TikTok Hashtag Strategy: How Many Hashtags to Use and Which Ones

For most TikTok videos, 3 to 5 hashtags that accurately describe the video is a sensible starting point. Mix one or two broad tags with two or three specific ones, skip tags that have nothing to do with the video, and then check your own results to see what your channel responds to.

This guide gives you a simple hashtag formula, a worked example, a table you can copy, a mistakes list, and a small testing plan. It is written for creators who keep hearing "use hashtags" and still do not know what that means in practice.

What hashtags actually do on TikTok

A hashtag is a label. It tells TikTok and viewers what a video is about, and it makes the video findable when someone taps or searches that tag. It is not a button that pushes a video to more people.

That framing matters because it changes how you choose them. If a hashtag is a label, the best label is an accurate one. A tag that describes your video well helps the right viewer find it. A tag that is popular but unrelated just sits on the video and does nothing useful.

Hashtags work alongside other signals, not instead of them: what you say in the video, the on-screen text, your caption and the keywords in them. The part that matters even more is the opening, which our guide to TikTok hooks that stop the scroll covers.

How many hashtags to use on TikTok

There is no number that is correct for everyone, and anyone who gives you one as a law is guessing. Here is a reasonable way to think about it:

• 0 to 2 tags: Fine for a quick video where the topic is obvious. You give up some labeling.
• 3 to 5 tags: A good default. Enough to label the video from a few angles, short enough that every tag has a job.
• 6 to 9 tags: Possible, but each extra tag has to earn its place. If you cannot say why a tag is there, delete it.
• 10 or more: Usually a sign of copy-pasting a list. The caption starts to look like spam and the labels get fuzzy.

Notice that the logic is about each tag having a job, not about a count. If three tags do the job, stop at three.

The 3-layer formula

Instead of picking tags at random, pick one from each of three layers. This keeps the set varied without turning it into a wall of text.

1. Topic tag (broad). The general subject of the video. Example: a video about meal prepping gets a tag for meal prep.
2. Niche or angle tag (specific). Narrower: who it is for or what it covers. Example: meal prep for students, or meal prep with a rice cooker.
3. Format or community tag. What kind of video it is, or which community would care: a tutorial, a story time, a review, a "day in my life."

Add a fourth or fifth only if the video has a distinct extra angle, such as a location, a tool or a language.

Worked example

Say you post a 30-second video showing how you plan five lunches for the week on a small budget.

Layer	Example tag idea	Why it earns its place
Topic	meal prep	Names the subject
Niche	budget lunches	Names the angle and the viewer
Format	easy recipe tutorial	Says what kind of video it is
Optional extra	student cooking	Adds a specific audience

Four tags, each doing a different job. Now compare with a bad set: a viral dance tag, a generic "for you" style tag, a random big-number tag and a tag for an unrelated trend. None of them describe the video, so none of them help the right person find it.

Broad vs niche hashtags: how to choose

Broad tags have lots of videos under them. Niche tags have fewer. Both can be useful, but for different reasons.

• Broad tags make the video understandable at a glance. They are crowded, so rely on them to label, not to win discovery.
• Niche tags point to a smaller group that cares about exactly this. If you are a small account, these are where you have a realistic chance of being seen next to videos with similar topics.

For small accounts, lean on specific tags more than broad ones. For a bigger account with an established audience, broad tags matter less than consistent labeling that matches how your viewers already describe your content.

How to find hashtags for your video

Here is a repeatable process that takes a few minutes per video:

1. Write one sentence about the video. "How to plan five cheap lunches in 20 minutes." The nouns in that sentence are your tag candidates.
2. Search each candidate in TikTok. Look at what appears. Are the top videos similar to yours? If yes, the tag fits. If the results are about something else, drop it.
3. Check your own past videos. Which tags did you use on the videos that did best for you? Reuse the ones that were accurate.
4. Look at similar creators. See which tags sit on videos near yours. Borrow the ideas, not the exact list.
5. Pick your set. One topic, one niche, one format, and an extra only if it is real.
6. Say it, show it, caption it. The hashtags should match what you say in the video and show on screen, so the whole video tells the same story.

