If you’ve spent much time on social media, or even if you’re just getting started, you’ve probably heard of and seen hashtags. But what are they? Why would you want to use them? How do you know which ones to use? And how many is too many?

The world of hashtags can be a bit confusing so let’s break it down and get some clarification.

Hashtags Rule

Hashtags are simply a keyword or phrase that you’d like to rank your post for. To create a hashtag, simply add the pound sign (#) in front of your word or phrase and don’t use any spaces between words. Everything becomes one word. For example, if you want to use the keyword phrase “social media influencers” your hashtag would be #socialmediainfluencers.

Using hashtags with your post can greatly increase your reach. People can follow hashtags just as they would follow a person or a company. Posts with the hashtags they follow will show up in their newsfeed even if they don’t follow the person or company that posted it.

What does this mean for you? A lot more eyes on your post! Which can lead to more likes, more follows, and more clicks to your website. All from people who have never heard of you.

Hashtags are one of the greatest ways to increase your social media reach. Twitter and Instagram are the most popular places to use hashtags, but Facebook and Pinterest use them too.

Knowing Which Hashtags to Use

Knowing which hashtags to use with your post can be tricky. Luckily, Twitter and Instagram give you a lot of help with this. If you’re considering a hashtag on either site, simply start typing it. As you add letters, a drop-down box will appear with the most common hashtags with that letter combination and it will show you how many posts there are with that particular hashtag so that you know how popular it is.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you’re considering using #tea. Once you type it into your post, a menu will appear that shows you how many posts contain that hashtag as well as other hashtags that include yours like #teatime, #teadrinker, #teabreak, #teaofinstagram, and #teaplease just to name a few.

Just make sure you keep your hashtag relevant to your post or you won’t engage people who follow it.

A Few Hashtag Tips

• Make it easy to remember and spell so there’s little room for typos.
• Do some research to see what hashtags other companies in your industry are using.
• Limit the number of hashtags. On Twitter, one or two is fine. Remember, you have a character limit for your posts. On Instagram and other sites, three to five is a good limit.
• Hashtag existing words in your post to cut down on characters. If your post is “Check out this social media influencer,” change it to “Check out this #socialmediainfluencer.”
• Use current and popular hashtags for the best engagement.
• Create your own hashtag to promote your brand or event.

If you’re using social media to promote your business, you’ll have a better chance of reaching more people if you use hashtags. Don’t forget to include them with every post.

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