Hashtags on LinkedIn are a vital aspect to posting on the social media platform. They offer analytics which allow users to track their impact and the ability to reach a wider audience. Although they’re pretty straightforward to use, it’s important to know exactly what hashtags will work for you and the platform you’re on. If you’re unfamiliar with hashtags, they help users to find content on specific topics and they’ll help you to get discovered by people that you aren’t even connected with.
Today we’re going to focus on hashtagging on one specific platform: LinkedIn. Did you know, LinkedIn has been around since 2003, but didn’t introduce clickable hashtags onto their site until 2016? If you’re posting regular content and whether you’re using hashtags or not, it’s time to start using ones that actually work for you. Hashtags can be added to your articles, posts, and business page to reach an audience outside of your network. You can also follow particular hashtags you’re using, to see what conversations are being had surrounding their topic.
So, how do you actually use them?
- Firstly, you type out the pound sign followed by the word or phrase. As you type out your hashtag, LinkedIn will auto-generate hashtag suggestions based on what’s currently trending.
- Secondly, you click on the “Add Hashtag” button.
- Finally, you select one of the related hashtags next to the “Add Hashtag” button.
It’s important to remember not to use spaces or symbols in your hashtag, otherwise they will no longer be clickable and become pretty pointless!
What hashtags should you use?
Now that you know exactly how to use hashtags, you can start to decide which ones you should be using. If you’re struggling to decide which hashtags will best suit your content to attract the most engagement, searching for the “top hashtags on LinkedIn” will give you lists with hundreds of the top trending ones out there. Although they might not all be relevant to your business or page, it gives you an idea of what’s currently trending. You can then find ones that might suit your posts, and search them on LinkedIn to see the number of followers for each hashtag. It’s advisable to go for ones which have between a thousand and a million followers, however this does depend on the size of your business. If you’re a smaller business, choosing a hashtag with millions of followers could throw your post into a huge sea of content and ultimately get drowned out by the competition.
Why should you follow hashtags?
Following hashtags enables you to get an insight into what other people are posting and how users are responding to them. It’s also a great way to get inspiration for your future posts, to see what similar people are posting about. You can do this by…
- Heading to the search bar and typing the hashtag you want to follow.
- Selecting an option from the dropdown menu. That will take you to the hashtag’s feed where you can see all content published with this hashtag.
- Clicking “Follow” at the top of the page.
Hashtags are fundamental to the success of your content. You can be confident you’re reaching the right audience by using LinkedIn’s top trending hashtags and tracking the analytics. They make it easier for people to discover your content, even if they’re not already in your connections. They’re the best thing since sliced bread!
