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By Katie Hornor

Hashtagology: How to Grow Your Instagram with Hashtags

Hashtags have been growing and changing over the last several years.

Twitter first introduced them, Facebook and Pinterest played with them.

But Instagram uses them in an ingenious way, to connect whole communities around a single topic. In this post I'm going to give you several tips for using them, as well as 4 tools for researching them and if you scroll to the bottom, you can get my list of top 60 hashtags.

hashtagology: How to Grow Your Instagram with Hashtags via handprintlegacy.com

Hashtagology

I have defined hashtagology as “the growth of an instagram account through the study and use of hashtags”.

For exampel: If you want to attract followers who like travel, research the hashtag #travel, and related hashtags using the tools below and then:

  • Like photos with the hashtag
  • Comment on photos with the hashtag
  • Follow the accounts that use the hashtag and are interesting to you
  • Use the hashtag on your photos, so that accounts with similar interests can find your photos and engage with you
  • Repeat with other hashtags for your niche/topic

A like (clicking the heart) on a post is helpful to the poster in gaining more exposure for their photo and account.

Commenting (3+ words) is even more helpful.

When someone comments on YOUR photo, be sure to like (heart) the comment and reply to each comment. This will raise your engagement rate, as you can double your comments just by replying to each person individually, which again will get your photo more exposure in instagram's algorithms.

Here are 4 of my Favorite Tools for Reasearching Instagram Hashtags

1. Hashtagify

Hashtagify is not an app, you have to view it on your computer, but it's free and is great for Instagram users as it will tell you what other hashtags are closely related to the one you type in.

On Instagram you're allowed 30 hashtags per post and if you have over 11, your post is more likely to be seen, so this tool is golden!

hashtagify

2. RiteTag

You can use the free one-week trial of RiteTag (online) to research which hashtags are considered hot, longlife, underused, or overused. On Twitter, you would only want to use 2 or 3 top hashtags per tweet, but on Instagram you want to use all of your 30 hashtags per post for maximum exposure. For instance #bloggers was not listed as a hot hashtag but #blogging was.

hashtagology: katie hornor on instagram

3. Later

Later.com is what I use to schedule my Instagram posts. I can upload the photos on the computer and get a preview of how they will look in my feed, move them around etc. Later gives me 30 images/month for free. But with the paid account, I can see the analytics of how my photos and hashtags are performing.

4. Iconosquare

A bit pricier than Later, Iconosquare will let you see how your photos and hashtags are performing as well as who your top engagers are, and gives you similar information for up to 5 competitor accounts. Iconosquare has a free 2 week trial, so you can see how it works and if it's worth it for your business.

Do you have another Instagram App that has helped you grow your account? Leave us a note below and let us know what it is.

Other posts you might like: 

  • When an Instagram Account is Not Right For You
  • Best Apps to Grow Your Instagram Account
  • 3 Ways to Make Your Instagram Feed More Attractive

Don't forget to grab our FREE list of top 60 hashtags to use on Instagram! Click the button or image below:

Hashtagology: The top 60 hashtags to use on Instagram via handprintlegacy.com

hashtagology: How to Grow Your Instagram with Hashtags via handprintlegacy.com

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: instagram, social media, tools social media

Katie Hornor

Most days you’ll find the founder of Handprint Legacy answering client emails or working on her next book in the front room of their 250 year old home in tropical Mexico. She’s an author, speaker, mindset and business strategy coach, homeschool Mom of 5, and the #CourseCreation expert behind SuccessfulOnlineCourses.com and TheCourseFormula.com helping Christian experts reach more people and make more money through courses and high ticket offers. Be sure to grab a copy of her FREE Course Creation Blueprint before you go.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cathy says

    May 17, 2017 at 7:15 am

    Great info, Katie! I don’t use Instagram because I don’t have a camera besides the one on my iPhone. Should I use what I have and begin using Instagram anyway to grow my business?

    And does Twitter use the same hashtags that Instagram does?

    Thanks for all you do for all of us. <3

    • Katie Hornor says

      May 17, 2017 at 5:21 pm

      Hi Cathy, I only ever use my iphone camera now. you can edit the photo (brightness, colors, crop, etc) right in the Instagram app. That makes it very easy. And yes, Twitter and Instagram use hashtags for info organization. I do not recommend using hashtags on Pinterest or Facebook.

  2. Tabby says

    May 17, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    This is so helpful, thank you!

    • Katie Hornor says

      May 17, 2017 at 5:18 pm

      You’re welcome! Glad you found it helpful

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