LinkedIn Hashtags: Should a Business Use Them?

LinkedIn hashtags are tags written with the # symbol that link a post to a topic on LinkedIn. A business should use them sparingly: LinkedIn's own Pages guidance suggests choosing 3 to 5 that matter to your organisation and adding them when relevant, while what the post says and shows does far more for its results.

• LinkedIn Pages Best Practices suggests identifying 3 to 5 hashtags that are top of mind for your organisation and adding them to posts when relevant.
• A second version of LinkedIn's Page Best Practices does not mention hashtags at all, and says images generally result in a 98% higher comment rate.
• LinkedIn's action plan for Pages (PDF) suggests 3 kinds of hashtag: broad ones such as location, niche ones such as product, and talent branding ones.
• X's Help Center, for comparison, recommends no more than 2 hashtags per post on X.

Do hashtags still matter on LinkedIn?

They matter a little. LinkedIn still recommends a few relevant tags for company pages, but its own guidance puts far more weight on what you post and how often.

LinkedIn's Pages Best Practices page says hashtags are a great way to expose your brand to a wider audience, and suggests a short set chosen for your organisation. Yet another version of LinkedIn's best practices page, at a different address, covers completing your Page, posting at least once per weekday, using images and video, and does not mention hashtags at all. That gap is a fair summary of their weight today. Hashtags are a small, useful label; the content of the post is the main event.

We could not open LinkedIn's Help Center pages on hashtags for this guide, because they block automated reading, so we have not described how hashtag search or following works on LinkedIn now. LinkedIn changes these features from time to time. If a hashtag feature you remember is missing from your Page or the app, assume it has changed rather than that you are doing something wrong.

How many hashtags should a business use on LinkedIn?

Use 3 or fewer on most posts, drawn from a set of 3 to 5 that suit your business. LinkedIn's guidance is about a short, chosen set, not a count per post.

The wording on LinkedIn's Pages Best Practices page matters here. It suggests identifying 3 to 5 hashtags that are top of mind for your organisation, then adding them to posts when relevant. That reads as a small working set you return to, not an instruction to put five tags on every post. A post about a new hire needs different labels from a post about a product update, and some posts need none at all.

There is a reading cost too. LinkedIn posts are read by people deciding whether your business is credible, and a long line of tags at the end looks more like a broadcast than a conversation. Two or three specific tags at the end of a clear post are enough for the network to place it. If you want to know whether more would help, test it against your own numbers rather than following any published count.

Which LinkedIn hashtags fit a business?

Pick tags for your field, your place and the people you want to reach, in the words they use. LinkedIn's action plan suggests broad, niche and talent branding tags.

The action plan for Pages describes three kinds of tag, depending on your goals: broad ones such as location, niche ones such as your product, and talent branding ones if you are hiring. The table below turns that into examples for a hypothetical accountancy firm in Nairobi. Your own set will differ, but the mix of one broad, one or two niche and an occasional talent tag suits most businesses.

Kind of tag	What it does	Example for a hypothetical Nairobi accountancy firm
Broad (place or sector)	Links the post to a wide topic or area	#Nairobi, #Accounting
Niche (product or service)	Reaches people interested in exactly what you offer	#TaxCompliance, #Payroll
Talent branding	Supports hiring posts and life at the firm	A branded tag such as #LifeAtYourFirm
Series	Groups a regular feature so readers can find every one	#MondayTaxTip

LinkedIn's Pages playbook (PDF) gives examples of the series idea, suggesting serial themed posts such as #MondayMotivation and #WednesdayWisdom, and including hashtags to associate your company with trending topics. Use a trending tag only when your post genuinely adds to that conversation. Before adopting any tag, search it on LinkedIn and look at the recent posts; if they are from the people you want to reach, it fits.

Where should hashtags go in a LinkedIn post?

Put them at the end of the post, or use one inside a sentence where it reads naturally. The opening lines should carry your point, not tags.

