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The Ultimate Guide to the Best Instagram Hashtags for Likes

Article by Andrew Roach

Instagram is a great marketing platform for ecommerce businesses. You can use it to promote your latest products, acquire new customers, and communicate directly with your existing followers. Couple those possibilities with the 1 billion+ monthly active users, and you can see why it’s so powerful. 

 But whether you’re using Instagram for personal use, or planning to adopt Instagram marketing for your business, it’s critical that you take advantage of one important thing – Instagram hashtags. A simple tactic that can be used to grow both your reach and authority.

The question is: “how do I find the best hashtags for Instagram?”

We know that finding the best Instagram hashtags is a challenging task, no matter how social media savvy you are. And that’s exactly why we’ve created this article. Today we’re going to help you understand how Instagram hashtags work and show you the steps that you need to take to find the best Instagram hashtags for likes for your own content.

At the end of this article, you’ll be equipped with all the information you need to start using Instagram hashtags to boost your following and Instagram engagement today. And, of course, you can take advantage of our lists of the top Instagram hashtags for likes that we’ve created by scouring the web – they’re at the bottom of this article, for your viewing pleasure.

Alright, there’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive in.

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What Is an Instagram Hashtag?

best Instagram hashtags for likes

An Instagram hashtag is a singular word or a series of words, that is marked with a hash symbol (#) and is used in an Instagram post’s description, or comments section. 

The main purpose of these hashtags is to help Instagram organize and categorize content – they allow the platform to present the right content to the right users. 

If you’re a frequent social media user, then it’s likely that you’ve already seen hashtags in action. Heck, you might’ve even used them yourself without knowing how to unlock their full potential.

Why Should I Use Hashtags on Instagram?

Instagram hashtags serve multiple purposes — here are a few:

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Gain More Likes

Instagram users who are interested in a particular field are likely to search for related hashtags. As such, using Instagram hashtags with your content gives you a chance to get your posts in front of a relevant audience (i.e. people who’re most likely to tap that heart button). This is why it’s a good idea to find out the best Instagram hashtags for likes.

Gain More Followers

Using the right Instagram hashtags is one of the best ways to get more followers. Hashtags extend your reach, enabling more people to discover your content. As long as the content you’re posting is relevant to them, they’re likely to follow your account. This is a great situation for any ecommerce entrepreneur, as you’ll be able to promote your products and your brand to users who are already engaged.

Make More Sales

Instagram hashtags aren’t just about growing your social media following. While this is a valuable outcome of using Instagram hashtags, you can also make more sales by integrating them into your Instagram posting strategy, especially if you find some of the top Instagram hashtags in your niche. If you use niche specific hashtags when promoting one of your products, you’re likely to draw the attention of users who are likely to buy something related to this content. This means that you’ll be able to boost your store’s sales with well thought out Instagram hashtags used in combination with compelling content.

benefits insta hashtags

Track Your Instagram Hashtag Success

If you have an Instagram business profile, you can use Instagram Insights to measure your Instagram hashtag success. Not too long ago Instagram added the option for you to analyze how effective the hashtags you are using are. You can do this by looking at the number of views or impressions on your posts.

Follow Hashtags on Instagram

Instagram now allows you to follow hashtags! That means that you can follow any topic or community that you’re passionate about. Following a hashtag works in the same way as following an Instagram user. All you have to do is search the hashtag that you’re interested in and follow it, and you’ll see updates from that hashtag on your Instagram feed. We recommend doing this for some of the top Instagram hashtags, which we’ve listed later on in this post, for inspiration.

Hashtags in Your Instagram Bio

Instagram also lets you add clickable hashtags (and usernames) to your Instagram bio. This means that you can build an effective Instagram bio and promote your preferred hashtag right at the top.

instagram bio hashtags

Hashtags in Your Instagram Stories

One more way that you can add hashtags to your Instagram profile is through Instagram stories. When you add an Instagram hashtag to the story, it becomes searchable from the Search & Explore page. So, if someone is looking up the hashtag, they might see your story in the Stories queue at the top of the page. This is especially true if you’re using some popular hashtags in your content.