If you do not want to do this by hand, Genie's Hashtags tool does this step using what it already knows about your channel. You connect your TikTok handle once, and every tool draws from that channel memory. You then copy the tags into your caption and post yourself.

Common hashtag mistakes

• Using unrelated trending tags. The viewers they bring are not your viewers, and they scroll away.
• Copying one big list onto every video. Your videos are not all the same, so the labels should not be either.
• Only using the biggest tags. Crowded tags are hard places to be noticed, especially under 1K followers.
• Stuffing the caption. A long wall of tags buries your actual caption, which is where you can use plain words that viewers read.
• Never changing anything. If you use the same five tags forever, you will never learn what works.
• Treating hashtags as the fix for low views. If a video is stuck, the usual cause is the hook or the topic, not the labels.

Where to put hashtags

Put them in the caption, after a short line of plain text that explains the video. Lead with words a viewer would read, then add your tags at the end. Keep the caption readable on a phone screen. A caption that is only a column of tags tells a viewer nothing.

A simple 2-week hashtag test

You do not need a spreadsheet. You need consistency and a few posts.

1. Pick one topic area you post about regularly.
2. Week one: Post 3 videos with 3 to 4 tags each, built with the 3-layer formula.
3. Week two: Post 3 videos on similar topics with 6 to 8 tags, or with a different mix, such as more niche tags.
4. Record what you can see: views, likes, comments, shares and saves for each video, plus which tag set it used.
5. Compare patterns, not single videos. One video can pop for reasons that have nothing to do with tags, so look at the set of three.
6. Keep the set that works for you, and test one change at a time.

A fair warning: this is a small test. It can show you a direction on your own channel, but it cannot prove that a tag caused a result. Use it to make a decision, not to declare a rule.

What to track

Keep a note for each video with these columns:

Column	What to write
Video topic	One line
Tags used	The exact set
Number of tags	A count
Views	After a few days
Likes, comments	Counts
Shares, saves	Counts
Notes	Anything unusual: a repost, a comment going around, a different hook

Genie measures views, likes, comments, shares and saves, and also what is said and shown inside videos through transcripts. It does not have watch time, retention or completion rate, so do not expect hashtag advice from it to be based on those. Whatever tool you use, judge tags on the signals you can actually see.

Hashtags for different creators

If you are stuck at a few hundred views. Do not chase big tags. Check your hook and topic first, then use two or three specific tags.

If you are a mid-size creator (1K to 50K). You have enough past videos to learn from. Look at your best ones and find which accurate tags they shared.

If you are established (50K+). Your audience already knows what you do. Use tags to keep topics consistent, which makes your back catalog easier to browse.

If you are faceless. Tags matter just as much, since the video's subject might not be obvious from a face. Describe the content clearly with a topic tag and a format tag.

If you post in more than one language. Use tags in the language of the video. Genie works in English, Spanish and French.

Pre-post hashtag checklist

• Every tag describes this specific video.
• I have 3 to 5 tags, or I can explain each extra one.
• At least one tag is specific, not just broad.
• None of the tags is a trend I am borrowing just for reach.
• The caption has a line of plain words before the tags.
• The tags match what I say and show in the video.
• I noted the tag set so I can compare later.

How this fits with the rest of your workflow

Hashtags are the last small step in a longer chain. First you choose a topic, then write a hook and a script, then film, then label. If you get the first steps wrong, no tag will rescue the video. Our guide to writing scripts in your own style covers the earlier step, and finding your niche helps you decide what your tags should say about your channel in the first place.

If you want to see what plans include the Hashtags tool, check pricing. The Free plan includes one full analysis, and the deeper tools are gated. Pro is $9.99/month or $54/year for 1 TikTok account with all tools.

Bottom line

Choose a small number of accurate tags, give each a job, put a plain sentence before them in your caption, and test one change at a time. Hashtags will not rescue a weak video, but good labeling gives a good video a better chance of reaching the right viewer.

Try it on your own channel

Want hashtags built from your own channel instead of a copied list? Connect your TikTok handle to Genie at inayaflow.ai, get your Channel Analysis, and use the Hashtags tool when you are ready to post. You stay in control: you copy the tags and post the video yourself.