What is Hashtag? How to use hashtags: A definitive Guide

June 7, 2020

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Are you new to social media, and don’t know the significance of hashtags? Well not to worry, in this guide, you will get complete navigation of hashtags that are used on different social media. So, without further ado let’s get to know what are hashtags?

So, what do hashtags mean?

There was a time when hashtags # was a simple sign which states the value of the pound. But with the evolution in social media, this mundane symbol turns into a social sensation. From Facebook posts to Instagram to Twitter to LinkedIn to other social media platforms, you cannot skip hashtags, because it makes it easier for your post to get discovered around specific topics. As hashtags aggregate all social media content with the same hashtags. Simply hashtags help users to effortlessly steer and engage in larger online conversations. Now you know what hashtags means, it’s time to know what hashtags to use.

What hashtags to use?

There is no specific built-in answer to that but to find what hashtags to use for your brand, and audience you have to do little research. So, stay tuned to know the best way to use hashtags.

Track influencers and competitors in social media- Yes you have to monitor your competitors and social media influencers related to your brand niche. What hashtags do they often use? How many hashtags they often use in their post? Does their hashtag help you to find your competitor’s brand easily? All these help you to know how your competitors are engaging with their target audience and according to that, you can decide which hashtags to use.

opt for Hashtagify.com- This tool helps you to find the best and trending hashtags for your Twitter and Instagram accounts. For example, your search for current going pandemic Covid-19 and you will find results like this #covidfashion #covidpetsafety or #covidhomeschooling.

Find trending hashtags- Trending and right hashtags will help you to reach your target and potential customers easily. To find the trending hashtags you can take help of Rite tag generates, it will help you to suggest hashtags according to your content.

Analyze successful hashtags in the past post- Always keep a record of a past hashtag used on a past post. Analyze your popular past post, and then see if it goes with a trending post of yours. If you find your past popular post has any hashtags that can make a point in future post-use them.

what is the purpose of a hashtag?

If You think you have an eye-catching image, attractive & easily understandable content, and ready to push your post button then mate you are wrong. Without hashtags, your post doesn’t have the significance. Hashtags help to increase your visibility in social media by making your content available to the audience who is looking for online content and finding it by using hashtags. So, no matter how good your content is if you don’t have good hashtags or no hashtags at all then it all has no use. Let’s get to know about how hashtags are effective.

Better engagement with your followers
Help to build your brand
Help your followers to know your views and work on social issues
Add context to the social media post
Help your target audience find you
Hashtags improve your click-through rate

What are the popular hashtags?

When it comes to popular hashtags, novices of social media always find themselves in confusion, like what hashtags are popular? The hashtags they use are related to the topic or not? Well, to provide solutions to your predicament here we’re going to discuss popular hashtags of 2020. But note that: always popular hashtags are not necessarily the best hashtags. However popular hashtags have their effectiveness. Some of the popular hashtags of 2020 are

#love (1.7B posts)
#instagood (1.1B posts)
#photooftheday (763M posts)
#beautiful (639M posts)
#happy (564M posts)
#picoftheday (551M posts)
#photography (537M posts)
#nature (494M posts)
#instagram (439M posts)
#food (376M posts)

But the question remains the same as how to find popular hashtags? Well to find popular hashtags search for a keyword or hashtags that are related to your topic. And to do so let’s perform a small experiment: 1stlyOpen Instagram on your desktop or mobile device and search for popular hashtags like #Covid-19. Look at the top posts until you find one with other hashtags. Tap on one of these hashtags and see the top posts on the hashtag list. Here you will find related hashtags on the top of the interface.

Do and don’ts of hashtags

After its launch in 2007, the use of Hashtag has exploded. Today, hashtags have become a vital feature of the marketing landscape and used everywhere. But it also has some its limits and rules, and hence you are new to social media you need to know its do and don’t hashtags.

Never make hashtags too long
Use hashtags in the body
Never use hashtags for an unrelated topic
Do Keep hashtags user friendly
Don’t use hashtags in every word
Tools for choosing best hashtags

you might be new to this hashtag, so to help you find the best hashtags for your post below mention tools will guide you to choose your hashtags carefully and rightly. We hope that you were able to pick up a few tips and tools for the next time you sit down to the post

Hashtags search tool
Tagboard
Hashtagify.me
Talkwalker
Rite tags
Trendsmap

Best practices for a different social media platform

For twitter- According to research for twitter posts, the optimal number of hashtags is two. And to find the best hashtags for twitter use hashtagify.me tool to find trending and popularity hashtags for your post. As there are limited us of # on twitter, it is used at the end of the sentence.

Instagram- Well for Instagram more hashtags you use more engagement you see, but again not more than 10. To find the best hashtag around for insta go to the search box and see what audience, competitors, and industry leaders are already using. Always place hashtags at the end of your caption separated by either dots or asterisks.

Facebook- Hashtags for Facebook are not important, but again there is no harm in using. But it’s recommended to use hashtags minimum with a concise caption.

LinkedIn – It has the same effect as Facebook, but again brand-specific hashtags won’t hurt.

Pinterest- For Pinterest, you can use more than 20 hashtags, always use the hashtags with pins descriptions.

YouTube- For YouTube does not use more than 15 hashtags. Use hashtags in title and description that will be hyperlinked. Only use hashtags that are directly related to your video.

Wrapping it up

Hashtags are a quick and simple way of finding your post to your follower, potential, and target audience. Play with them and see what a difference they make in social media!! Hopefully, this blog helps you to get a solution to all your predicament related to hashtags.