, such as #VanLifeLiving (or #IAmASweatyBetty), to bring your entire community together.

Descriptive hashtags that describe your actual post's content, like #WoodwickCandles.

There is no one right way to determine how many hashtags to include in a strategy. However, keeping these categories in mind will give you valuable inspiration.

What are the benefits to using Hashtags in Instagram?

One of the best ways to get noticed by new Instagram audiences is to use relevant hashtags in your stories or posts.

Three Instagram posts with relevant hashtags included in each caption

If you use the right hashtags, you can reach your target audience.

This could lead to more engagement, followers, and customers for your business or brand!

However, this isn't all. You can also use hashtags to increase your visibility. These hashtags can be used to build community, source user-generated content (UGC), run campaigns, research your audience, and many other purposes.

This is why it's so important that you have a clear hashtag strategy. Without one, your account could be missing opportunities to maximize engagement and optimize it.

Take, for example, Later's Instagram posting announcing our latest Linkin.bio customization.

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To make sure users find the right link in their bio tools, we use highly relevant hashtags like #smallbiztools, #linkinbiotool, and #linkinbiotool.

Tl:dr. Hashtags allow people to find your content -- increasing the chance of likes, comments and shares as well.

How to Find Trending Instagram Tags for Your Content Strategy

Later's data shows that Instagram users should add 20-30 hashtags on their posts to increase reach and engagement.

But how can you find so many hashtags that are relevant to every post? There are three options:

Tactic #1: Use a Hashtag Suggestion Tool like Later

Later's Hashtag Suggestions tool makes it easy to locate hashtags based on your content and similar hashtags in the industry.

To use it, simply type a hashtag into its search bar, hit "Suggest", and it will instantly generate new hashtags, sorted alphabetically by relevance.

Later Hashtag Submission Tool is used for finding the best hashtags to use in an Instagram post

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Register for a Later account today to discover the perfect hashtags and strategies for your Instagram. It takes just seconds!

Find the Perfect Instagram Hashtag to Match Every Photo

Later's Hashtag Suggestions makes it quick and easy to research hashtags!

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Tactic #2. Conduct research on the Instagram Explore page

The Instagram Explore page provides great inspiration for your Instagram hashtag strategy.

You will get the best results by searching keywords that are related to your brand/content and then checking the "Top Results".

Instagram explore page: Find hashtags

These posts are clearly performing well on Instagram. You should also take note of hashtags that have been used, and see if they could be useful for your content.

Tactic #3. Use Instagram's tag search tool to check Instagram hashtag volume

Post volume is one of the most important metrics when searching for the best hashtags.

Your post may be lost if a hashtag is already used on millions upon millions of posts.

If a hashtag is only used for a handful of hundred times, it's unlikely that anyone is looking for it on Instagram Explore. Aim for hashtags with between 10K to 200K posts. This will give you a middle ground.

For a visual representation of a hashtag's volume, visit Instagram's tag searching tool on the Explore page.