Why You Should Change How You’re Using Hashtags

Do you use hashtags on LinkedIn? Hashtags are a brilliant way to reach a wider audience through your content and (hopefully) provoke more engagement. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to use hashtags…

If you are using any old hashtags without doing any research, you could be hindering your engagement and your chances of reaching people outside of your network. For example, if you hashtag your business name, it’s unlikely that this is going to achieve anything. So, let me tell you why you need to change the way you’re using hashtags. 

It’s all about reach…

• If you are looking to reach out to and connect with like-minded people in your area, you should use location-based hashtags. If your content is specific to a particular area, it’s likely to be of interest to people in that location. 

• When you are creating content, LinkedIn will often suggest hashtags for you to use, but, these aren’t necessarily the best ones for your audience. Plus, the ones being suggested might not have enough followers. You can do a simple search on LinkedIn to find out how many followers your chosen hashtag has. Also, you will see how many/what kind of posts have used this hashtag already. 

• How many hashtags do you use? If you’re one of those people that puts hundreds of hashtags on a post and deletes them after you’ve got a few likes, it’s time to stop this. To be favoured by LinkedIn’s algorithm, you only need to be using 3, I repeat, 3 hashtags. 

• Don’t use hashtags to replace your copy. Hashtags don’t provide context, they are purely used to improve discoverability. Make sure you add them to the bottom of the post, rather than littering them throughout. 

• If aren’t sure what hashtag to use, don’t give up and just go for the first option. Why not take a look at LinkedIn’s most followed hashtags? 

So, now you know why using hashtags in the right way is so important. There are a number of little changes you can make to the way you use hashtags that will make a huge difference. It takes a bit of research, but it will all pay off in the end. If you aren’t convinced of the power of a hashtag, I’ll leave you with this…By posting relevant hashtags, you’re 12.86% more likely to get views.