How to Find the Best Instagram Hashtags

Now that we’ve touched on how Instagram hashtags work, it’s time to explain how you can find the best Instagram hashtags for likes. When you’re using Instagram for business, it’s a great idea to take some time to research what the best Instagram hashtags for likes are, especially those which are relevant to your niche and audience. Remember, data-informed decisions are always best when you’re marketing your business.

And you don’t necessarily need to use the most popular Instagram hashtags to increase engagement with your posts. It could end up being more effective if you use the Instagram hashtags that have a lower reach, but are more relevant to your audience. The main reason we want to use hashtags for Instagram is to increase the chances of people landing on our content – but we always want to think about who are the “right” people that we want to draw in.

That’s why we want to be strategic about the hashtags that we use. So, here are our top tips for finding the best Instagram hashtags for your content:

1. Research Your Audience

Adding in random Instagram hashtags at the end of your posts probably won’t bring you much success. Instead, look at what your audience is interested in, and find what they’re searching for. If you add in hashtags that include keywords that your audience is actually looking for, you’ll instantly raise your chances of being found.

2. Research Your Competitors

By looking at what Instagram hashtags your competitors are using, you’ll be able to get an idea of which hashtags provide the most engagement. This is especially true for “bigger brands” – they’ve likely already done research to find out which are the best hashtags for Instagram in their niche. Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to compete or copy those exact hashtags in your own Instagram posts, but they might end up giving you a better idea of what your posts should look like.

3. Research Instagram Influencers

Instagram Influencers are those people that perform exceptionally well on social media. They typically have thousands of followers, and they rely heavily on creating messaging that resonates with their audience – including the Instagram hashtags that they choose. One of the best ways to learn which Instagram hashtags to use is to look at the top influencers which are relevant to your brand. You’ll be able to tell a fair bit from analyzing which hashtags they are using and the engagement that they are getting on their posts.

how to find Instagram hashtags

4. Use Tools

There are a variety of different Instagram tools which are available which will provide you with information about the best Instagram Hashtags for likes. It doesn’t matter what your online store’s niche is, you’ll still be able to find hashtags that are relevant to your content. Speaking of, let’s take a look at some of our top tools that we use when we’re researching the top Instagram hashtags for likes. 

Tools for Instagram Hashtags

Here are some tools which you can use to find the best Instagram hashtags for likes:

TagBlender: TagBlender is an Instagram hashtag generator tool that you can use to source powerful hashtags for your social media content. TagBlender lets you generate the perfect set of Instagram hashtags for various different fields like ‘People’, ‘Urban’, ‘Fashion’, or ‘Art’. The tool is simple to use, and it’s free, so you can try it for yourself.

HashtagsForLikes: HashtagsForLikes is a great tool that you can use to generate Instagram hashtags for your ecommerce business’ social media accounts. This tool is easy to navigate, and you’ll be able to source the best Instagram hashtags that are related to your ecommerce brand in no time.

insta hashtag tools

InstagramTags: Instagram Tags is a tool that ecommerce entrepreneurs can use to access ready-made sets of popular hashtags. The tool offers hashtags that relate to various different fields and moments, from ‘Hair’ to ‘Throwback’. You can use InstagramTags to find plenty of the best Instagram hashtags for likes, and grow your store’s presence on social media.

Seekmetrics: This is another analytics tool that provides you with comparative metrics to see how you are performing alongside your competitors. This Instagram hashtag generator tool uses the Instagram API to find the related hashtags. To use the hashtag generator, you simply have to type in a hashtag and click on “generate”. You’ll then be offered all the similar hashtags related to the one you entered.

