How to Post on LinkedIn with Hashtags

Using the right hashtags on LinkedIn can dramatically increase the visibility of your posts and connect you with a targeted professional audience. But simply adding #business to your content isn't enough. This guide breaks down exactly how to find, choose, and use hashtags to get your content seen by the right people on LinkedIn, from step-by-step basics to a strategy that actually works.

Why Bother with Hashtags on LinkedIn?

On platforms like Instagram or X, hashtags can sometimes feel like a high-velocity trend-chasing game. On LinkedIn, their role is more fundamental and professional. Think of them less as a garnish and more as a filing system for the entire platform. When you use a hashtag, you’re telling LinkedIn's algorithm exactly what your content is about and who is most likely to find it valuable.

Here’s what a smart hashtag strategy accomplishes:

• Increases Discoverability: People who don't follow you can discover your content by following or searching for hashtags relevant to their interests and industry. It's one of the most effective organic reach tools on the platform.
• Positions You as an Expert: Consistently posting valuable content with relevant hashtags like #contentstrategy or #supplychainmanagement establishes your authority in that niche. You become associated with the conversation.
• Joins You to Broader Conversations: Using event-specific or industry-wide hashtags (like #INBOUND2024 or #FutureOfWork) instantly places your content within a larger, ongoing dialogue, exposing it to a highly interested audience.

Without hashtags, your post's reach is primarily limited to your first-degree connections and their immediate networks. With them, you unlock the potential to reach thousands of other professionals who are actively looking for your knowledge.

How to Find the Best Hashtags for Your LinkedIn Posts

The biggest mistake people make is guessing. They either use overly broad tags that do nothing or niche tags nobody is following. A strategic approach will always outperform guessing. Here’s how to find the tags that will actually move the needle for you.

1. Start with LinkedIn’s Native Tools

LinkedIn wants you to use hashtags, so it gives you the tools to find them right on the platform. There’s no need for a complicated third-party tool to get started.

• The Search Bar: This is your best friend. Type a core topic (e.g., "project management") into the LinkedIn search bar. On the results page, click the "Hashtags" filter. LinkedIn will show you a list of related hashtags and, most importantly, their follower counts. This is gold.
• In-Post Suggestions: As you begin typing a hashtag in a post draft (e.g., #leadership), LinkedIn will auto-suggest popular related tags along with their follower numbers. Pay attention to these - they are a direct indicator of active communities.
• "Hashtags you're following" Panel: On your desktop homepage, the left-hand panel shows hashtags you currently follow. This is also where you can "Discover more" relevant tags based on your activity and profile information.

2. The Three-Tier Hashtag Strategy

To reach both a wide audience and the *right* audience, you need a balanced mix of hashtags. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Aim for a healthy combination of broad, niche, and branded tags in every post.

Tier 1: Broad/Community Hashtags (1-2 per post)

These are the high-traffic tags with hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of followers. They give your post the potential for broad visibility.

• Examples: #marketing (78.9M followers), #leadership (42.4M), #technology (39.5M), #personaldevelopment (29.2M)
• Pro: Enormous potential reach.
• Con: Highly competitive. Your post has a very short shelf-life in these feeds unless it gets strong initial engagement.

Tier 2: Niche/Topic Hashtags (2-3 per post)

This is where the magic happens. These tags are laser-focused on your specific topic, industry, or expertise. The audiences are smaller but significantly more engaged and relevant.

• Examples: #b2bmarketingstrategy (27K followers) is better than just #marketing. #emotionalintelligenceatwork (34K followers) is better than just #leadership.
• Pro: You reach people actively interested in your specific niche. It's far easier to stand out and generate meaningful conversations.
• Con: Smaller potential audience size, so you absolutely need the broad tags to balance it out.

Tier 3: Branded/Custom Hashtags (1 per post)

A branded hashtag is one you create for your company, a campaign, or even your personal brand. It groups all your related content in one place and helps build brand recognition.

