Whether you are building your business on social media or just having fun, getting the right hashtags will make this process a lot more rewarding. Choosing the right hashtags is one thing. This time let’s talk about what you could do to avoid choosing the wrong ones. By placing irrelevant hashtags, you will be wasting your captions space and this way decreasing your possible reach. If you want your Instagram profile to grow, selecting the right hashtags will be crucial.
How do you get shadowbanned on Instagram in 2020? Why did Instagram shadowban me? What posts get banned on Instagram? Let me just say that by using the wrong hashtags or, connecting suspicious apps or using bots, your account can get shadowbanned. And that’s not fun because you can wait for weeks to get your account back. So let’s explore some common hashtags mistakes that can be easily avoided.
#1: Do Not Use Hashtags that are Banned
Some people think that they are fine because they think they don’t use any spammy hashtags like #follow4follow. However, some of the hidden hashtags are quite sneaky and you wouldn’t think they could be banned. So it is always better to check than put useless hashtags on your feed.
How to Check Banned Hashtag on Instagram?
You can easily check if one of the hashtags that you like has been hidden by Instagram. All you have to do is to log into your account and search for the wanted hashtag in the search bar. Once you do so, the banned hashtag will either not appear in the search box or you will receive a message.
- Search for a hashtag in the search bar.
- If the hashtag doesn’t appear in the search results, then it might be banned.
- The hashtag is definitely hidden if Instagram writes this text:
“Recent posts from #beautyblogger are currently hidden because the community has reported some content that may not meet Instagram’s community guidelines.”
Here’s a list of banned hashtags that you wouldn’t even expect to be banned:
- #americangirl
- #attractive
- #alone
- #babe
- #boho
- #books
- #beautyblogger
- #curvy
- #date
- #dogsofinstagram
- #fitnessgirl
- #girlsonly
- #goddess
- #hotweather
- #happythanksgiving
- #hardworkpaysoff
- #ig
- #ilovemyinstagram
- #instamood
- #workflow
- #women
Or you can always make a simple Google search “Banned Instagram Hashtags” and read the research that has been done by somebody else.
#2 Do Not Repeat the Same Hashtags
Posting the same hashtags over and over again isn’t great for your account either. You might even get shadowbanned for doing so. I have written a lot more about that in this article. Instead of copying and pasting the same set of hashtags create an excel document with different variations. One of the great tools to help you find the right hashtags is Hashtastic. By doing your hashtags research first, you will be able to publish your content more easily and with more efficient hashtags.
#3 Do Not Choose Hashtags that are Too Popular
When you are starting out, it is a lot better to start with the smaller hashtags. Once you grow, you need to start using bigger and bigger hashtags. The thing is that at first Instragram has to test your profile and know that people actually want to see your content. The more comments, profile visits, saves you have on your posts, the higher the chances to get shown on the explore page with bigger hashtags.
#4 Do Not Select Hashtags that are Not Relevant
Whether you like it or not, every Instagram account is categorized on Instagram. Your hashtags should help Instagram understand what your content is about. In other words, hashtags that make sense for your niche will work better. So if you usually do not post pictures of dogs, do not use such hashtags.
#5 Do Not Use Third-Party Apps
By using third party apps for your Instagram, you are running a risk of losing reach or even getting your account banned. However, there are many exceptions to this rule. Facebook has a partner directory search page where you can actually check if your app is approved by Facebook. And if the app is approved by Facebook, well, it’s approved by Instagram (it’s the same company anyway). Do not connect your Instagram to random apps because that can most definitely hurt your growth.
BONUS: Do Not Make Your Hashtags Tiny on IG Story
The truth is that most of us prefer to keep our hashtags tiny on our Instagram stories. Most people on the platform love aesthetics and huge hashtags do not help with that. The problem with this is that if your hashtag is too small, Instagram won’t register it.