All Hashtag: This hashtag generator tool allows you to create and analyze the top relevant hashtags by generating thousands of suggestions that you can simply copy and paste into your Instagram posts. This Instagram hashtag generator curates hashtags based on a selected keyword which you enter. With three different filter options, you have the chance to discover the Instagram tags that you’re looking for.

allhashtag


Is There an Instagram Hashtag Limit?

Yes, unfortunately, there is a hashtag limit on Instagram. It’s not possible to post more than 30 hashtags per post on Instagram. Make that 10 for a Story. So, when you’re sourcing the best Instagram hashtags for likes for your ecommerce business, it’s critical that you’re keeping the Instagram hashtag limit in mind. This limitation is in place to ensure that content on Instagram remains relevant, and to help the platform avoid spam.

The Instagram hashtag limit may guide your choices for the hashtags you use when posting content to your social media accounts. If you’re using an Instagram hashtag generator to source engaging hashtags, like the ones mentioned above, you’ll likely receive a generic set of 30 hashtags. However, you may find that there are much more relevant hashtags for your particular posts. Feel free to use the best Instagram hashtags which you think will be more valuable for drawing engaged traffic to your content — you know your store and it’s audience best.

Of course, you can totally come up with a list of top Instagram hashtags without using a hashtag generator. Researching the best hashtags for Instagram yourself will undoubtedly give you a list of hashtags that are more tailored to your audience’s interests


Using Instagram for Your Dropshipping Business

best Instagram hashtag for likes

When you’re running a dropshipping business, Instagram is one of the most effective marketing channels that you can use to bring customers to your store. It doesn’t matter if you’re running your dropshipping store with a shoestring budget, or you’re already generating large sums of revenue, you’ll be able to use Instagram to grow your online presence, broaden your brand’s reach, and acquire new customers. Instagram hashtags are a great way to achieve social media marketing success.

There’s a ton of benefits to using Instagram hashtags to promote your dropshipping business. Let’s shed light on a few:

  1. Less Investment: One of the undeniable benefits of using Instagram hashtags is that you can do it absolutely cost-free. If you regularly post content on your Instagram account, while making use of the hashtags at your disposal, you will inevitably engage a larger audience that will boost your organic traffic – all without paying a single penny!
  2. Building a Brand: The use of Instagram hashtags for your dropshipping business paired with visual content is the recipe for creating a long-lasting brand image for your customers. If you create a main hashtag that is unique and built on a representation of your brand identity, such as your brand name or slogan, you’ll leave a lasting impression on your audience. Using your company name as a hashtag, and encouraging your followers to do the same will create a sense of community, which is healthy for a long lasting brand feeling. 

Pro tip: Try not to simply focus on hashtags for likes or hashtags for followers, and instead make it your aim to create brand recognition. You can do this by using the right Instagram hashtags that represent your content, and more importantly your brand in the way you want it to be represented.

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Dropshipping is one of the best business models for entrepreneurs of all experience levels, especially those who are running their stores with Shopify. That’s because running your business with the dropshipping model means that you’ll never need to worry about carrying inventory. Instead, you’ll simply contact your suppliers whenever you receive an order, who will then ship your products directly to your customer’s door. You can use Oberlo to run your dropshipping business — it’s simple to get started, and it’ll make your life as an ecommerce entrepreneur easier. Plus, now you’ll know all the top hashtags to promote your Instagram content too – you’ve already got a head start with marketing.

100 Best Instagram Hashtags for Likes in 2021

Best Instagram Hashtags

Here’s a list of the 100 best Instagram hashtags for likes in 2021, according to statistics from All Hashtag, an Instagram analytics tool.

