How many hashtags can you post on Instagram?

If you’re new to Instagram, you might wonder how many hashtags I can use.

Since there’s a lot of debate going on in social media marketing circles about the topic, many are still confused.

This blog will explore the answer to this question so that you can win with your Instagram marketing efforts. Interested to learn?Keep reading.

How many hashtags can you use on Instagram?

One of the reasons why hashtags are in the spotlight is Instagram’s official recommendations about how many hashtags should be used.

Quite recently, they’ve published a post saying that users should use 3 to 5 hashtags for their posts.

Earlier this year, though, Instagram asked creators to limit hashtags’ numbers between 8 and 15.

As Instagram continues to improve its discoverability and SEO tools, it’s a fair thing to ask users for using fewer hashtags while posting.

This will help the algorithm to suggest the most relevant content to a user’s feed and enhance user experience on the app.

Instagram is looking to match a user’s favorite content as accurately as possible - for normal feed as well as for Reels feed.

Recent experiments have shown that Instagram posts with 20 or 30 hashtags get the maximum reach as compared to the ones with fewer hashtags.

That means you should try to use 20 or 30 hashtags to improve your content’s reach.

Importance of hashtags on Instagram

Hashtags are a core part of Instagram’s algorithm when it comes to the discoverability and reach of your content.

When you use a hashtag, your post appears on that hashtag’s page. People usually check a hashtag’s page when they’re typing that in the search bar.

This is how they can discover your posts on the hashtag’s page. This will increase your discoverability and can grow your audience.

This is also the case with the Reels page. Your Reels can get more views and engagement when people discover them on their Reels feed page.

Since Instagram is a great place to build a community and grow business, many brands buy Instagram auto likes to get hearts for their posts and reach more people. 

This is a smart way to grow following and brand awareness.

Can you get banned for using too many hashtags?

No, you should not expect to be banned on the app for using too many hashtags.

You can use up to 30 hashtags in your Insta post’s caption. Additionally, you can add more hashtags in the comments.

It’s possible sometimes that your hashtag strategy may be bringing more eyeballs to your content, but few of those users engage.

How to fix that?

To trigger enhanced engagement on your posts you may buy Instagram comments from a credible service provider.

This will push your content to more users and encourage them to comment as they see a lot of comments are already flowing in. You can win instant credibility with this and grow as a brand.

What hashtags get you shadowbanned?

You can only get shadowbanned if you use the same hashtags in consecutive posts on your account.

If you use irrelevant hashtags just for the sake of getting more reach on Instagram, you might end up facing a shadowban.

Instead of violating the platform’s terms and risking your brand’s growth, it’s wise to look into other ways to hit goals faster.

Many brands use social media marketing services like real Instagram auto likes to increase their Insta clout and grow followers.

This is a much better option to get instant growth on Instagram as compared to spammy techniques like the usage of irrelevant hashtags for your posts.

Creating a winning hashtag strategy

A successful hashtag strategy comes up after a lot of testing and experimentation. 

You should try niche hashtags as well as broad hashtags to see which are getting you more reach and which aren’t.

Niche hashtags are specific to an event, audience, or problem, etc. - they focus a very narrow topic or audience.

These hashtags are in general getting views in the range of 100,000 or less, because their target audience is very specified and small in size.

Broad hashtags have views in the range of 200,000 up to millions, because they are targeting a wider audience with generalized interests or demographics.

Analyzing how your hashtags are performing is your best chance to see how to optimize your hashtag strategy to grow your reach, engagement, and followers on the platform.

Using the right hashtags will do two purposes: it will grow your reach and engagement, and it will also help you build a loyal community that trusts your opinion and follows your advice.

To summarize, a winning hashtag strategy should focus on:

• Niche hashtags for gaining the traction on the app and start building an audience,
• Broad hashtgas to target a bigger audience and increase the reach and engagement for your posts,
• Trying and testing new hashtags related to viral trends, seassonal festivities, social issues, movements of public’s interest, etc.,
• Using different hashtags for every post you publish,
• Avoiding irrelevant hashtags as it will not only increase your chances of getting shadowbanned, but it will also cost you credibility.

Final words

This blog has covered how many hashtags can be used on Instagram posts and why this is important.

While hashtags are a core part of the Instagram algorithm, you should use them the right way to truly benefit from them.

On the flip side, mishandling this feature can warrant your account for a shadowban or even permanent closure.

As long as you know how to use hashtags for the growth and scaling of your brand on Instagram, they can bring huge success to your marketing efforts.

Make sure your hashtag strategy follows Insta’s terms and recommended practices to be able to use the platform for your growth for a long time.