Do Hashtags Work on LinkedIn? Yes, Here’s How

A few years ago, hashtags felt out of place on LinkedIn. The platform belonged to corporate updates and job posts, and hashtags were something you used over on Twitter or Instagram. That has changed.

So, do hashtags work on LinkedIn in 2026, and are hashtags on LinkedIn still relevant? Yes to both, and the data is clear about it. In our 2026 LinkedIn Study, we looked at 673,658 posts from 63,108 accounts. Posts that included at least one hashtag got 85% more impressions than the platform average, on both Company Pages and Personal Profiles.

This guide covers how to use hashtags on LinkedIn in 2026, how many to add, where to place them, and how to find the ones that pull their weight.

Should You Use Hashtags on LinkedIn?

Yes, and most accounts already do. Our study found that 64% of Company Pages and 54% of Personal Profiles add at least one hashtag to their posts. So when people ask “do people use hashtags on LinkedIn?”, the answer is most of them, yes.

Hashtags give the LinkedIn algorithm context. They tell the platform what your post is about, so it can show that post to the right people, even if they don’t follow you. Think of them as labels on filing cabinets. Without labels, your folder sits in your office. With them, anyone looking for that subject can find it.

Reach Beyond Your Network

LinkedIn users can follow hashtags the same way they follow people. When you add a tag like #MarketingStrategy or #B2BSales, your post lands in the feed of everyone following it, whether they’re connected to you or not.

This is where the impression numbers come from. Posts using hashtags average 6,319 impressions on Company Pages and 5,449 on Personal Profiles. The channel averages sit around 832 and 818. The gap is the audience outside your own followers, which is a sizable jump.

Better Algorithm Sorting

Specific, industry-related hashtags help LinkedIn sort your post into the right professional category. That sorting is what gets your content past the platform’s quality filters and shown to a wider, targeted audience.

The interaction data supports this. Posts with hashtags get around 88% more interactions on Company Pages and 85% more on Personal Profiles than posts without them. More of the right people see your content, and more of them respond.

Topic Authority Over Time

LinkedIn uses hashtags, sometimes called Specialisms on Company Pages, to figure out what subjects you cover. When you post regularly on the same topics with a consistent cluster of hashtags, the platform starts to associate you with those areas. That helps your future posts on those topics show up to more people.

It works a bit like building a reputation in a small town. Show up at every meeting about local schools, and people start thinking of you when school topics come up.

How to Add Hashtags on LinkedIn

You can add hashtags in three places: a regular post, a LinkedIn article, or your profile. The steps are slightly different for each.

How to Add Hashtags on a LinkedIn Post

1. Click “Start a post” from your home feed.
2. Add your text and any media.
3. Type # followed by the start of your hashtag.
4. A list of suggestions appears with the follower count for each tag. Pick one.
5. Post.

How to Add Hashtags on a LinkedIn Article

1. Click “Start a post,” then select “Write article” from the menu.
2. Write the article.
3. Add hashtags at the bottom of the draft, then publish.

How to Add Hashtags on Your LinkedIn Profile

1. Go to your profile.
2. Click the edit pencil.
3. Under “Community,” select “Hashtags.”
4. Add up to three hashtags relevant to your work. You can then see and respond to posts using those tags from your hashtag feed.

How Many Hashtags Should You Use on a LinkedIn Post?

This is where LinkedIn differs from Instagram. More hashtags do not mean more reach. Our study found that the sweet spot sits between 1 and 5 hashtags per post.

Most accounts overshoot that range. The average post with hashtags uses 5.85 tags on Company Pages and 6.72 on Personal Profiles, both slightly above what performs best. Once you add too many, interactions tend to drop, posts get harder to read, and the platform’s spam filters become more likely to step in.

One nuance worth pointing out from the data. While impressions and interactions go up sharply with hashtags, engagement rate goes up only a small amount. The figures are 1.73% versus 1.60% on Company Pages, and 1.82% versus 1.77% on Personal Profiles. Hashtags get your post in front of more people, but the work of actually engaging that audience still comes down to what you wrote.

The Best Mix of Hashtags on LinkedIn

A good hashtag set combines three types of tags. Mixing them gives you broad reach, targeted relevance, and brand recognition all at once.

A simple rule of thumb is one broad, one niche, and one branded. That gives you three hashtags in LinkedIn posts, well within the recommended range, and covers the main bases.

How to Find the Right Hashtags on LinkedIn

Picking hashtags at random rarely works. Here are three ways to find ones worth using.

1. Click hashtags in other posts. If a tag catches your eye in someone else’s post, click it. LinkedIn shows you a feed of every recent post using that hashtag, plus the follower count. That gives you a sense of whether the tag is active.
2. Search for hashtags directly. Type the tag into the LinkedIn search bar, then click “Posts.” You can follow the tag from there to keep an eye on what’s trending in that subject.
3. Watch the people who already do this well. Find a few accounts in your industry that consistently get strong engagement. Note which hashtags they use on their best posts, then try those same tags on your own content.

Tracking Which Hashtags Actually Work for You

Picking hashtags is one part. Knowing which ones brought you reach and which ones did nothing is the harder part, and most accounts skip it.

Metricool tracks the performance of your LinkedIn posts. You can see which tags brought in the most impressions, which ones drove the most engagement, and which ones can probably retire. Once that pattern shows up in your own data, hashtag choices stop being a guess and start being a quick decision.