Well the graphic above says it all – today I am going to share with you more than 150 hashtags across seven different categories to help grow your Instagram. If you have not noticed – and thanks Mom for calling it out – my Instagram has started to move in a pretty consistent trend upward. In late October I crossed the line and made it above 10,000 followers and now I am on track to surpass the 15,000 mark by end of month- eek, so exciting! How have I done this? Well one of the top ways is by using hashtags that people love to search. I have tired out a ton, probably nearly 1,000, and over the course of the past two years have narrowed down my favorites.
Instagram currently allows up to 30 hashtags per photo and since I don’t like them to be obtrusive or ruin the photo I usually post a few in the caption and then seconds later post the first comments with five periods in a row and the other ~27 hashtags so the picture is searchable but that big chunk of hashtags is hidden when a user is scrolling through their feed. With the new Instagram insights that I have access to via my business account I can see that up to 20% of people who engage do so after after finding it via a hashtag and that kind of traffic is nothing to scoff at! While I don’t usually post them in alphabetical order but it was easier to organize them for you all organized into seven categories:
(1) Fashion: Along wit all of these if you are wearing anything from a brand it is a good idea to tag the brand both as the brand account, i.e. @Nordstrom and use the brand’s hashtag, like #nordstrom and #nordygirl.
- #fashion
- #fashionblogger
- #fashionista
- #howihue
- #instafashion
- #instastyle
- #lookoftheday
- #mywhowhatwear
- #ootd
- #outfitoftheday
- #outfitpost
- #personalstyle
- #realoutfitgram
- #styleblogger
- #stylefile
- #todayslook
- #wiw
(2) Travel: Travel probably has one of the biggest hashtags on the internet but you can definitely widdle down this list depending on what the photos is of – people at exotic locales or just of a place. Additionally, look up the hashtags popular for that city and use those – for instance #thebigapple and #timeoutnewyork for New York City.
- #athomeintheworld
- #beautifuldestinations
- #bestvacation
- #cityscapes
- #dametraveler
- #darlingescapes
- #depature365
- #exploretheglobe
- #followmeto
- #girlswhotravel
- #instatravel
- #lifeofadventure
- #lifewelltraveled
- #mytinyatlas
- #noplaceidratherbe
- #openmyworld
- #passionpassport
- #postcardplaces
- #seetheworld
- #theviewfromhere
- #travelawesome
- #travelbug
- #travelgram
- #travelstoke
- #treadandtravel
- #vacationmode
- #wanderlust
- #wearetravelgirls
- #wheretofindme
- #willtravel
- #wonderfulglobe
- #worldlust
- #worldplaces
- #worldtravelbook
(3) Food: Probably the best kind of posts on Instagram even if they do make me hungry! Like travel use the ones that are relevant – if there is no chocolate in the photo, clearly skip the #chcoolatecovered one but yumm!!!
- #cheatdayeats
- #chocolatecovered
- #delicious
- #dessert
- #eeeeeats
- #easycooking
- #finedining
- #foodie
- #foodgram
- #foodpics
- #goodeats
- #hereismyfood
- #instafood
- #nomeat
- #nomnomnom
- #restaurantweek
- #snacktime
- #sweetooth
- #tasty
- #thefeedfeed
- #treatyoself
- #yougottaeatthis
- #yummy
(4) Fitness: Definitely something I have started posting a lot more about recently so I wanted to include them here – if you search #fitfam and #workout you can get alot more relevant hastags whether you are using the treadmill or at a Crossfit class.
- #exercise
- #fitfam
- #fitness
- #fitspiration
- #highintensity
- #improvement
- #justdoit
- #nike
- #noexcuses
- #progress
- #strengthtraining
- #strongisthenewskinny
- #totalbodyworkout
- #trainharder
- #workout
(5) Wedding: No, I am not married or even engaged but I have been to my fair share of bridal showers, bachelorettes, and weddings over the last few years and as such have amassed a collection of hashtags to use for the occasion.
- #bigday
- #bridalparty
- #bride
- #bridesmaid
- #bridesmag
- #destinationwedding
- #engagement
- #freshflowers
- #groom
- #herecomesthebride
- #happilyeverafter
- #ido
- #justmarried
- #justsayyes
- #popthequestion
- #theknot
- #wedding
- #weddingdress
- #weddingflowers
- #weddinginspiration
- #weddingphotography
- #weddingseason
- #weddingweekend
(6) Nature / Outside: For someone who lives in New York City I post an unusual number of photos of the great outdoors I think because everytime I am somewhere out of my element I want to snap a picture. While definitely not my niche I have rounded up a few of my favorites in this category too:
- #blooms
- #blossom
- #discoverearth
- #exploremore
- #exploringtheworld
- #freshflowers
- #flowerlovers
- #flowerstagram
- #keepitwild
- #livetheoutdoors
- #lovelifeoutside
- #mountainmonday
- #greatoutdoors
- #outdoors
- #roamtheplanet
- #simplyadventure
- #springflowers
- #staywild
- #waterfallwednesday
(7) General: So what happens if your post does not fit any of the categories above? Well, you can pick from the list below that fits almost every photos and definitely will get you to that max of 30 hashtags
- #abmhappylife
- #abmlifeiscolorful
- #adventurealways
- #bandofun
- #chasinglight
- #collectivelycreate
- #darlingweekend
- #dowhatyoulove
- #exploretocreate
- #featurepalette
- #flashesofdelight
- #finditliveit
- #instadaily
- #instagood
- #littlethingstheory
- #liveauthentic
- #livecolorfully
- #livethelittlethings
- #makeadvetnure
- #myunicornlife
- #nothingisordinary
- #peoplescreatives
- #picoftheday
- #photosinbetween
- #proptoit
- #persuepretty
- #quietthechaos
- #theeverygirl
- #thatsdarling
- #theeverydayproject
- #thehappynow
- #visualcrush
The Car Candy Shop
I Have This Thing With Floors
A Collection of Hilarious Snapchats
Regina says
Very helpful, thanks!
Molly says
Thanks for the tips. You are so organized.
Nadine says
This is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing. I use some of these fairly regularly but some of them I’d never heard of and will definitely be adding to the rotation. Now if I could just take pictures of something other than my baby…. 🙂
Rosie says
That is quite a compilation of hashtags. It is good to know suggestions, as I’m always wondering what I’m missing by not using a hashtag that I would see more of what I wanted.
Lucy says
I use some of these but others I have never seen before, thanks so much for the round up!
Kim says
This is SO HELPFUL! I do the same thing with adding hashtags in the first comment, but I always struggle coming up with good hashtags. THANK YOU! <3
Kim
http://trendkeeper.me .. thoughts on self-discipline!
Kate says
Awesome round up! Fashion and travel are my two favs, and definitely stealing some of these for future use <3
Green Fashionista
Allie says
Congratulations on growing your following so much! That’s so great! And thank you for this list, it’s so helpful! xAllie http://www.theallthatglittersblog.com