The Ultimate Guide to Hashtags in 2018

In this article I’ll detail the strategy that is getting my content in front of instagrammers that are new to my page.

In a previous article I discussed how to I find over 305 hashtags for dogs.  It was a fairly long article with some beginner basics which I will skip here.  However if you want to read more do so by clicking this LINK.

Diving right in … here’s how I find hashtags.  This works for any niche and if you’re here because of dogs or cats, then this works for any breed or non breed.

How to find the best hashtags:

Step 1:

Go to www.displaypurposes.com

Step 2:  Enter in at least 2 hashtags that you like.  Ideally though you want to have 3 or 4.  In the example below I entered in a breed specific hashtag and then 3 more that those with dog instagram accounts like to use.  You will see in the photo below – you will be offered 30 different hashtags to use.  {if you’re out of time you can stop here and use these 30 hashtags from the 2 to 4 you searched with}.

Step 3:

Mouse over the box on the right that is under the 30 hashtags and move the slider all the way to the right – you’re now going to see 87 hashtags.  Take the list of 87 hashtags and copy and paste that BACK INTO THE BLACK SEARCH BOX and then move your slider in the box to the right – so that it delivers you the maximum number of hashtags

Step 4:

Take the list of 87 hashtags and copy and paste that BACK INTO THE BLACK SEARCH BOX and then move your slider in the box to the right – so that it delivers you the maximum number of hashtags

Step 5

You now have 371 possible hashtags for your use.  Read them and delete any that are not relevant to your photo.  You can store these in your notes.

What I like to do is instead of taking these 371 hashtags … moving the slider back to the left and stopping it at 27 hashtags.

The reason is I want to have flexibility to add any more intentional hashtags to the photo.  As an example I’m part of a few photography communities and I’ll utilize one of those.  I may also add my city’s hashtag as well as our own hashtag that we use.

Sometimes I use hashtags to add to the content #suchaswhatiamdoinghere which really aren’t true hashtags in the sense – but more the sidekick to my caption.

And there you have it.  A proven method in finding you a list of targeted hashtags that bring you new readers and engagement.  I do this on my phone on the fly and it never takes more than a minute of my time right before I upload a photo into Instagram.

I hope this tactic is useful to you.  If you know someone who might find it of use, please share it with them or pin it to your Pinterest board.

Alternatively – I offer two different guides in growing your Instagram account as follows: