When scrolling through social media it’s hard not to come across hashtags. Hashtags can increase the reach of your post and allow more people to find you, but you must choose them carefully and do your research. It can be tempting to just chuck in loads at once to increase your chances of being spotted by as many people as possible, but you know the good ole saying quality not quantity, well this applies here too.
Hashtag sizes
The more popular the hashtag, the more posts there will be, meaning tougher competition to appear at the top. Hashtags can be split into 3 different sizes depending on how many other people are using them in their posts.
Small: 0-250k posts
Medium: 250k-1m posts
Big: 1m+ posts
We would recommend using a mixture of small, medium and big hashtags to increase your chances of being discovered. Here’s a breakdown of types of hashtags you should use depending on how many followers you have:
0-1k = 20 small + 8 medium + 2 big
1-10k = 20 small + 6 medium + 4 big
10-50k = 15 small + 10 medium + 5 big
50k+ = 10 small + 15 medium + 5 big
Different types of hashtags
Now you know how many hashtags to use, but which ones should you actually include? From #mondaymotivation to #wodlife, here’s a list of the main hashtag categories and a few examples:
Product/service orientated, e.g. #activewearbrand #gymclothing #sustainableactivewear #ecoclothing
Instagram communities in your industry, e.g. #crossfitcommunity, #gymlife
Events/season, e.g. #nationalfitnessday #newyearsresolution #newyearnewgoals
Location, e.g. #norfolkfitness #norwichfitness #norfolkbusiness
Daily hashtags, e.g. #mondaymotivation #wellnesswednesday #tuesdaytips
Acronyms, e.g. #wodlife (workout of the day life) #fitspo (fitness inspiration), #homewod (home workout of the day)
Quotes, e.g. #nopainnogain, #gohardorgohome, #trainhard, #stayfitdontquit
Unique brand hashtags, e.g. #vha #vhouseofapparel
If you’re still stuck on what hashtags to use, All Hashtag.com is a great website to find and analyse the most relevant hashtags for your brand.
Hashtag limits
One thing to note is the number of hashtags you can use per post. This is limited on certain social media platforms, so choose them wisely:
Has a limit of 30.
It’s up to you if you want to use the full 30 or not, but one thing to stay away from is copying and pasting the same hashtags across various posts.
No limit.
Even though there’s no limit on how many hashtags you can use, steer clear of flooding your post with lots of them. Hashtags on Facebook work a bit differently due to their algorithm. Facebook uses hashtags to categorise content but unfortunately this does not impact post reach much, so stick between using 2-10 hashtags.
Limit of 280 characters.
You can try and fit in as many hashtags as you can, but with Twitter’s character limit you might not be able to include very many. Bearing this in mind, focus on key hashtags and choose wisely! Look at the current trending hashtags and if any fit with your post/brand then use them.
No limit.
LinkedIn is not the first place that comes to mind when thinking about using hashtags, but they can be beneficial if used wisely. Industry specific hashtags are a particularly great use of hashtags, but stick between 3-7.
Hashtag layout
The last thing to note is how to display your hashtags. No one likes a cluttered caption, which is where line breaking and spacing comes in! Below are two examples of using hashtags on Instagram, one with spacing and one without - which one do you prefer?
If
Comments