By Shana Lynn Yao

Instagram. On a personal side, you love the pretty pictures and for business, Instagram is taking over the social media scene. With over 700 million active users everyday, if you're not jumping on board the #instatrain you may want to start!

Along with having a cohesive feed, and other insider tips (more on this soon), the strategy behind growing your following on Instagram is so much more than just using hashtags, but hashtags are a great way to start understanding the science behind growing your Instagram community of followers.

The power of a valuable Instagram strategy comes from understanding both the ART and the SCIENCE behind the platform and how your brand fits into the scope of it. So today we are just going to dive into one part - your #hashtags.

To attract more views from the right people to your blog, your website, or your latest Youtube video, it all comes down to communities. To become a part of a community or get promoted by a page with a bigger audience than yours, you have to use the proper hashtags.

Tips For Using Hashtags

You can actually use up to 30 (that's THIRTY) hashtags per photo. Now that is a lot of hashtags and you definitely don't want to use that many in your post and look spammy or desperate.

Here are a few rules I follow when hashtagging:

Use 1-5 relevant hashtags in the caption of your photo (I use more if it's more of an #instablog longer post)
In the comments below, list the remaining RELEVANT and SPECIFIC TO YOUR BUSINESS CATEGORY hashtags. Keep in mind you don't need to use all 30 (you want them to be relevant to the photo or people will come to your photo and think "why am I looking for this" and not follow you.
Use general and unique hashtags. What many people don't understand is that yes, it's great to create your own unique hashtag but if no one is searching it, you won't attract people to your feed. Instagram or any social media strategy needs to understand the principle of QUALITY VS QUANTITY. Both are important to grow your business - which means yes - numbers matter. The truth is, herd mentality can drive a lot of business to you. Group think is a human condition that when empowered by the right people can lead the right people to you in herds simply by the mere fact of the buzz around you. But buzz alone will not attract quality necessarily. This is why having a strategy that works is unique and must be developed for your individual brand.
Create a general list of hashtags relevant to your brand and category that you may want to use in your phone's NOTES section. This way you can copy and paste every time you post on IG and edit it to be more relevant to the photo. For example, in my notes section I have a page of hashtags for health-related posts, fashionista posts, business posts, lifestyle posts, etc - because those are all relative to my niche.

Hashtags To Use

The right hashtag can attract a community of Instagrammers who are interested in your type of content.

Before you start creating your lists, be sure to use these guidelines to ensure quality followers are attracted.

Does it make sense for that specific image?
Is it attracting people that would have a genuine interest in what you are promoting?
Is it an active and searched tag with a community you want to attract?
Remember it's a push/pull strategy - so use popular tags AND unique ones

Here is a general list based on general categories of business. Obviously do your own research and make sure the hashtags you use are relevant to your brand, your client profile and is based on strategy with an end goal.

BLOGGERS

#bloggers #blogging #bloggingtips #instablog #bloggerlife #blogpromotion #bloggerlife #bloggerstyle #bloggerpromotion #foodblogger #fashionblogger

FASHION BLOGGERS

#fashion #fashionista #fashionblogger #fashionblog #ootd #outfitoftheday #outfitpost #style #styleblogger #stylefile #lookbook #fashiondaily #streetstyle #instafashion #stylish

FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

#girlboss #bossbabes #femaleentrepreneur #ladyboss #bosslady #womensupportingwomen #mompreneurs #mompreneur #girlpower #girlbosslife #womeninbusiness

HEALTHY FOOD

#healthiswealth #vegetarian #vegan #nomnomnom #yummy #healthcoach #wellnesscoach #organic #holistic #wholefood #raw #foodblogger #healthylifestyle #healthyliving #healthy

GENERAL POSITIVE VIBES

#goodvibes #followyourbliss #passion #positivevibes #happiness #happy #bliss #goodmorning #goodday #lovelife #amazing #beyou #believeinyourself #selfdevelopment

Again, this is just a general list. Do your own research and GET SPECIFIC to your brand. Instagram is such a great and positive place to grow your business and attract the right followers who GET you. I'm so glad that now with Instagram stories, I can develop a deeper relationship with my 1000 true fans and talk about things I love and am all about - such as business, fashion, holistic health and wellness and living your best life.

So I want to ask you, how are you going to empower your instagram feed and grow your followers using hashtags? Tell me below and share your instagram link! Let's get you out there so you can get paid for being the amazing person you are.

Share this article if you got value from it and follow me on Intagram - I'll be sharing so many more insider tips on growing your brand with Instagram and you won't want to miss it!