• Examples: #YourCompanyNameCulture, #MarketingTeamWins, #YourAnnualEvent2025
• Pro: "Own" a gated content stream. It makes it easy for you and your audience to find all posts related to a specific topic. Excellent for tracking user-generated content or conversations around a campaign.
• Con: You have to build its momentum from zero. It won't have any followers initially, so you can't rely on it alone for reach.

By blending tags from all three tiers, you give your post the best shot at both wide discovery and deep engagement with the right people.

Best Practices: How Many Hashtags, Where to Put Them, and More

Once you have your list of potential hashtags, you need to use them effectively. Follow these best practices to get the most out of your efforts.

How many hashtags should you use on a LinkedIn post?

Aim for 3 to 5 highly relevant hashtags per post. This is the widely accepted sweet spot. While LinkedIn allows a lot more, using too many can look spammy and may trip the algorithm to think you're trying to game the system. More importantly, using a tight, focused group of 3-5 tags gives LinkedIn a very clear signal about what your content is about, leading to better targeting. It shows confidence in your topic - you’re not just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

Where should you place your hashtags?

You have two primary options:

1. At the end of the post: This is the most common and often the best practice. It keeps your main message clean and readable, with the hashtags serving as categorizing keywords at the bottom. This feels professional and organized.
2. Within the post copy: You can integrate a hashtag naturally into a sentence. For example, "I learned so much about #projectmanagement during our latest sprint." This can work well if done sparingly, but don't force it. Overusing this method can make your text clunky and hard to read.

For maximum readability, most of the time it’s best to list them at the very end.

A Few More Advanced Tips

• Follow and Engage with Your Target Hashtags: Click on a hashtag you want to be known for (e.g., #saasonboarding) and hit "Follow." Now, content using that tag will appear in your feed. Spend 10 minutes a day leaving thoughtful comments on posts in these feeds. This builds connections and makes your name visible to a hyper-relevant audience before you even publish your own content.
• Leverage hashtags in comments: Did you forget a tag or want to add context later? Adding a relevant hashtag in a comment on your own post can give it a little nudge by connecting it to another conversation. Use this sparingly, but it can be a useful tactic.
• Hashtags for Company Pages: On your Company Page, you can select up to three "Community hashtags" to feature. This signals what your brand cares about and allows you to like and comment on other posts *as your brand*, which is a powerful way to increase your page's visibility.

Common (and Costly) LinkedIn Hashtag Mistakes to Avoid

Getting your hashtag strategy right also means knowing what *not* to do. Sidestepping these common mistakes will put you ahead of the crowd.

• Mistake 1: Hashtag Stuffing. Using 10, 15, or 20 hashtags looks desperate and unprofessional. It dilutes your message and makes the algorithm's job harder. Focus is your friend. Keep it to 3-5.
• Mistake 2: Being Too Clever or Cryptic. Use tags that people are actually searching for. A tag like #InnovatingParadigmsForSuccess is meaningless. Stick to clear, widely understood keywords.
• Mistake 3: Using Punctuation or Spaces. A hashtag can only contain letters and numbers. #womenintech is correct. Anything else will break the tag.
• Mistake 4: Editing Hashtags After You Post. When you first publish a post, LinkedIn's algorithm pushes it out to a test audience to gauge engagement. Editing the post - especially the hashtags - can sometimes reset this process and kill your initial momentum. Double-check your hashtags *before* you hit publish.

Final Thoughts

Hashtags on LinkedIn aren't an afterthought, they're a core part of an effective organic content strategy. By consistently using a smart mix of broad, niche, and branded hashtags, you provide a clear roadmap for the algorithm and for users, helping your valuable content find the professional audience it deserves.

Creating and managing a thoughtful content strategy with the right hashtags for different platforms can feel like a lot to juggle. That's why we built the visual calendar in Postbase, so you can plan everything out at a glance. We let you schedule your content across all your accounts, easily customize the captions and hashtags for LinkedIn in a couple of clicks, and trust that it will go live reliably, every single time.