9 Factors Why Your Instagram Hashtags Are Not Working 2024? 🤔

7 Key Factors Why Your Instagram Hashtags Are Not Working:

Why aren’t my hashtags on Instagram working? Some of the causes are as follows:

Reason #1. Using Hashtags that are Prohibited 

The fact that Instagram has restricted some hashtags for everyone might be why Instagram hashtags are not functioning. As a result, no one’s post will appear in the forbidden hashtag stream.

Contrary to common belief, prohibited hashtags are not confined to abusive, indecent, or explicit material; there are even innocent or innocuous hashtags (e.g., #desk and #lean) that are banned for reasons such as a large amount of spam.

Hashtags are either temporarily or permanently prohibited. Using forbidden hashtags may result in you being shadowbanned, or it may prevent other hashtags from functioning on your post.

There are presently over 115,000 blocked hashtags on Instagram.

So, how can you avoid having your Instagram hashtags banned? You should check for prohibitions on each hashtag before using it.

Source: Pixabay

Hit the search button on the explore page and enter the hashtag you want to use. It is prohibited if it does not appear.

Because a hashtag may display on the list yet still be prohibited, double-check it by pressing it and scrolling down.

Here’s a list of forbidden hashtags to stay away from.

On Instagram, here’s a list of hashtags that have been misused and are now forbidden. Try to stay away from them. Otherwise, your comment will be flagged as offensive.

#adulting #alone #americangirl #armparty #asiandick #attractive #babyrp #bacak #badbitcztwerk #baddie #balenciaga #curvygirls #customers #dating #Direct #DM #elevator #PornFood #Ravens #StreetPhotos #WTF

Reason #2. Your Account Has Been Shadowbanned 

Another reason Instagram hashtags aren’t functioning is if a user’s account has been shadowbanned. You may have been shadowbanned if you observe a dramatic decline in your Instagram interaction or reach.

Regarding hashtags, the true reason for the shadowban is when hashtags are hijacked and overused. This occurs regularly.

Instagram has said that it does not engage in any kind of shadow banning. They argue that such measures against accounts are not taken.

After all, if they want someone prohibited, they’ll simply ban them.

Source: Pixabay

There’s no need to conceal them by using deception. Shadowbans actually exist in reality. Instagram has put in place strict hashtag use limits throughout the years.

Understandably, you can unwittingly commit spammy hashtag crimes, which might result in a shadow ban on your account.

Shadowban has the effect of only allowing your followers to see your material. This limits your ability to reach new audiences. Among the most prevalent infractions are:

• Using a hashtag that has been misused or is broken
• Using hashtags that aren’t related to your post
• Using the same hashtags over and again in your posts
• Remove prohibited or misused hashtags from your posts if you’ve been shadowbanned. For a few days, don’t use hashtags in your postings.

If this doesn’t work, you should contact Instagram and report the problem.

Reason #3. Using Broad Hashtags Rather than Particular Hashtags

Hashtags should be relevant and appropriate to your business or specialty. It’s critical to choose hashtags carefully and ensure that they’re relevant to your target audience.

You should consider what keywords your ideal clientele would use to find you.

Source: Pixabay

Similarly, avoid trending hashtags like #followforfollow, #weekends, #summer, and so on since they will work against your hashtag strategy.

Reason #4. Hashtags Aren’t Diverse Enough

A good hashtag strategy for a company can include a mix of popular hashtags that appeal to a broader audience and more niche-targeted, less popular hashtags that will more likely position your content toward the top of that hashtag.

Doing so allows you to cast a broad net over popular and smaller, more focused hashtags.

Reason #5. Using Hashtags that are Too Competitive 

Every hashtag on Instagram, as you may know, has two tabs: Top and Recent. The top tab displays the items that garnered many likes and comments during the first few hours of their publication.

They may remain at the top of the page for many hours, gaining much exposure and organic likes and comments.

Instead, the recent tab lists every picture or video with those hashtags in order of when they were published. That is all there is to it.

Imagine sharing a picture with the hashtag #photography, which has 535 million postings as of this writing.

Source: Pixabay

Your picture will appear in the first 9 photographs on the recent tab for less than a second, and it will never appear on the top tab since that hashtag is just too competitive.

This means you’ll need to identify 30 hashtags with little competition to get noticed by individuals who aren’t already following you and gain more organic likes, comments, and follows.

Reason #6. Using the Same Hashtags Again and Again

Repeated use of the same hashtags on Instagram is not recommended because this may result in lower visibility and engagement.

When you use the same hashtags over and over again, you limit your reach, as you are not casting a wide enough net.

This can also cause the Instagram algorithm to penalize your posts, resulting in the problem of hashtags not working. I certainly don’t want that!

Reason #7. Instagram Algorithmic Changes:

Instagram’s algorithm is designed to prioritize diverse and fresh content. Using the same hashtags consistently might signal to the algorithm that your content is repetitive, potentially leading to reduced visibility.

For each article you publish, I recommend employing a 10/10/10 hashtag strategy:

• 10 Hashtags That Aren’t Too Competitive (5,000 to 50,000 total posts)
• 10 Hashtags That Aren’t Too Competitive (50,000 to 200,000 total posts)
• 10 Hashtags with a High Level of Competition (200,000 – 2,000,000 total posts)

Finding the proper hashtags takes more than a minute. It requires patience and, sometimes, lateral thinking. Starting with wider hashtags, you may search for long-tail hashtags on Instagram.

If you start putting a hashtag like “#outdoorshots” in the caption of your Instagram picture, you’ll get a number more suggestions:

• 5000 posts in #outdoorshots
• 76,500 posts in #myproshot
• 231,000 posts on #discoverlandscape

You now have a low, medium, and high competitive hashtag just by doing this.

Reason #8. Low-Quality Content:

If your content is of low quality or lacks engagement, even the best hashtags won’t help it perform well. Focus on creating valuable and engaging posts.

Low-quality content can hinder your hashtag effectiveness on Instagram because it may not align with the intended audience, receive fewer engagements, disrupt the user experience, trigger spam filters, garner negative feedback, and fall out of favor with Instagram’s algorithms.

It’s crucial to focus on creating high-quality, relevant content to maximize your hashtag’s impact.

Reason #9. Switch Your Private Account Settings to Public:

Switching your private Instagram account to the public can have a significant impact on your posts’ visibility. When your account is set to private, only your approved followers can see your posts, limiting your reach.

By going public, your content becomes accessible to a broader audience, increasing exposure and engagement. Public accounts also allow your posts to appear in hashtag feeds, making them discoverable to users interested in specific topics.

Additionally, public accounts have a better chance of being featured on the Explore page, expanding your reach even further.

This change can also facilitate networking and engagement with a wider Instagram community. So, if you’re looking to reach more people and grow your presence on the platform, switching to a public account can be a beneficial step.