The Going Pro Hashtag Cheat Sheet

A sandwich tern flies into a mixed flock of other terns and gulls during the shorebird spring migration in Florida. Photo by: Annalise Kaylor

Using hashtags on your Instagram account is a great way for people who are interested in a topic to discover your work and become followers of your account. That said, there are some best practices to keep in mind when using them.

Mix It Up: Don’t use the same hashtags on every single post. Using the same hashtags over and over can cause Instagram to “shadow ban” you from using that hashtag. Shadow banning is when they won’t show your work on that hashtag anymore even though you’ve added it to your post.

Use Sparingly: While Instagram will allow you to use up to 30 hashtags per post, Instagram itself recommends using just 3-5 hashtags per post. Independent research from social media companies like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Later all support this claim and encourage their customers to stick to the 3-5 hashtag recommendation.

Combine Groups: Sometimes categories overlap well. For example, you may want to use a hashtag or two from “art” and then another couple of hashtags from “wildlife.”  Using hashtags that focus on different areas help diversify the audience who sees your photography. For example, if you have a beautiful photo of an animal in fall leaves, consider adding a hashtag relating to fall/autumn to the post. 

Think in Keywords:  If you’re already using keyword-rich captions on your photos, much like you would if you sell stock photography, then you’ve already made it easy for people searching to find you. Using topics or themes as hashtags helps reach more general populations that may not be searching for a specific word. 
Pro Tip: Copy and paste your favorite hashtag combinations into your favorite note keeping app or in a Google Doc. That way, you can simply copy and paste the most applicable combination when you create your Instagram post and don’t have to re-type them individually every single time.