How many hashtags to use on LinkedIn, and where to put them

Use a small number of hashtags, put them at the end of the post, and write them in plain letters. Our working guideline is three to five. That is an editorial rule of thumb, not a figure from LinkedIn: we are not aware of LinkedIn publishing an ideal count, and we have no data showing that any particular number changes how far a post travels.

The formatter on this site builds that guideline into its readability check. When a post contains more than five hashtags, the check says “Use 3 to 5 hashtags.” When a hashtag appears in the middle of the text, it says “Move hashtags to the end of the post.” Both are suggestions from a simple script, written to match how most readers scan, and you are free to ignore them when the post has a good reason to differ.

The rest of this guide explains how the formatter counts hashtags, what “plain letters” means and why it matters, how to choose which tags to use, and how to place them without hurting the post.

A hashtag is a hash sign immediately followed by letters, numbers or an underscore, with no space. In the formatter, the pattern accepts letters from any alphabet, digits, combining marks and underscores, so a tag in another script counts the same as an English one. The count appears under the editor next to the character figures, and it updates as you type.

Two details are worth knowing:

• A hash sign followed by a space is not a hashtag. “# 1 priority” has a hash but no tag, and the counter ignores it. Likewise a hash sign on its own is just a symbol.
• Styled letters are different characters. If you write a tag using Unicode bold or script letters from the bold text generator or the fonts page, it is made of different characters from the plain word, so it is not the same tag as the plain version. The next section explains why that is a problem.

The count is a count of tags, not of unique tags. Using the same tag twice counts twice.

Bold, italic and script text on LinkedIn is made from look-alike Unicode characters, not from ordinary letters with a font applied. A styled “M” and a plain “M” are different characters that happen to look similar. Software that compares them, including search, treats them as different.

For hashtags that has a direct consequence. A tag exists to be matched against the same tag elsewhere. If you style it, it no longer matches the plain version, and it is less likely to behave as a normal tag. The site’s advice for names, job titles, skills and hashtags is the same: keep them plain. If you want emphasis, style a phrase in the sentence, not the tag.

LinkedIn shows hashtags as links, usually in blue. The preview on this site draws them in a link blue too, so you can see at a glance which words read as tags. If you have pasted styled text and are unsure whether a tag is plain, the plain text converter turns it back into ordinary letters in one step.

There is no official count. What follows is how we think about it, and it is reasoning, not data.

Fewer, more specific tags read better. A line of ten tags at the end of a post is visually heavy, and it takes the reader’s last impression away from your closing sentence. Three to five tags fit on one line or two and leave the ending of the post intact.

Each tag should earn its place. A useful test is whether you can say in a few words who the tag is for. A tag for a broad topic and a tag for a specific niche inside it can both be worthwhile. Five near-synonyms are not.

The character budget is real. Tags count as characters like any other words. A line of five tags can use fifty characters or more. If your post is near the 3,000-character limit, tags are one of the things you can trim. The LinkedIn character limits guide covers what else counts.

More is not a strategy. We flag more than five tags for readability. We make no claim that extra tags reduce reach, and we have no evidence either way. The suggestion is about readability.

If you write a lot, choose a small set of tags that match your topics and reuse them. It is easier to be consistent, and consistent tags make your own back catalogue easier to scan.

At the end of the post, on their own line, after a blank line. That is the placement the readability check expects, and the reasoning is practical.

Mid-sentence tags interrupt reading. LinkedIn usually shows a tag as a blue link, so a tag inside a sentence breaks up the sentence and pulls the eye away from the point. If the word matters to the sentence, write it as a normal word and repeat it as a tag at the end.

Tags above the fold waste the best space. Only the opening lines of a post are visible before “see more”, and the formatter’s hook check marks a first line that starts with a hashtag as a weaker hook. Spend that space on the point of the post. The guide to the see more fold explains how little room there is, especially on a phone.

A separate line keeps the layout clean. One blank line, then the tags on a single line, separates the topic labels from the argument. If you use several tags, leave a normal space between them.

The check is deliberately forgiving about the end of the post. A run of tags at the very end, including tags on several short lines, counts as the trailing block, and only a tag that appears before some later text triggers the “move to the end” note.

Start from the post, not from a list of popular tags. After you have written it, ask what it is about at three levels:

1. The broad field. The industry, profession or area the post belongs to.
2. The specific topic. The subject of this post in particular, such as a tool, a method or a situation.
3. The audience or context. Who would want it, or the setting it came from.

One tag at each level gives you three. Add a fourth or fifth only when the post covers something different that deserves its own label. This approach keeps the tags tied to the content and avoids a stock block of tags that appears under every post.

Write each tag in the form people would write it. Multi-word tags are normally written with each word capitalised and no spaces, which makes the word breaks easier to see. A tag in all lower case runs words together into one unbroken string. This is a readability point, not a LinkedIn rule.

Keep tags plain for the same reason you keep names and keywords plain. Some screen readers announce each styled character by its Unicode name, or skip it, as our guide on bold text and reach explains, and that would turn a tag into noise.

Emoji next to tags can have a similar effect, because some screen readers announce each emoji by name. Keep the tag line to the tags.

Do this in the formatter before you copy the post:

1. Finish the post first. Write the opening and the body, and only then decide on tags.
2. Add a blank line, then your tags. Three to five on one line, in plain letters, each word capitalised if the tag has several.
3. Look at the count. The hashtag count sits with the other counters under the editor. If it reads more than five, decide which tags you can drop.
4. Open the readability list. If it still says “Move hashtags to the end of the post”, a tag is sitting in the body. Move it or rewrite the sentence.
5. Check the preview. The tags should appear in blue on their own line at the bottom, with the last sentence of the post just above them.
6. Check the total length. Make sure the post, tags included, is comfortably under the 3,000-character limit.

If you are starting from a blank page, the post templates give you a structure to fill in, which leaves the tags as the last step of the routine and not the first.

Does LinkedIn limit the number of hashtags?

We are not aware of a documented limit, and the site does not state one. The three to five range is about readability.

Should I put hashtags in the first comment instead?

That is a style choice. Moving them to a comment keeps the post itself clean and saves characters in the post, and it also means the tags are not part of the post text. We do not have data on whether it changes how the post performs, so decide based on how you want the post to read.

Can I use a hashtag in the middle of a sentence?

You can, and the readability check will suggest moving it. If the word is part of your sentence, a plain word in the sentence plus a tag at the end gives the same result without a link in the middle of the sentence.

Can I use bold or italic in a hashtag?

We advise against it. Styled letters are different characters from plain ones, so a styled tag does not match the plain word.

Do hashtags count towards the character limit?

Yes. They are text like any other, so every hash sign and letter counts.