Not Ranking on Instagram Hashtags? Read This.
If you find you are not ranking on Instagram hashtags but are frequently using them, there are a few quick fixes we can help you with.
Posted 5 years ago
Written by
Julia CohenPosted 5 years ago
Not ranking on Instagram hashtags? Although it may seem like youâve hit a bit of a wall â donât worry! You have actually just uncovered a potential area for improvement, and now have a benchmark that will help you start ranking.
Luckily, there are only a few things that could possibly be causing you to not rank, and all of them can be managed or fixed.
Common causes:
- The hashtags you are using are too competitive for your account
- The hashtags are not relevant enough to the post you have made
- You havenât given it enough time
- You have used banned or flagged hashtags
Not sure how to fix these issues, and improve your hashtag strategy? Weâll walk you through how to combat the common causes of your content failing to rank, so you can get your account back on track.
đAll of the steps listed below will be using our Analytics Suite.
Jump to a section â¨
Cause #1: The hashtags you are using are too competitive for your account
What do we mean by âtoo competitiveâ? If the content within a hashtag that you use, isnât similar enough in terms of engagement to your general posts, that hashtag might be too competitive.
- If you use hashtags that have an Average Like count that is too high in comparison to the Average Likes your posts tend to get, you are less likely to rank â because youâre competing with accounts that might have higher visibility or gain more engagement on average.
- If you use hashtags that have a Media Count or DAPC (daily average post count) that is too high, this means you might be competing with too many accounts to get eyes on your content â another reason why your posts might not be ranking.
So, how do you know if your hashtags are too competitive, and how do you fix it?
First, letâs start by checking the competition of the hashtags youâve used by heading to âHashtags -> Analyzeâ
đĄKey info:
- To get the best results from hashtags, you want to rank as highly as possible in the âtop postsâ section.
- Where / If you rank in the âtop postsâ section is determined by your ability to rank on that hashtag, usually this is dictated by the engagement received on your post + the relevancy of content vs the existing content on the top posts section of a hashtag.
Here you can see two sets of data:
Usage & performance data
- Times used
- Times ranked
- Rank ratio
- Efficiency scor
Hashtagâs general data
- Media Count
- Average Likes
- DAPC
First, letâs order the list of hashtags youâve used by the ratio in which you rank on them.
If you have a low (<15%) ârank ratioâ itâs likely that the hashtags youâre using are too competitive for your account.
Hereâs an example of what that might look like:
Although hashtags that are bigger are likely to provide larger returns, you should make sure that the majority of the hashtags youâre using are likely to provide results.
This means using hashtags with similar average likes to what you usually achieve on your posts.
A lot of Flick users follow a strategy that is similar to the following:
15 hashtags are not very competitive (similar or less than your avg likes)
10 hashtags that are more competitive (Similar or more than your avg likes)
5 hashtags that are very competitive (Hashtags that are considerably higher than your likes)
So, if you get 500 likes per post, the hashtags you select for a post could look like this:
Cause #2: The hashtags are not relevant enough to the post you have made
Think of hashtags like SEO for your Instagram content. If someone is discovering your post via a hashtag, it is because they have searched for that specific keyword. So, if youâre a fitness influencer posting a workout in a food-related hashtag, itâs unlikely youâll rank. This is because people are going to that hashtag to find food-related content, so are less likely to click on, or engage with your post. Ask yourself whether the hashtags you are using on a post, actually relate to the image or video. Think about what you would search, for if you would want to find content like yours, and use this to frame the basis of your initial hashtag research.
đYou might also find that broader hashtags donât work for your posts either. If you are a fitness influencer for example, try swapping out hashtags like â#fitnessâ for more specific hashtags like â#5minuteabsâ.
Cause #3: You havenât given it enough time
If you have only used the hashtag a few times, and havenât seen results yet â try to give it more time. Itâs unlikely that you will rank on a hashtag every single time you post on it. Most of the time you will rank around 30%-70% of the time if that hashtag is working well for you, so you should post using a single hashtag enough times to see initial results â we recommend at least 4 times per hashtag.
Cause #4: You have used banned or flagged hashtags
You can use a banned or flagged hashtag without even knowing sometimes. They arenât just the obvious ones, even #tbt is flagged! To check whether you have used banned or flagged hashtags, these will appear under âuntrackableâ on the Hashtag insights page.
If youâve searched using Flick, your hashtags shouldnât be banned or flagged, as we filter out and donât suggest these to you.
Some key takeaways and important things to note:
- Make sure youâve used the hashtags a few times to make sure the fact that you arenât ranking isnât down to chance. You will get better, more accurate results the more you use a specific hashtag, so give it time for your posts to perform.
- Check how relevant the hashtag is to the content youâre posting, Instagram prioritizes content that is hyper-relevant, so ensure the hashtags arenât too broad â e.g: fitness vs 10minworkouts
- Check youâre not using banned or flagged hashtags â this can get your account hidden from the other hashtags youâre using.
Remember, building a hashtag strategy is a marathon not a sprint, keep at it and try applying changes and see how things go.
More articles related to
Digital Content Strategy: 5 Ways To Delight Your Audience
It’s time to make the most of your marketing with a well-crafted and put-together digital content strategy. Here’s our guide to getting started.
Mackenzie Taylor
5 months ago
Instagram Hashtag Strategy Guide 2025
Want to up your Instagram hashtag strategy but don’t really know how it works or where to start? Take a look at our comprehensive guide.
Julia Cohen
6 months ago
SaaS Social Media Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide
Master the art of SaaS social media marketing with our comprehensive guide. Learn how to build a strong brand, engage your audience, generate leads, and drive growth through various social media platf...
Mackenzie Taylor
6 months ago