Instagram is a powerful platform for building brand awareness, engaging with customers, and promoting products or services. By harnessing the power of hashtags, businesses and individuals can reach a wider audience on the social media platform and connect with people who are interested in their content.
But while Instagram is a great platform in its own right, embedding an Instagram feed on your website can take your online presence to a whole new level.
By displaying dynamic, visually appealing Instagram feeds on your website, you can provide visitors with a window into your brand’s personality and culture, while also increasing engagement and conversions.
In this article, we’ll explore how to filter an Instagram feed by hashtag and embed it on your WordPress website. We’ll also share tips and tricks for selecting the right hashtags, and filtering your Instagram feed to ensure that it aligns with your brand’s values and messaging.
Whether you’re a blogger, small business owner, or marketer, this step-by-step guide is for you.
What are hashtags and why are they important?
Hashtags are an essential tool for increasing the visibility of your posts on Instagram. They allow you to reach a wider audience, while also categorizing your content. This is especially beneficial for brand campaigns.
Here are four key benefits of using hashtags on Instagram:
- Increased visibility – Using hashtags on your Instagram content helps make your posts discoverable by a larger audience beyond your followers. Reach users who are interested in your niche or industry by using brand-related hashtags. People searching for a particular hashtag will see all of the posts that have been tagged with that hashtag, regardless of who posted them.
- Categorization and organization – Hashtags help categorize and organize your content, making it easier for followers to find specific types of posts. This is particularly useful if you are running promotions or campaigns. Additionally, using tools like Spotlight to filter posts by hashtags can improve the user experience.
- Trending topics – Hashtags allow you to join conversations around trending topics on social media. By using popular hashtags related to current events, you can reach a wider audience and increase engagement.
- Brand building – Create a unique brand-specific hashtag to encourage user-generated content. This strategy is a very effective way to promote your brand to their followers. Reward users who use your branded hashtag by displaying their posts on your website, further promoting your brand.
By understanding and using hashtags effectively, you can improve your social media presence and connect with a wider audience.
Should you be filtering your Instagram feeds?
Displaying your or your followers’ Instagram posts on your website can be a game-changer for your brand. You’ll benefit from beautifully curated, regularly updated feeds throughout your website that can also be leveraged to generate revenue with a plugin like Spotlight.
However, to make the most of this opportunity, it’s important to filter your Instagram feeds for maximum effectiveness. Here are the top four reasons why filtering your Instagram feeds can make all the difference:
- Improved relevance – By filtering your feed by hashtags or keywords, you can weed out irrelevant posts and better align your content with your brand or business. This helps increase engagement and conversions by providing website visitors with content that meets their specific needs.
- Brand control – If you’re importing user-generated content, it’s crucial to ensure that it aligns with your brand’s values and messaging. Filter your feed using specific hashtags or keywords to automatically eliminate any posts that may be inappropriate for your audience, ensuring a consistent brand image.
- Increased visual appeal – By filtering your Instagram feed, you can focus on content that is visually appealing, improving the overall look of your website. This helps elevate the user experience and engagement, which can ultimately drive more traffic to your site.
- Reduced clutter – Filtering your Instagram feeds can help reduce clutter on your website, providing a clean, streamlined user experience with high-quality, relevant content. This not only improves the overall aesthetics of your website but also helps you stand out in a crowded digital marketplace.
Filtering your Instagram feed helps improve relevance, brand control, visual appeal and reduce clutter. Take time to filter your feeds and focus on high-quality content and your top-performing hashtags. This will help you create a more engaging website, driving more conversions for your business.
How to filter an Instagram feed in WordPress by hashtag
Step 1: Create a feed
Let’s start off by creating a feed with our Instagram posts. If you’d like to import user-generated content, have a look at our in-depth guide to adding instagram hashtag feeds to your website.
Next, pick a template. In this example, I opted for the Gallery layout, but you can choose from over 12 premade layouts.
Finally, select your Instagram account and your posts will automatically show up in the live interactive preview.
Step 2: Filter an Instagram feed by hashtag
Navigate to the “Filter” tab. Here we will be setting up all our filtering under the “Hashtag filtering” section in the sidebar.
How to hide posts with a specific hashtag
Earlier, we discussed the importance of tailoring our posts to fit our website. However, in this specific feed, I have several posts that were created in collaboration with another company on Instagram. To distinguish them from the rest of my content, I included the hashtag #ad. Although they performed well on the social media platform, they don’t quite align with my website and its audience.
For this reason, I’ll be filtering out all the posts with the hashtag #ad.
To do this, simply type in the word “ad” under “Hide posts with these hashtags” and hit enter. In an instant, three of my posts have automatically disappeared from my feed.
Make it global!
If you find yourself setting up the same filter across all your Instagram feeds, why not consider setting up a global filter?
To do this, click on the “Edit global filters” button in the sidebar and insert your hashtag in the popup.
Alternatively, you can navigate to the “Global filters” section on the “Settings” page. Now that I have my global filter in place, Spotlight will hide any of my current and future posts with the hashtag #ad in all my Instagram feeds, across my website.
Using global filters can significantly simplify the task of managing all your filters, saving you time and eliminating the need to repeatedly perform the same process.
How to only show posts with a specific hashtag
As you might have already realized, Spotlight also gives you the option to only show posts with specific hashtags. Let’s say I want to promote my collaboration on a specific page, using any posts with the hashtags #ad and #yogalove.
That’s right! Spotlight lets you add as many hashtags as you want.
Below, I’ve entered these two hashtags and in an instant, Spotlight is now showing six of my posts.
Oh! But there is one particular post that I want to hide in this feed. And it happens to have the hashtag #yogaclass in its caption.
No problem at all. All I need to do is add the hashtag #yogaclass to the “hide posts with these hashtags” section.
Let’s see that in action!
Deleting your hashtag filter
Deleting your hashtag filter is just as easy. Click the “x” button to remove a filter and your posts will reappear.
Step 3: Embedding your Instagram feed
When you’re done filtering your feed, save your filters and head over to the “Embed” page. Here, you’ll be able to add your filtered Instagram feed to your website using a block, shortcode, or widget.
Top tip: If you’re using Elementor to power your website, we’ve got you covered with our Elementor widget. Learn more about how to embed your Instagram feeds on your Elementor website here.
Tips for choosing which hashtags to display in your feed
Choosing which posts to display in your feed can get overwhelming, especially if you’re using a lot of hashtags on your Instagram posts and reels. In fact, many scheduling tools now help you organize your hashtags when posting to Instagram.
When embedding an Instagram feed on your website, make sure to choose hashtags that are related to your website’s content. Display ever-green content in your feed, and reserve timely content such as holiday campaigns and competitions for dedicated pages.
User-generated content is a valuable asset. However, it’s crucial to vet the content you’re displaying on your website by using hashtags that align with your brand or business. Weed out any obvious unwanted content by blacklisting specific hashtags.
If you’re still noticing posts coming in that you would not like to show your visitors, double up on your filtering process by using visual moderation. Check out our guide on how to moderate your Instagram feeds here.
Conclusion
Filtering your Instagram feeds is key to keeping your content relevant and brand-specific on your website. Take advantage of hashtags to create dynamic, engaging content that resonates with your visitors. With Spotlight, filtering an Instagram feed by hashtag has never been easier.