On LinkedIn the first lines of a post are what people see before choosing to read more, so they should say something useful: the lesson, the news or the question. Tags at the end let the network file the post without getting in the reader's way. A single tag inside a sentence, such as "our #Payroll checklist for new employers", can read naturally and save space. Write multi-word tags with a capital at the start of each word so they are easy to read.

Keep tags out of images and carousel pages, where they are just text. If you share a carousel as a PDF, put the tags in the post text above it. Keep the tags in the post itself too, rather than adding them later in a comment, so they sit with the words they describe.

Should a business follow hashtags or link its Page to them?

Only if LinkedIn still offers the option on your Page. LinkedIn's action plan describes associating a Page with hashtags, but features like this change.

The action plan PDF describes associating your Page with relevant hashtags in a Communities panel, so you can join conversations from the perspective of your organisation, and suggests switching those hashtags up over time. We could not confirm on a LinkedIn help page that this panel is still available today, so check your Page's admin view before planning around it. If it is there, choose the same broad and niche tags you use in posts. If it is not, nothing is lost; the tags in your posts still do their job.

Whatever LinkedIn offers, the time is better spent on the conversation itself. Reading and commenting thoughtfully on posts from customers, partners and people in your sector puts your business in front of the right people more directly than any tag can. Treat hashtags as a way to label your posts, and comments as the way to take part.

How can a business tell whether LinkedIn hashtags help?

Compare posts over a few weeks using your Page analytics. Change only the tags and keep everything else steady.

LinkedIn gives Page admins analytics for each post, such as impressions and engagement, though the detail shown can change. Pick two similar post types you publish regularly, and for a month vary only the tags: no tags on some, your two or three chosen tags on others. Note impressions, reactions, comments, follows and website clicks for each. With a handful of posts the numbers will be noisy, so look for a consistent pattern rather than one standout result.

If tagged posts do no better, keep tags to one or two for filing purposes and put the effort into the post itself. If one tag keeps bringing in comments or follows from the people you want, keep it in your set. Either answer is useful, because it comes from your own audience rather than a general rule.

Questions business owners ask about LinkedIn hashtags

Are LinkedIn hashtags worth using at all?

Yes, a few. LinkedIn's Pages Best Practices still suggests a set of 3 to 5 relevant tags, used when relevant. They help place a post, but the post's content matters far more.

Is there a hashtag limit on LinkedIn?

We could not find a published hashtag limit on the LinkedIn pages we were able to open. LinkedIn's guidance is about choosing a short set, not about a maximum. Using two or three per post keeps you well within any limit.

Should a personal profile and a company page use the same hashtags?

They can share the topic and place tags, which helps your posts sit together. A company page may add a branded or talent tag that an employee would not use on every post. Keep both sets short and relevant.

Do hashtags help a LinkedIn post appear in search?

They give LinkedIn one more clue about the post's topic, but we could not open LinkedIn's Help Center pages to confirm how hashtag search works today. Clear words in the post itself, naming your service and place, are the safer way to be found.

Set your LinkedIn hashtag list this week

Write a working set of 3 to 5 tags and use them on your next six posts. Then check your Page analytics after a month.

For the set, choose one broad tag for your sector or city, one or two niche tags for what you sell, and a series or talent tag if you run one. Search each one on LinkedIn and drop any whose recent posts are not from people you want to reach. On each post, open with your point, add two or three of the tags at the end, and note which posts brought comments, follows or website clicks. Whether you should use hashtags for business posts on other networks, and how many, is covered in the wider guide this one sits under.

If you would like help with the posts themselves, type your website into the AI Social Media Post Generator to see three posts with captions for your business. It offers 3 ideas per topic, a second check compares every claim with your website, and it can save a tips carousel as a PDF for LinkedIn. On a computer it opens LinkedIn with the words already in and downloads the pictures, and a finished post costs 1 credit (about $0.65).