Ever since the US elections, hashtags on Instagram haven’t been working the same. It feels like creating a successful hashtag strategy on Instagram is next to impossible. To help take some stress off your shoulders, here are 5 tips to create the best hashtag strategy on Instagram in 2021. And you can implement these tricks on your Instagram TODAY.

5 Tips to Create the Best Hashtag Strategy for Instagram in 2021

The first thing that is important to understand before focusing all your energy on hashtags is this:

Hashtags are just a small piece of the puzzle. They, alone, will not make or break your success on Instagram.

Everyone is looking for the “one size fits all” hashtag-strategy that will magically work every time you post. Well…I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but that magic formula does not exist.

So take a breath and take that pressure off yourself. You don’t need to make sure your hashtag strategy is “perfect”.

1. Focus on SEO and Keywords FIRST

SEO is search engine optimization and in case you didn’t hear, Instagram is starting to pivot to be more SEO and keyword-driven. 

This means that in the future, you and your posts can be discovered via Google. Also within the app, you can search using keywords instead of by hashtags. Similar to how you search keywords on Pinterest!

2. Don’t be afraid to mix it up!

Mix up the type of hashtags you’re using. If you’re using all 30 hashtags, you can mix up the popularity of tags as well. For example:

• 1-10 hashtags that have less than 50k uses
• 1-10 hashtags that have between 50k-100k uses
• 1-10 hashtags that have between 100k-300k uses.

You can also mix up the number of hashtags you use, where you place them (whether in the caption or comments), and what the hashtags say.

3. Test, test, test your hashtag strategy!!

This ties into the previous tip because as previously mentioned there isn’t ONE THING that will work for everyone. We all have different account types, with a different # of followers, in different niches and different parts of the world, using billions of different hashtags.

The best thing you can do is test what works for YOU. While you’re “mixing things up,” pay attention to your analytics and see what is working and what isn’t. Eventually, you will find a pattern with what is working for you.

4. Be specific

Make sure the hashtags you’re using are specific to your photo and your caption. 

If you share a photo of you in Hawaii with the caption sharing “5 tips for the best Instagram hashtag strategy”, stay away from irrelevant hashtags like: #coffee #instagramreels #youtuber #bye2020

5. Stay away from using BANNED hashtags

Instagram has been cleaning certain hashtag groupings because they're either overpopulated or they've had content that has violated their community guidelines.

How to check if a hashtag is banned?

Go search the hashtag you want to use on Instagram, if you see this pop-up, that means the hashtag is temporarily or indefinitely, banned.

While these tips are helpful, remember that hashtags are a TOOL and only a small portion of your Instagram strategy. 

There are other areas to focus on that will be more beneficial to helping you grow your instagram before you spend all your energy trying to “figure out” hashtags. What can you focus your energy on first?

• Making Reels
• Stepping up your visuals (photography/graphics)
• How to make your content MORE valuable
• How to create genuine connections with your following
• Implementing SEO and keywords into your bio and captions

Just to name a few 😉

Learn the 5 secret steps I took to grow my Instagram by 10,000 followers in one month!