So you’ve got your sunset picture at the ready. It’s edited to perfection, all the tones are perfect and you have the perfect caption to get those elusive comments and likes on Instagram. Now the question remains: which hashtags should you use to get the most engagement and traction, and take your sunset picture viral? We’re suckers for sunset pictures and Instagram too, so we’ve put together this handy guide to the best sunset hashtags in 2020.
If you’re just wanting some cracking copy and paste lists, then head to the first section. However, if you really want to use your sunset hashtags successfully, we recommend reading further one when we discuss how to use hashtags about sunsets for engagement.
Read next: The best sunset captions for Instagram
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Top 10 – the world’s favourite sunset hashtags 2020
In case you’re interested, here are the Top 10 sunset hashtags used by Instagrammers across the world. Remember: feel free to use one of these as a trial but usually you won’t be trending!
- #sunset
- #sunsets
- #sunset_pics
- #sunset_madness
- #sunsetsky
- #sunset_vision
- #sunset_hub
- #sunset_stream
- #sunset_ig
- #sunsetview
Copy and paste: your list of the best sunset hashtags 2020
Okay, so without further ado – drum roll please – here are the best sunset hashtags for your Instagram photos and stories. Keep your hashtag ‘recipe’ in mind when selecting from the different categories!
Top sunset hashtags
#sun #sunset #sky #blue #night #sunshine #fall #dark #evening #sleep #sunsets #sunlight #horizon #dusk #twilight #bedtime #last #darkness #moonlight #sunset_pics #nighttime #sundown #end #midnight #sunset_madness #sunset_vision #daylight #eve #sunset_hub #sunset_stream #sunset_hunter #sunset_ig
Very popular sunset hashtags
#sunsetview #sunset_lovers #sunset_captures #sunset_love #sunset_madness_ #daybreak #sunset_universe #sunsetting #sunset_hunter #sunset_united #midway #sunset_today #supersunset #sunup #sunset_rv #sunsetparty #sunset_super_pics
Popular hashtags
#moonlit #lapse #gloaming #desertdusk #predawn #nightfall #owling
Niche hashtags
#expiration #sunset_pics? #evenfall #expiry #demise #sunset_pics_nature #sunset_pics #sunset_visions
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Related hashtags
As we said above, your picture is probably not just a sunset but is composed of other elements: perhaps a beach or a river or maybe you’re looking for lake sunset hashtags or hashtags for nature sunsets? What about thinking about the colour of your sunset like orange sunset hashtags?
Here are a few good options for related hashtags:
General: #travel #nature #photography #travelphotography #photooftheday #instagood #naturephotography #view #picoftheday #photo #love #travelgram #sky #adventure #beautiful #mountains #photographer #wanderlust #travelling #clouds #sea #explore #outdoors
Beach sunset hashtags: #beach #beaches #beachclub #beachy #beachvolleyball #beachlife? #beachdecor #beachwalk #beachparty #beachside #beachin #beachfront #beach? #seaside #coastal #seashore #shoreline #coastline #waterfront #marine #sea #shore #shores #bay
Related: The best outdoor quotes and captions
Desert sunset hashtags: #desert #desertart #desertbeauty #desertchic #desertdaze #desertdusk #desertdweller #deserted #desertfun #deserthearts #desertlandscape #desertlife #desertliving #desertlove #desertnights #desertoasis #desertphotography #desertplant #desertplants #deserts #desertsand #desertscape #desertsky #desertstyle #desertsun #desertsunset #deserttime #deserttrip #desertvibes
Nature sunset hashtags: #nature #naturephotography #nature_good #nature_worldwide_birds #nature_uc #naturescape #naturelovers #nature_sultans #naturel #naturebrilliance #natures #nature_perfection #nature_shots #nature_brilliance #landscape #landscape_love #landscaper #landscapes #landscape_collection #landscapers #landscape_lovers #landscape_capture #landscape_lover #landscapephotography
Recommended: Want more specific nature hashtags? Read our guide!
Lake sunset hashtags: #lake #lakelife #lakes #lakeside #lakeview #lakeshore #lakefront #lakeforest
Why use hashtags?