  1. #love
  2. #instagood
  3. #photooftheday
  4. #fashion
  5. #beautiful
  6. #happy
  7. #cute
  8. #tbt
  9. #like4like
  10. #followme
  11. #picoftheday
  12. #follow
  13. #me
  14. #selfie
  15. #summer
  16. #art
  17. #instadaily
  18. #friends
  19. #repost
  20. #nature
  21. #girl
  22. #fun
  23. #style
  24. #smile
  25. #food
  26. #instalike
  27. #likeforlike
  28. #family
  29. #travel
  30. #fitness
  31. #igers
  32. #tagsforlikes
  33. #follow4follow
  34. #nofilter
  35. #life
  36. #beauty
  37. #amazing
  38. #instamood
  39. #instagram
  40. #photography
  41. #vscocam
  42. #sun
  43. #photo
  44. #music
  45. #beach
  46. #followforfollow
  47. #bestoftheday
  48. #sky
  49. #ootd
  50. #sunset
  51. #dog
  52. #vsco
  53. #l4l
  54. #makeup
  55. #f4f
  56. #foodporn
  57. #hair
  58. #pretty
  59. #swag
  60. #cat
  61. #model
  62. #motivation
  63. #girls
  64. #baby
  65. #party
  66. #cool
  67. #lol
  68. #gym
  69. #design
  70. #instapic
  71. #funny
  72. #healthy
  73. #night
  74. #tflers
  75. #yummy
  76. #flowers
  77. #lifestyle
  78. #hot
  79. #instafood
  80. #wedding
  81. #fit
  82. #handmade
  83. #black
  84. #pink
  85. #일상
  86. #blue
  87. #work
  88. #workout
  89. #blackandwhite
  90. #drawing
  91. #inspiration
  92. #home
  93. #holiday
  94. #christmas
  95. #nyc
  96. #london
  97. #sea
  98. #instacool
  99. #goodmorning
  100. #iphoneonly

Bare in mind that these Instagram hashtags are the most popular overall, so you may find that some of these are less useful for your business than other hashtags. If this is the case you can use All Hashtag to locate the best Instagram hashtags for likes that are relevant to your online store. Take a look below at some of the examples for specific niches.

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Fashion

  1. #fashion
  2. #fashionblogger
  3. #fashionista
  4. #fashionable
  5. #fashionstyle
  6. #fashionblog
  7. #fashiongram
  8. #FashionAddict
  9. #fashionweek
  10. #fashiondiaries

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Art

  1. #art
  2. #artist
  3. #artwork
  4. #arte
  5. #artoftheday
  6. #artistic
  7. #artsy
  8. #artofvisuals
  9. #artistsoninstagram
  10. #arts

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Travel

  1. #travel
  2. #Travelgram
  3. #traveling
  4. #Travelphotography
  5. #travelling
  6. #travelblogger
  7. #traveler
  8. #traveller
  9. #travelingram
  10. #traveltheworld

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Love

  1. #love
  2. #lovely
  3. #Loveit
  4. #loveyourself
  5. #lovelife
  6. #lovemyjob
  7. #lovequotes
  8. #loveyou
  9. #lover
  10. #loveher

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Makeup

  1. #makeup
  2. #makeupartist
  3. #makeupaddict
  4. #makeuplover
  5. #makeupjunkie
  6. #makeuptutorial
  7. #makeupforever
  8.  #makeupbyme
  9. #makeupoftheday
  10. #makeuplook

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Business

  1. #business
  2. #Businessman
  3. #businesswoman
  4. #Businessowner
  5. #businessowners
  6. #businesscoach
  7. #businesswomen
  8. #businesslife
  9. #businesstips
  10. #businessminded

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Coffee

  1. #coffee
  2. #coffeetime
  3. #coffeelover
  4. #coffeeaddict
  5. #coffeeshop
  6. #coffeebreak
  7. #coffeegram
  8. #coffeelovers
  9. #coffeelove
  10. #coffeeholic

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Music

  1. #music
  2. #musician
  3. #musica
  4. #musically
  5. #musicvideo
  6. #musical
  7. #musicislife
  8. #musicians
  9. #musicproducer
  10. #musiclife

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Dogs

  1. #dogs
  2. #dogstagram
  3. #dogsofinsta
  4. #dogsofig
  5. #dogsitting
  6. #dogslife
  7. #dogsofinstaworld
  8. #dogscorner
  9. #dogsandpals
  10. #dogslover

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Quotes

  1. #quotes
  2. #quotestoliveby
  3. #quotestagram
  4. #quotesoftheday
  5. #quotesdaily
  6. #quotesaboutlife
  7. #quotestags
  8. #quotesgram
  9. #quotesofinstagram
  10. #quotesandsayings

BONUS: Looking for motivational quotes for your Instagram captions? Check out our list of the 200 best motivational quotes.


