Instagram Hashtags update

yes they're phasing them out, no I'm not going to stop using them just yet

Oh hey there gorgeous,

There’s been a lot of talk about Instagram hashtags the last few months and just this morning the Instagram and Threads big boss Mosseri just released a note about the latest update regarding them.

This is what he had to say:

If that didn’t make much sense to you, don’t worry. It took me a couple of minutes to wrap my head around it as well.

Basically the long and the short of it is that (when these changes have been implemented) if you tap on a hashtag that has been used in someone’s post to go see what other posts have used that hashtag as well, you won’t be taken directly to the hashtags page.

You’ll be directed to the ‘search’ page for that hashtag.

You will then have to manually click through to the hashtags tab and then choose the hashtag you were looking for in the first place.

What this is doing is in effect making it harder to use hashtags as a user, looking to try and work out which ones are most relevant for your account. It’s harder to collect them because it’s harder to find out how relevant they are to you and what you post about. Thus my comment at the top, Instagram are slowly moving towards phasing hashtags out.

What they are shifting towards, and you may have heard people talk about this, is prioritising SEO in your captions, in your bio and in your videos.

So for example with the new change, you can click on the hashtag #ceramics in someone’s post, and it will take you to the search function where if you click on one of the “for you” posts you may find that no hashtags have been used at all! How does it make it into the search function for #ceramics then? Because somewhere in the accounts name or the text in the post is the word ceramics.

What does this mean for you going forward? It means you want your bio to be SEO optimised and you want to make sure that when you are writing captions you are embedding the types of words in those captions that you think people might search for when they want to find accounts like yours.

Why I am not ditching hashtags yet? Because as much as people are bandying around the idea that Instagram only want us using 5-7 hashtags a post, I personally am still using up to 30 per post, and almost without fail am getting 25% of my views on my posts directly from those hashtags.

Hashtags still work so I will still work with them. I’m definitely thinking far more about the way I use SEO on Instagram though.

X Ilona

PS My private coaching spots opened on the weekend and there are still a few spots left for those looking for bespoke support with their Instagram accounts.

Pop through here if you would like to find out more.

Some kind words from past students:

Thank you! Getting you on board was literally the BEST investment for my business. You have no idea!

- Jessie, Peregrine Store

Thank you for being so helpful, available & generous in offering your advice & support. I love your approach to sharing on socials, IG in particular & feel much more confident in the way I show up on this platform now too.

- Nadine, The Ivy Institute

Ilona helped me understand the workings of the Instagram machine, while always steering towards beauty and authenticity. My confidence increased so that instead of feeling like a passive observer in the space I became and active participant in the Insta community.

- Lise Temple, artist