Key takeaways
- A hashtag research sheet has one row per candidate hashtag, tiered as broad, niche or branded, with a relevance note explaining why it fits your account.
- A mix of tiers reaches differently: broad tags are high-competition but high-volume, niche tags are lower-volume but more likely to reach an interested viewer.
- Log the last-used date per hashtag so you can rotate rather than posting the identical set every time — some platforms treat repetitive identical tag sets as a spam signal.
Hashtag research template: the columns the sheet needs
- Hashtag — the tag itself, without the # for easier sorting
- Tier — broad (huge, generic), niche (specific to your topic), or branded (your own or a client's)
- Relevance note — one line on why this tag fits your account, so a future rotation does not include stale ones
- Platform(s) — which platform(s) you have verified this tag performs on; norms vary by platform
- Last used — the date you last included it, so you can rotate instead of repeating
Building a mixed set per post
A single post typically draws from all three tiers: one or two broad tags for volume, several niche tags for a more relevant audience, and any branded tags relevant to the campaign. The hashtag generator can produce fresh candidates for the niche tier when the list starts to feel repetitive.
hashtag researchhashtagstemplate
FAQ
- How many hashtags should I use per post?
- It varies by platform — see the hashtag limits by platform lookup for the current per-platform caps and norms before filling in a set from this sheet.
- Should I use the exact same hashtag set on every post?
- No — rotating tags, tracked by the "last used" column, avoids looking repetitive to both viewers and, on some platforms, spam-detection systems.
- What is the difference between broad and niche tags?
- Broad tags have huge follower counts and high competition, so your post is quickly buried; niche tags are smaller but far more likely to reach someone actually interested in the topic.
- Where do I find new hashtag candidates?
- The hashtag generator produces category-based suggestions (broad, niche, branded, community) for any topic you type in, as a starting point for new rows in this sheet.