Instagram Stories

What Are Instagram Stories?

The Instagram Story feature is a way to share your photos or videos with your followers for 24 hours, after which they will disappear, and no longer be available for your followers to view on your profile. Working along the same lines as Snapchat’s story feature, after uploading a part of a story, you can choose to add it to your permanent feed, save it to your device for future use, or let it disappear after 24 hours with the story mode.

How Do I Post an Instagram Story?

If you want to add an Instagram Story, you need to tap the ‘+’ button on the top left-hand corner of the app on your Instagram home page.

best Instagram hashtag for likes

Once the camera screen is opened, you have the option to choose between the standard “Normal” capture, or other options such as Boomerang, Superzoom, Rewind, Handsfree, or going Live. You can then proceed to edit your captured content by using the options available on the top right-hand corner of the screen.

bInstagram hashtag for likes

The app also gives you various editing options for decorating your  story, including stickers, a pen tool and a text addition option. Additionally, you can choose a range of filters, or face filter options for the Instagram Story. 

To add a filter to your captured picture or video, you have to simply swipe left or right till you have your desired brightness, darkness, or color saturation and tone. To add a face filter to your Instagram story, when using the front or back-facing camera, the filter you choose will automatically appear on the closest person’s face. Face filters also work while using Instagram Live, Boomerang, Hands-Free, and Rewind camera formats, and some filters work with two faces at once.

Once you’ve made your desired changes, you can share the story with your followers by simply tapping on the “Next” option. If your account is set to private, only your followers will be able to watch your story. You even have the option to hide your story from selected followers, if you wish to do so.

To see who has watched your story, tap on the circle in the top-left corner of your Instagram Homepage, which represents your profile. You’ll find a list of the people who have watched your story here. You can also add multiple Instagram stories to your profile during the same 24 hour period. 

How Do I Add Hashtags to Instagram Stories?

You can also add clickable hashtags to your Instagram stories to reach more people. With a set of tools and filters at your disposal, your Instagram stories are the key to making your profile livelier and more interactive. This feature can potentially add great value for your Instagram profile, and for your brand. So, let’s break it down.  

In the same way you add different stickers to your Instagram Story, you can add customized hashtags, using the ‘#Hashtag’ sticker option. This gives you the chance to further popularize your brand hashtag, or any particular hashtag that you are aiming for. The people watching your story can simply tap on the hashtag that you have included in your story, and view all the posted content that also used the same hashtag. Couple this knowledge with some of the best hashtags for likes, and you could be on to a winner. 

Instagram hashtag for likes

The #Hashtag sticker gives people a chance to dive deeper into possibilities of exploring and connecting with similar posts on the Instagram app. The addition of a hashtag to your story will not just broaden your stories audience, but it may also pave the way to gaining more followers. Since the release of the Hashtag sticker on Instagram, you have the chance to be found simply by the hashtag you are using. Take advantage of some of the most popular hashtags on Instagram when you’re using this feature for maximum benefits.

By using the Instagram Story feature, your stories will be featured at the top of your follower’s feed, directly under the Instagram logo. This makes it more likely for them to view the story, with a chance for your Instagram tags to be more discoverable. You can also use this feature to give a peek of your behind-the-scenes action to your followers. You have more room to experiment with the editing options and see what works out best for your brand, perhaps with different story designs, fonts, or capturing styles.


