If you had to keep a count of the number of times you’ve used hashtags, chances are that you’d lose the count religiously! And so would I! More because there is absolutely nothing on the internet today that doesn’t come with a hashtag. From #eatfit campaigns to #beautyisyou revelations, hashtags have been the talk of the town. From voicing against injustice to extending support, we’ve done it all using a hashtag. While hashtags are gaining popularity daily, the competition for visibility is also rising. It has now become important for us to use these hashtags to the best of our benefits. The reason why I have noted down a few working suggestions on the same. And here’s how you can use hashtags for different social media platforms.
1.Hashtags on Facebook
Hashtags on Facebook is a relatively new tool since 2013. Facebook creates a unique URL for all the hashtags. To get interactions, one should use 1-2 hashtags only when they make sense or are relevant to the user. For instance, if your company tagline is “You are beautiful”, use a #youarebeautiful on your posts to attract the right viewers. This also increases the chance of interactions on your page.
Hashtags on Facebook usually connect you to people talking or looking for the same thing. Hence, using hashtags that are industry specific are a great suggestion to implement. Not just that, you can also create new hashtags to create a unique signature brand. Hashtags make your posts easily searchable. However, using many hashtags decreases the interactions. A common mistake that people also commit to this platform is using hashtags in the middle of a sentence. Not only is it annoying but also gains no interactions.
2.Hashtags on Instagram
Instagram is undoubtedly the king of hashtags. After all, all of us have struggled to find the perfect hashtags that fit our posts here, haven’t we? Since it is impossible to find a post without a hashtag here, Instagram actually allows using 30 hashtags in a single post. But is it meant to be filled to the brim? Definitely, no! Chances are that the cleaner your posts look; the better engagement you get out of it. But then how do you rank your posts? Well, the trick is to post your hashtags in a comment just after the post is published.
According to research by Neil Patel, a post with 11 hashtags gets 80% of the interaction in Instagram. If you use highly popular hashtags, your post is going to get lost in the crowd. Instead, use hashtags that are trending in your niche and also mix it with new hashtags. If you create a hashtag of your own and post often about it, your hashtag can in itself become a searchable term. However, it is important to be extra careful about the meaning of the words you use as a hashtag.
3.Hashtags on Twitter
Buffer states that in Twitter, the posts with hashtags get twice the interaction than those without them. If you really want to know the importance of hashtags, considering looking at the trends. You’ll find out that Twitter ranks its trends using the hashtags. Posts with no hashtags are hardly ranked. People here usually follow the trending hashtags and post content relevant to it. However, using a lot of hashtags is a bad idea, to say the least. Much why the report also suggests that tweets with 2 hashtags perform the best.
Lucy Coyle from Expert Assignment Help suggests that “One also has to be careful about the popularity of a certain hashtag.” She further adds that “There can be a different version of the same word or an abbreviated form too.” For instance, if you are posting on Mother’s Day, find out what the trending hashtag says. It could be anything from #HappyMothersDay2019 to #MothersDay to #MothersDaytribute. The key is to keep an eye always so that your post reaches more audience.
4.Hashtags on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the newest addition in the world of hashtags but is quickly gaining pace. The best part about LinkedIn is that the content shows up well in Google searches. Using hashtags in your posts on LinkedIn puts you to the largest audience because of the same. So if you’re looking for more interactions, LinkedIn can help you gain attraction pretty well. Not just posts, you can also use hashtags in the comments you type. You can include comments even on others’ posts and your own company page.
To do so, you can use the free tool Hashtagify.me to find related hashtags to your brand or company. Leveraging hashtags in LinkedIn is a great idea for you to be found out as a business or a potential brand. Since the fall of 2017, when LinkedIn started using hashtags, the interactions on LinkedIn have boosted up as a whole too.
5.Hashtags on YouTube
Hashtags in the titles of your YouTube videos show up in searches. The maximum number of hashtags allowed in your YouTube content is a whopping 15. In case that exceeds, there is a high risk of Google penalizing you. But then, how can you use 15 hashtags in a title? Well, you certainly can’t. The reason why YouTube also allows hashtagging in the description of your video.
Youtube uses tags to categorize your video, but the sad part is that they can’t be used in the description. But what’s a video without its categories mentioned? Hence, to cleverly include the categories, you can add the same tags as hashtags in your description. If you’re a video blogger, adding relevant categories also ensure high traffic to your blogs. Also, a video title with a relevant hashtag is usually the first choice of the search result by Google.
Despite hashtags being a highly effective tool, many brands neglect it still. But when they do so, they limit their target audience to a great extent and go down in searches too. Many people while dropping out suggest that hashtags are confusing, to begin with. While it may be true for a few people, it is not impossible to crack the formula of using it. Also, let’s not forget that hashtags are the greatest trend and hence, there’s no good business without it.
Author Bio:
Mary Jones is the co-founder & editor-in-chief at TopMyGrades which focuses on content marketing strategy for clients from the education industry in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Mary has conducted a series of webinars for AssignmentEssayHelp. She has extensive content editing experience and has worked with MSNBC, NewsCred & Scripted. She has also authored blogs on Lifehack.org, Wn.com, Medium.com, Minds.com and many more digital publications.
