Do not use the exact same set of hashtags over and over again
Since Instagram doesn’t allow this, if you use the exact same set of hashtags again and again, Instagram will consider it as spam. This will lead your account to be shadow-banned, which means your posts won’t be shown to new followers and the hashtag search result. It will be shown only to accounts that already followed you.
Use small, specific, niche hashtags instead of popular hashtags
Although it is believed that using popular hashtags increases the chances of being discovered, however, the truth is that using popular hashtags will cause your posts to be pushed down quickly.
Some popular hashtags such as #love #happy #life .. have been edused over 100 million times and are constantly updating at the speed of light, your posts not only won’t show in top posts but also recent posts.
Instead, try to use smaller hashtags that have around 10K-500K lifetime posts. By this way, your posts will be seen for a longer amount of time and will have a chance to land at “Top posts” section.
Take advantage of 30 hashtags allowed
Instagram allows its users to use maximum 30 hashtags in each post. Since hashtags are one of the most important things to help you increase your Instagram engagement, you’ll want to take full advantage of the 30 hashtags allowed.
You might see big accounts using some popular hashtags or not even using any hashtags, that’s because their accounts are so popular and they’ve reached their goals. If your account is still growing, you will want to use all 30 hashtags to increase visibility on the hashtag search result.
Place hashtags in comments section for a neat look
Since hashtags put in the caption and in the comments have the same functionality, you may want to hide all 30 hashtags in the comment so your post will not look so spammy, creating an aesthetic natural look for your post.