How to Use Hashtags on Social Media as a Liverpool Business

Most businesses either ignore hashtags or add ten of them to the end of every post and hope for the best. Neither approach works particularly well.

Used properly, hashtags help local customers find you on Instagram and Facebook. Here's how to do it.

What hashtags actually do

A hashtag turns a word or phrase into a searchable link. When someone searches for or clicks on #LiverpoolFoodie, they see all public posts tagged with it. If your restaurant uses that hashtag, your post appears in that search.

For small businesses, the value isn't in going viral, it's in being found by local people who are actively looking for what you offer.

The three types every Liverpool business needs

Location-based hashtags connect you to your area. These are the most important for local businesses.

Examples: #Liverpool #Merseyside #BalticTriangle #LarkLane #AlbertDock #LiverpoolCity

Be specific where it makes sense. A restaurant in Allerton gets more from #AllertonLiverpool than just #Liverpool.

Industry hashtags connect you to people interested in what you do.

Examples for a wedding photographer: #LiverpoolWedding #UKWeddingPhotographer Examples for a graphic designer: #LiverpoolDesigner #FreelanceDesigner

Branded hashtags are ones you create for your own business. They could be your business name or a short phrase. Use them consistently on every post to build a searchable archive of your content, and encourage customers to use them too.

How many to use

• Instagram: 5–10 is a good range. You can use up to 30, but more isn't always better. Relevance matters more than quantity
• Facebook: 3–5 works well. More than that looks cluttered
• LinkedIn: 1–3 per post. Keep them specific and professional

One practical tip for Instagram: post your hashtags in the first comment rather than in the caption itself. Your caption stays clean, and the algorithm treats it the same way.

The most common mistake: wrong hashtags

Using popular, generic hashtags like #love or #instagood doesn't work for a local business. You're competing with hundreds of millions of posts and your local customers will never see you.

Worse, some hashtags have been flagged by platforms for misuse. If you use one, your posts stop showing up to people who don't already follow you. Before using an unfamiliar hashtag, search it first and see what comes up.

A five-minute starting point

1. Look at two or three local businesses you respect that aren't in direct competition with you. What hashtags are they using?
2. Build a list of 10–15 hashtags relevant to your business and location
3. Use a mix of location, industry, and branded tags on your next post
4. After a month, check which posts got the most reach through hashtags (Instagram Insights shows this)
5. Drop the ones that aren't working and test different ones

That's all it takes to get started. You don't need to overthink it.

If managing social media feels like more than you have time for, see how we handle it for Liverpool businesses.