Local hashtags and location tags: how to get found by people nearby

A location tag attaches a post to a place. On Instagram, place pages include public photos and videos shared with that location, so someone looking at the page for your street, park or venue can find you. Hashtag pages work the same way for a hashtag: public posts that use it appear there, but posts from private accounts don't appear publicly.

TikTok uses location differently. Its Nearby feed (called the Local feed in some places) shows local content such as food, events and services. TikTok says public posts may be shown to people in the city, state or province where you posted or tagged a location or service. The feed isn't available to everyone, you need to be at least 18, and posts older than 90 days don't appear.

Neither is a ranking trick. They're signposts. They put your post where people already browsing your area might see it, and they tell viewers instantly that you're local.

That matters most for businesses people choose by area: cafés, restaurants, salons, gyms, trades and shops. Someone planning a Saturday in a neighbouring town, or new to the area, often browses by place before they search by name. Your tags are how you show up in that browsing.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Posts that appear on Instagram place and hashtag search results, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Use hashtags on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; TikTok Support: Nearby feed, checked 15 October 2026

Each platform handles places in its own way. Check the posting screen in the app, because options vary by country and account type.

Whatever the platform, the rule is the same: tag the place the post is really about. A post filmed in your shop gets your shop's location; a post about a walk on the seafront gets the seafront. If your premises don't appear as a location on Instagram, Instagram says new locations can't be created in the app, so tag the nearest accurate place, such as your street or town, and add your address to your business profile.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Locations you can tag in your Instagram posts, checked 15 October 2026; TikTok Support: Nearby feed, checked 15 October 2026

A good local hashtag set mixes broad and narrow tags. Instagram's help page on hashtags says you can use up to 5 on a post, so choose carefully rather than piling them on. On other platforms, a handful of relevant tags is still easier to read than a block of them.

Broad place tags are busy, so your post may only be visible there briefly. Neighbourhood and local niche tags are quieter but reach people who are more likely to become customers. Moment tags only matter for a short time, so use them while the event or season is live and then drop them. Instagram also notes that spaces and special characters such as $ or % don't work in hashtags, so join words together.

Don't guess. Search each candidate tag in the app and look at what's actually there before you use it.

1. List ten to fifteen candidates from the four layers above.
2. Search each one in Instagram or TikTok and open the recent posts.
3. Keep tags where the recent posts come from real local people and businesses.
4. Drop tags that are dominated by spam, unrelated content or another place with the same name.
5. Check that each tag is still in use, not abandoned years ago.
6. Save your shortlist in a hashtag sheet and rotate two or three sets.
7. Every quarter, repeat the search and swap out tags that have gone quiet.

• Ask customers which local accounts and tags they follow
• Look at the tags used by local councils, venues and event organisers
• Check what tags appear on popular posts from neighbouring businesses
• Watch for local spelling and nicknames that outsiders get wrong

Imagine a dog groomer in a coastal town. Her posts were tagged with generic tags like #dog and #cute, and nobody nearby found her. She rebuilds her set: the town's name, the two neighbourhoods most clients come from, a town-plus-grooming tag and the tag for the town's summer dog show.

She tags the salon as the location on every before and after post made there, and tags the beach car park on posts about her coastal walks. She keeps her account public so posts can show on place and hashtag pages. Three months later, new clients mention finding her through the town's tag and the salon's place page, and she adds 'How did you find us?' to her booking form to track it properly.

She also notices that the show tag gets far more local engagement in the fortnight before the event than at any other time, so she saves it for those weeks only and puts a reminder in her calendar for next year.

Location tags are public. Think about who could see them before you post. This matters most for trades and mobile services, whose best work happens at customers' homes.

• Never tag a customer's home, even for a job you're proud of; tag the town or area instead
• Don't show house numbers, car number plates or children's school uniforms in photos
• If you work from home, use a service area and tag the town, not your street
• Avoid tagging staff at their homes or in real time if it could put them at risk
• Ask customers before tagging them or showing their face

Most problems come from treating tags as a shortcut rather than a signpost. Tags help the right people find a good post; they can't rescue a post nobody wants to watch. Put the effort into the photo, the video and the first line of the caption first, then add tags.

• Using a city tag for a place you don't serve, which brings attention you can't convert
• Copying the same block of tags onto every post, whatever it's about
• Using tags that are mostly spam, which puts your post in bad company
• Tagging a location where the post wasn't made, which misleads people browsing that place
• Relying on tags while leaving the bio without your area or address
• Setting the account to private and expecting posts to appear on place or hashtag pages

Zolyp, which we make, writes the caption and suggests hashtags for each post as part of Create, using your brand details from Brand Brain, and you can edit them before you approve. It then publishes to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. Our free hashtag generator is also there if you just want ideas to research. Plans that create the posts start at $29 a month, Lite is $9 a month per brand if you only need scheduling, and there's a 3-day free trial.