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Here is a quick glance at what you need to know about using hashtags:

• Use lots – You are allowed up to 30 hashtags, and each one of those could bring in a new viewer searching for something. Think about it this way: each one of your tags is like entering into a lottery. Why would you only enter once if you could enter thirty times for free?
• Choose a balance – The best hashtag is one that is popular but not overwhelmingly so. Post an image with the hashtag #babygirl, and you’ll be going up against 60,985,000 public posts! That means that your image isn’t going to hang around in the search results long at all, and will soon be drowned by the volume of new posts. On the other hand, a hashtag with only 10 public posts, then it is not likely to get searched. Something with 30,000 or so searches will hit that sweet spot of being popular, but also specific. Note that you can see these numbers as soon as you start typing out the hashtags when posting your image or video. Instagram will suggest relevant terms and show you the volume of posts for each one.
• Use a range – As well as having balanced popularity for your tags, you should also think about using a variety of tags. Including a few massively popular tags won’t hurt and there’s always the odd chance one will go crazy. But by including some smaller ones as well. It’s no harm at all.
•Be trendy – Think about trending topics; you can do a simple search using Google Trends (trends.google.com/trends) and also about the most trendy subjects within your niche. For example, fitness is popular all the time, but ‘functional fitness’ and ‘mobility’ are topics that are currently hot in this field. Likewise, food is always a hit, but ‘avocado’ is winning. There are also common hashtags used within any niche that you can ‘borrow’ for your own purposes. Of course, if you can use a trending hashtag that is linked to something that’s been in the news, or the cultural discourse, then even better!
• Be consistent – Consistent use of the same hashtags is a good strategy for communicating what your brand is about to Instagram’s algorithms.
• Don’t use them in your bio – This won’t make your bio searchable through those hashtags, so stick to using only your own branded hashtags here, if there is any.