Are hashtags still important on Instagram, or should I focus on something else?

Hashtags are no longer as critical as they used to be. Instagram’s search algorithm is now powerful enough to identify context from your caption text, spoken words in reels, and alt text. You can still use a few hashtags—five at most—but make them very descriptive of the image and of you as the artist (for example, your name and the artwork title). The best practice is to write an optimized caption that describes your post clearly, so the algorithm knows who to show it to.

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Asked by a landscape photographer · Answered by Indra · Office Hours · 2026-06-23