It was all foreshadowed back in 2000 when NSYNC sang “Bye, bye, bye,” bidding farewell to how we use hashtags today. Bye to “#followforfollow,” bye to hashtag pages, and bye to the strategy of using “10 small, 10 medium, and 10 large” hashtags based on their size.
In recent months, the way we use hashtags has undergone a drastic shift—not just in how Instagram’s algorithm interprets them, but also in how users should approach them. For instance, you can no longer follow a hashtag page!
How do you choose the right hashtags for your SEO strategy?
Do you still think that stuffing your post with an endless list of hashtags will help you reach more people?
Today, Instagram uses keywords to categorize your content based on what you write in posts. Whether in the caption or as hashtags, these words help index your content and display it to the most relevant users on the Explore page and their feed.
This change turns everything upside down, making it crucial to select strategic and relevant hashtags.
In short, Instagram is telling us: choose hashtags that reflect the essence of your content and profile to improve your SEO strategy. (To explore this topic further, read our dedicated article)
That’s why our approach to helping you choose hashtags for your Instagram posts had to evolve, and so it has. It’s no longer about using hashtags to get more likes but about leveraging them as SEO tools to categorize and index your content in the best possible way.
Finding the right hashtags is now essential to optimize your profile, boost your reach, and connect with people who are genuinely interested in your content.
This is why we’ve revamped and improved how Not Just Analytics analyzes and suggests hashtags, transforming outdated methods to provide something genuinely useful!
Find hashtags
Be honest: how many times have you scrambled at the last minute and added the first hashtags that came to mind?
Now, the “Find Hashtags” feature from Not Just Analytics makes finding relevant and strategic hashtags for your content simpler than ever, all with an SEO focus. Here’s how it works:
- Enter a keyword or context: describe your content topic, such as “adventurous travel” or “sustainable fashion.” You can even go for more specific phrases like “mom traveling in the mountains with dogs.”
- Get a personalized list: using artificial intelligence, the tool generates up to 40 highly relevant SEO-focused hashtags.
- Analyze and choose: Select the most appealing hashtags and:
- Copy them directly into your caption.
- Save them in a collection to use later.
Collections: organize your hashtags strategically
Collections allow you to save time by keeping your pre-selected and tested hashtags always at hand, avoiding repetitive searches. These customizable lists enable you to save and manage hashtags based on their relevance and usefulness, helping you compare their effectiveness and continuously refine your strategy.
Using collections ensures a consistent strategy and a cohesive style across your content by utilizing hashtags that resonate with your audience. Additionally, it provides targeted insights to evaluate the performance of saved hashtags, allowing for constant improvement.
How collections work
- Add hashtags from various NJL sections: whether they’re found through the “Find Hashtags” feature, competitor analysis suggestions, or manual searches, simply select the ones you’re interested in and save them to your collections!
- Organize collections by categories: group hashtags by topics, campaigns, or goals (e.g., hashtags for “promotions” or “seasonal posts”). If needed, you can even assign a collection to a specific profile you manage—perfect for handling multiple clients!
- Use and reuse: when you open a collection, you can easily copy and paste hashtags into your posts without searching for them every time. Additionally, the tool provides SEO insights on which hashtags are best suited for the profile you’re working on.
Final thoughts
The new Find Hashtags and Collections features from Not Just Analytics are designed to help you make the most of hashtags on Instagram, adapting to their new role as SEO tools. With AI and advanced analytics, you can optimize your strategy and maximize the effectiveness of your content.
Haven’t tried these features yet? Start now and discover how to improve your Instagram strategy in just a few clicks!