We’ve covered this one quite extensively in our Instagram Hashtag Cheat Sheet but, in brief, hashtags are crucial if you are looking for growth on Instagram. And, let’s be honest, who isn’t? If your account is public (not set to private), we’re guessing you want as many people to see your content as possible. That’s where hashtags come in: they increase visibility of both feed posts and stories beyond your own followers and fans. We’ve been known to get 78% more views just through hashtags so it’s critical that you use them if you want more eyeballs on your content.
Read next: All the best hiking captions and quotes
Choosing the right hashtags
Instagram has gone through many changes over the year but one of the constants in the platform has been the use of hashtags. More than organising content (as hashtags were originally used for in Twitter, back in the ‘golden oldie’ days of social media), Instagram uses hashtags to surface new content to users. For example, if you’re very interested in recipes, you might follow the #recipes hashtag, or even more specific niches like #veganrecipes, and so Instagram wants to show you more of what you love: recipes!
This means that content creators and users can use hashtags to reach their intended audience by using the right mix of hashtags.
But, it’s not as simple as just generating a few hashtags. If you have a smaller Instagram account, you won’t be able to compete with larger profiles and so using popular hashtags just won’t cut it for you. That’s why you need to use a Hashtag Recipe – we’ve explained more on that below and sorted our sunset hashtag content accordingly for you. Neat, huh?
Related: All the best Instagram captions for your posts
Creating your hashtag recipe
The important thing when using hashtags in Instagram is to test. Try a few different variations out, and keep changing them to see which combinations work well. However, the golden rule is definitely to try and include different volumes of hashtags – more popular hashtags to see if there is a chance of you trending and the smaller niche hashtags, where you are more likely to be seen and might find a whole legion of people passionate about sunsets, just like you.
Here’s our personal recipe for hashtags. It includes a mix of 28 hashtags, so you can add 2 ‘wildcards’ to make up your maximum 30 hashtags.
- 7-8 very popular hashtags – think 100 – 500k posts but no more than 1 million
- 7-8 popular hashtags – try hashtags with over 10k but definitely less than 100k
- 5-6 niche hashtags – think about your niche. Are you in the travel industry, or just love clothing and style? Choose hashtags related to your image and your industry or focus
- 3-4 branded hashtags – wearing a specific dress or shoes? What about being a big city? Find hashtags for the brand or for the place you’re in
- 1 own hashtag – use your account name as your own hashtag. You never know when you’ll grow big enough for other Instagram accounts to use it!
Using Instagram search for sunset and related keywords
There are heaps of hashtag generators out there – we’ve actually covered the good ones in an article here, but our recent favourites are All Hashtag, Hashtags for Likes and Instavast (where you can even upload a picture to get suggestions). However, the easiest free way to find good sunset hashtags (beyond using our lists below) is to use Instagram’s own search functionality. In the image below you’ll see how we’ve searched for #sunsetpics and the platform has given us some great suggestions for related keywords, along with their volume.
In this way you can also consider other elements of the picture – does it have a #river or a #landscape or even a #moon featured? Try to search these hashtags to find related ideas to create your perfect list of hashtags
Increasing engagement
This article is about hashtags and of course this is hugely important to increase engagement.
However, more than just hashtags and a caption, the most critical thing to drive engagement is making sure your picture is incredibly compelling. Let’s be honest a picture tells 1000 words!
Read next: All the best comforting quotes for Instagram
For us, the only way to ensure we have a stand-out, cracking shot is to use Adobe Lightroom Presets. Think of these as your photo editing game-changer; taking a good picture and making it GREAT by just using a solid preset. Check out some of these that we would highly recommend. They also make sure our Instagram feed looks consistent.
Lastly, you could look at whether your post is worthy of a repost on an Instagram feature account. These accounts find the best curated content for their feeds, with very high follower counts. Want to know more? We’ve got a full guide to Instagram Feature Accounts here.
Bonus: Using sunset hashtags in your Instagram stories
Now of course Instagram isn’t only about image posts. Instagram Stories are growing in popularity and, along with things like direct message, seem to be factors in Instagram’s algorithm. Our advice on stories? Use hashtags in your stories to test them out! Try to use 2-3 different Instagram tags in a story and then check your Insights (only available with Business or Creator accounts) to see which one gets you the most traction. Read our cheat sheet for more on using hashtags in stories.
Want more Instagram content? We have a number of photo and caption guides too. Like Selfie Hashtags or even Hashtags for Couples. More interested in quotes and captions? Try our Definitive List of Facebook Captions or even the best list of Motivational Quotes for size!
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