If you’re looking for a marketing push with the help of social media, then hashtags are a free and speedy tool you need in your arsenal!
What are hashtags?
Think of hashtags like the equivalent of keywords on your website. If you want your website to appear on Google search listings you have to use keywords. If you want your posts to be found on social media, you have to use hashtags.
Hashtags = Discoverability!
They help you attract the people you’re trying to reach, and these people don’t need to be your friends on facebook, or follow your business on twitter, they can search and find your content independantly using hashtags.
How to use hashtags?
You can use hashtags at the beginning, middle or end of your post. They can be incorporated into sentences, or standalone. If you’re using a phrase as a hashtag, be sure not to use any spaces or punctuation. Always ensure any hashtag you use begins with a # …that’s what makes it a hashtag afterall!
Is there such a thing as too many hashtags?
Each platform allows you to use a different maximum number of hashtags, but don’t get carried away, just because you can use 30 hashtags doesn’t mean you should! More isn’t necessarily better. The hashtags you use need to be relevant to your post, if not you’ll frustrate users and they wont trust or engage with your content.
Don’t be clunky with it. Using a hashtag every other word will just make the post unreadable and lose the interest of the reader. A few well placed hashtags are far better than a muddle of hashtags dotted everywhere.
What makes a good hashtag?
Don’t try to be too complicated or clever, remember that hashtags are your keywords, you use them so people can find the content they’re looking for. But, also don’t be too general, people are unlikely to search for general terms as they know they’ll be inundated with content. Think of specific terms relevant to your business and your niche, try to think like your audience.
So how do you know which hashtags to use?
Social media isn’t just a place to reach out to your audience, it’s also the place to seek out your competitors! Think of the key figures, brands or celebrities that are associated with your area of business. See what hashtags they are using and how they are engaging with their audience. You can also make a search of any term on each social media platform to see what hashtags are trending in realtime. Just pop a keyword into the search box to give you a starting point.
If you want to get serious with your hashtags, then there are tools out there to help. Check out ritekit.com for example.
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