Hashtags - What are They for and How to Use them Effectively?

What are hashtags?

Hashtags are simply words and phrases preceded by "# - hash" symbol mentioned above. They facilitate finding the necessary content from the whole pile of information that we can see online. Using hashtags can be compared to entering information of interest in a search engine. They were created by Chris Messin, a former Google employee, who proposed this solution on the popular social platform Twitter. Since then, finding specific information, photos and videos have become much easier. Other social media followed the new idea. Hashtags are used to group content and reach more audiences, even the ones who are not following you yet.

How to use hashtags in the right way?

1. Adding hashtags on social media is not obligatory, but it's definitely worth doing. However, you must remember a few rules without which the hashtag will be useless.

2. First of all, use the # tag without any spaces after the symbol. Otherwise, the hashtag won't work.

3. In the case of multiple words, you also must not add a space. The correct hashtag entry will be #skijumping, not #ski jumping.

4. A hashtag may not only be useless, but it can also do more harm than good to your social media actions. Remember that there are also some hashtags that are banned, i. E. , temporarily or completely blocked by a particular social channel. These are mostly profanity, words connected with violence and pornography, but also the names of some brands and so on. You can find the current list of the banned hashtags here

5. Don't use the same hashtags over and over again. You will soon find that repeating them will result in limiting the reach of your posts, or even a ban on your account!

6. Avoid using the so-called "big" hashtags, i. e. , the most popular ones, used over 1 million times. There is a high probability that a post marked with such a hashtag will disappear among others and will not reach any follower.

Hashtag quantity - does it really matter?

The maximum number of hashtags on Instagram is 30. Is it worth using all of them? Opinions are divided. Some people will tell you - absolutely! After all, if you have a limit, why not use it? On the other hand, social media algorithms can consider such a photo or message as spam. That is why there are also supporters of putting 7-15 hashtags divided by topic. What will be best for you? You simply have to find out for yourself by monitoring the statistics.

Hashtags vs. Tags

Those two words are often used interchangeably. Do they have the same meaning? In a way, yes. An important category of distinction is where you use the tag. Hashtags are used on social networking sites such as Instagram, Facebook, etc. Tags, on the other hand, are attached to specific articles on websites or blogs. The differences end there.

Which hashtags will be effective?

1. While choosing the right hashtags, use your imagination. The more creative and unique the phrases, the less chance that they will disappear among other information.

2. What's more, they should be easy to remember and connected with what you want to inform your followers about. The less complicated the hashtag, the bigger the chance that it will be noticed and remembered. That is why, it is better to avoid long sentences or multi-word phrases and replace them with single, easy words.

3. If you only want to share a photo, it is worth adding hashtags that are also understandable to foreigners. While acting locally and planning to reach only the group that speaks a certain language - it is better to focus on hashtags in that language.

4. If you want to let your followers know where the photo was taken or in which city the advertised facility is located, it is worth using hashtags with the location. In that way, the users will be able to find your post not only after adding geotags, but also hashtags.

_Source:

_{https://www.instagram.com/p/C9flHHqpZa8/?igsh=Z2Z5NG14ejZsdDh1}