Hashtags and Keywords on Social

Social platforms increasingly work like search engines. People type questions into TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn just as they would into a search bar. Hashtags and keywords both help content get found, but they do different jobs.

Hashtags

Hashtags group content around a topic or community. They work best when they are:

• relevant to the post, not just popular,
• specific enough to reach an interested niche,
• few in number, so the caption stays readable,
• branded where a campaign or community needs a shared tag.

Keywords

Keywords in captions, on-screen text, spoken audio, profile names and bios help platforms understand what content is about. Write naturally, but use the words your audience would actually search for.

How to research them

• Use the platform's own search suggestions.
• Look at the language used in comments and reviews.
• Check which terms competitors and creators in your niche rank for.

Using both together

Put the main keyword early in the caption, mention it on screen or in the audio where possible, and add a small set of focused hashtags.

Avoid

Irrelevant trending hashtags, long hashtag blocks and keyword stuffing. They make posts look spammy and rarely help reach.

Content optimised for discovery

oceanone's social content team writes captions built for search on every platform.