The Ultimate Guide To Master LinkedIn Hashtags In 2020

Stop for a second before reading: Why should you listen to the advice in this article?

This article contains data from our research with the help of some of the most influential persons on LinkedIn. Also from analyzing own data and studying official documents from LinkedIn about this topic. Everything written here is made with the best of my knowledge and belief. The article is constantly updated - so stay tuned and bookmark it if you want!

Note: some of the research was done with the help of inlytics.io - a third party LinkedIn analytics solution.

In this article you will find a complete guide on how to use LinkedIn hashtags the right way.

For a better overview I have divided this article into 2 parts:

1. The Right Usage Of LinkedIn Hashtags
2. Manage & Research Hashtags

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Part 1

1. How To Use Hashtags On LinkedIn

First things first: LinkedIn hashtags work. We have analyzed a lot of accounts and put in a significant amount of research and can say that the usage of hashtags will influence your reach and overall engagement.

To help you get the most out of LI hashtags, we answer the most frequently asked questions:

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1.1 How Many Hashtags Should I Add?

A lot of people ask whats the right amount of Hashtags to add?

Will more than 3 hashtags be bad for the reach of my post? From my personal experience I found that adding 1-3 hashtags works well and doesn't look spammy. More than that usually will do more harm than good.

Let's have a look at what LinkedIn recommends:

1. Recommended is using no more than 3 hashtags
2. Don't use spaces, emojis or special symbols
3. Use both, niche and broad hashtags (more on this later)

Remember: LinkedIn wants you to use hashtags, they even tell you to add ones!

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1.4 How Many Followers Should My Hashtags Have?

Depending on whats your topic there are many hashtags out there. Some have more followers than others. So the question to ask is: should I use hashtags with more or fewer followers? What will give me a better outcome?

💡Big hashtags will have a higher volume but you disappear faster from the screen

💡Small hashtags will have less volume but you appear longer on the screen.

LinkedIn recommends you go for niche and broad hashtags for increased exposure.

A concrete strategy could look like this (image below):

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Why? This way you will be visible to a large audience for a small amount of time and for a longer time for a smaller, more specific audience. Remember it's always about relevance.

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1.4 How Do I Find Out How Many Followers A Hashtag Has?

It's simple to find out. You navigate to the search bar and type in the hashtag you want to research. For example we search for #linkedintips

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1.5 Can I Use Hashtags To Optimize My Profile?

The short answer is yes.

As far as I know hashtags work similarly as adding keywords to your profile. To get a better understanding of how to optimize your LinkedIn profile I have put together a dedicated article on this topic.

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Part 2

2. Manage Your LinkedIn Hashtags

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2.1 Follow New Hashtags On LinkedIn

Following hashtags is a great way to keep your feed busy with relevant content you can interact with. To add new hashtags you'd like to follow, go ahead and type it in the LinkedIn search bar as shown above and smack the follow button.

If you want to find new hashtags I suggest you check out the discovery hub. Here you will find a personalized list of hashtags that could be relevant for you.

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2.2 See All The Hashtags You Follow (And Unfollow Them)

From time to time you may want to check out the hashtags you are following right now. To do that you go to https://www.linkedin.com/mynetwork/ and navigate to the left sidebar. You see a link to the dashboard of all hashtags you follow.

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2.3 List Of The Most Popular LinkedIn Hashtags in 2020

I found a resource that lists a good number of hot LinkedIn hashtags. 

Out of the list of 100, I have chosen 12 big and useful hashtags you might find interesting to use:

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2.4 Find Trending Hashtags On LinkedIn

As far as I know there is currently no option to filter for "trending hashtags". However you can find out quickly what topics are hot right now by searching for trends on google.

This is of course not platform-specific but will give you insights about what is trending across the world (you can filter by country, time, and category).

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2.5 Make YOU Post Trending On LinkedIn

By trending on LinkedIn you will get exposed to a portion of the followers of a certain hashtag. This is awesome because of 2 reasons:

1. You are seen by a lot of people that might NOT know you today
2. Your engagement will rise because of the interest of the people following this hashtag

The team of storiesincorperated have shared tips for trending on LinkedIn that I think are noteworthy.

Here are 3 tips they figured out:

A) Post content that motivates to start a conversation

B) Add a engaging video or image to your post

C) Engage with the commentators right after you post

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2.6 That's How You Identify Content That Generates Results

Identifying and redoing successful posts based on their similarities, hashtags, and writing topics, will rocket your reach and ultimately help you do more business.

The best way to do that is by analyzing your content in-depth or with the help of AI. LinkedIn itself provides basic insights, but to dig deeper to get real valuable insights you need a third-party tool like inlytics.io.

What you get:

• You will see exactly what works and what doesn't
• You will be able to track multiple LinkedIn Accounts (for agencies, LinkedIn coaches or companies)
• Get Weekly/ Monthly/ Quarterly reporting (comming soon)
• Heatmap data of your content performance
• Action able insights from within your data and more.

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2.7 Add LinkedIn Hashtags To Your Company Page

You can add up to 3 hashtags for your company page. To do that move to your company page on LinkedIn, navigate to the pen icon, then click on hashtags as soon as the menu opens.