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September-11-2019   |   by azeem   |   
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While there are rules for using hashtags on social media, one practice remains constant among all platforms and that's Relevance.

Why? Because if you tag irrelevant hashtags or topics, you may get a wider reach at first but bit by bit, people will realize you're just tagging anything you can and they'll stop following you.

People go on social media for fun and business. So if you’re on Twitter and tag something like #writingtips with #caturday (which is a hashtag for people who like to post about cats), people will find it confusing and either stop following you or stop sharing your tweets.

So, what's the best practice for using hashtags on each platform?

 

Twitter

Twitter was one of the first social media platforms to use hashtags.

While you'll see many users using dozens of hashtags, it's become common to use 5 hashtags at the most. Some say that using over 5 hashtags per tweet hurts your reach*.

The best practice is to focus on relevance and include a trending hashtag like #SundayMorning or #SaturdayMotivation (depending on your post)

You can also use hashtags in your bio, to tell people what you do and what you're focused on.

Here's a sample of one of Maverick's tweets, where we've used our branding #Maverick, two on relevance (#socialmedia & #digitalmarketing) and a trending hashtag (# )

 

Facebook

For a time, people have tried to incorporate hashtags on Facebook and many reports have emerged saying that hashtags on Facebook reduce reach. Now, unlike Twitter and Instagram, Facebook isn’t big on hashtags. So best to limit them to one or two and these are so you can search with them in Facebook's search engine.

Let's explain further, at Maverick we include a hashtag with our company name at the end of each post for branding purposes. And that's it.

In certain groups, you can use hashtags to mark topics. For example, if you're in a group about writing, you can have #contests and #feedback. If you click one of these hashtags in the group, you'll be able to see all the topics that were marked using the feedback hashtag and search for what you're looking for amongst them.

Again, we don't recommend using more than one hashtag for Facebook.

 

LinkedIn

Hashtags are relatively new to LinkedIn but they've gain traction since their launch.

You can now follow certain hashtagged topics like #digitalmarketing and you can use them in your post so people know what your post is about.

Although LinkedIn has said that you can use any number of hashtags in your posts, many users have found the optimum to be five hashtags per post.

 

Instagram

Instagram adores hashtags. Basically, it's more hashtags, the merrier.

Like LinkedIn, you can follow certain hashtags as topics. The best practice? Add as many relevant hashtags as you like.

As you click the hashtag button and start typing, Instagram will show you an approximate number for a certain hashtag.

For example, at the time of writing this post, the #travelphotography has 89.7 million posts. That's a lot!

 

YouTube 

When it comes to YouTube, hashtags have a different purpose than the other social media platforms. As a YouTube user, you won't see the hashtags BUT they're there. They're used for SEO and they contribute to the order in which a video appears.

When people or influencers upload a video, they need to add relevant hashtags to the description. This boosts their video in search results and allows people searching for a topic to find those videos.

So, just because you don't see them, doesn't mean they're not there.

Pinterest

Pinterest has had a rocky road with hashtags but as of September 2017, Pinterest has allowed the use of hashtags and is even making it appear like Instagram by recommending certain hashtags as you type.

Where do you put them? In the description of your tweet.

First, use descriptive content for you pin, then add your hashtags. Pinterest allows you to add up to 20 hashtags for each pin. But not more than that. That said, it's recommended to not overuse the full limit and just use what you need.

Remember, you want to stay relevant and to avoid going off-topic and avoid looking spammy, which is how Pinterest users see you if you overuse hashtags in your post. 

1 Comments
  • Walaa
    2019-11-05 07:12:44

    Thank you for the amazing article. now I know when to use hashtags and where is the ideal place to use it. Cheers,

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