Instagram Pro Tips

Growing a following for your ecommerce business is a difficult task, and it’s important that you can take advantage of every Instagram marketing tactic available to broaden your store’s reach. Here are a few Instagram pro tips which you can use, in addition to the best Instagram hashtags for likes, which will help you to grow your following:

  • Engage with followers: A great way to solidify your support from your existing followers is to engage with them. If you like their Instagram feed don’t hesitate to follow them. If they’ve posted an interesting comment on your latest image, go ahead and give it a like. It’ll mean a lot to them, and they’ll feel appreciated as a customer.
  • Post frequently: Frequent posting is one of the keys to success on Instagram. If you’re posting compelling content frequently, you have a great chance to bring engaged customers to your online store. If you’re only posting once per month, then you’ll have a much harder time gaining and holding the attention of potential customers.
  • Check out your competition: Take a look through your competitor’s feeds and note down what you like, and what you think you could do better. Use your competitors as inspiration, especially if they’ve been successful — they’ve landed on a successful formula, use this to your advantage.
  • Visual Content: Make your visual content stand out through not only your creativity but also with your photography skills. If you want to step up your Instagram game make sure to add quality content that grasps the attention of your audience. Take better photographs of your product offerings to curate an Instagram feed that truly represents the voice of your brand.

If you’re still looking for more, here are 5 ecommerce entrepreneurs sharing their top tips on how to sell on Instagram.


How Can I Measure My Instagram Hashtag Progress?

It’s important to be able to measure the impact of your Instagram hashtags. There are a number of free tools available to help you with this such as: Keyhole, and Iconosquare.

With these tools you will be able to discover the Instagram hashtags that are engaging the most people. This is done by analyzing the average number of likes and comments you get using different Instagram tags. Essentially, they’re your key to finding the best hashtags for likes. 

Here are a few key metrics that might help you to track your progress:  

  • Number of likes, comments, and saves
  • Impressions: The number of views on a tagged post
  • Your Reach: The number of unique visitors on a post
  • Change in the number of followers
  • Rate of engagement

You also have the possibility to experiment with new hashtags, and see which pattern to follow after you evaluate if any changes in the hashtags you’re using is leading to a desirable result.


Start Using the Best Instagram Hashtags Today

Instagram Hashtags Ultimate Guide

We’ve now covered everything that you need to know about Instagram hashtags, and you know how to find the best Instagram hashtags for likes for your ecommerce business — congratulations! Starting today, you can begin to grow your store’s Instagram following.

It’s important that you always review the performance of your Instagram content. This will help you to improve your social media output, generate more revenue, and ultimately help you to grow your ecommerce business.


Want to Learn More?


If you’ve got any questions about Instagram hashtags, or marketing in general, let us know below. We’re happy to help you on your ecommerce journey.

FAQs on the Best Instagram Hashtags

Which Instagram hashtags get the most likes?

If you're looking to boost engagement on your Instagram posts, be sure to include these hashtags where possible. These are the top ten Instagram hashtags with the most potential to generate likes from Instagram users.

1. #love
2. #instagood
3. #photooftheday
4. #fashion
5. #beautiful
6. #happy
7. #cute
8. #tbt
9. #like4like
10. #followme

What are the best Instagram hashtags?

The best Instagram hashtags to include in your posts depend on the industry the post is targeted at and the category it is in. 

The five best Instagram hashtags related to fashion are:
#fashion
#fashionblogger
#fashionista
#fashionable
#fashionstyle

The five best Instagram hashtags related to art are:
#art
#artist
#artwork
#arte
#artoftheday

What hashtags are trending right now 2021?

Keeping up to date with the most popular Instagram hashtags is important to maximize the reach of your Instagram content. 

Here are the top ten Instagram hashtags that are hot and trending right now in 2021.

1. #beach
2. #l4l
3. #blogger
4. #instadaily
5. #lol
6. #blue
7. #instagram
8. #model
9. #nature
10. #hot

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