Discovering how to choose hashtags and keywords is helpful for everyone with a business or brand in this digital landscape we all work in. It’s something we work on here at Mr. Thrive Media. It’s a part of SEO best practices and content creation on a macro and micro level.
For this Mr. Thrive blog on hashtags and keywords, you’re getting the words straight from the keyboard of our head of content strategy. Hi, I’m Sarah Ward. I’m the voice behind Mr. Thrive’s content creation, from blog posts to snappy one-liners across the site.
I work directly with Red Española, or Director of Digital Marketing, as we keep our hashtags and keywords in line with the Mr. Thrive brand. These principles of how to choose hashtags and keywords play into every facet of our digital marketing and the digital ecosystem of Mr. Thrive. Read on to learn these principles, to make use of them for your business.
Why Do We Use Hashtags?
Nearly every post you see on social media has hashtags as part of the caption. Why do we use hashtags? Well, hashtags are used to index content on social media platforms. This indexing helps social media algorithms to put content in front of the people who are most interested in the content.
When you use hashtags that fit your content and your target audience your content will be helped along to the right places. Your hashtags need to ride the lines between being popular and noticeable, and being associated with your brand. That’s a balance every business finds over time.
Why Do We Use Keywords?
Keywords come into play with all manner of digital content. Here at Mr. Thrive, our blogs are focused on keywords for the topics we’re speaking about. Our pages for services, testimonials, and everything in between have focused keywords for those topics. Our keywords tend to focus on podcasts, marketing, and related services and information.
Keywords perform the role of helping search engines find your content when they crawl the web. When you use the right keywords, search engines, Google in particular, see your site as authoritative. Keywords, alongside other SEO strategies, will help to get your site ranking higher on search engines, so more people can find your business.
Similarities Between Hashtags and Keywords
In the worlds of SEO, digital marketing, and content creation, hashtags and keywords go hand in hand. They serve a similar purpose of getting your content in front of the right people, to boost all of your content.
When you use a hashtag, social media platforms use their algorithms to comb every post. While different in scale, it’s a similar function to search engines crawling the web for keywords and content.
The best practice is to make use of hashtags and keywords across your content and marketing plans. When you do, you’re hedging your bets against the wide array of other businesses vying for customers and clients.
8 Factors of Choosing Hashtags and Keywords
Learning how to choose hashtags and keywords will help you advance your business and make the most of web and social media marketing. You can learn about hashtags and keywords from checking out competitors and keeping an eye on your industry. There are also specific steps you can take to learn how to choose hashtags and keywords.
These eight factors of choosing hashtags and keywords will give you tangible steps to take and general advice to follow. As you get used to choosing hashtags and keywords these practices will become second-nature. For now, this list can serve as a reference any time you need a refresher.
8. Be More Specific Than Broad-Reaching
There are a lot of general and popular hashtags out there you can use. While these broad hashtags have their place, a lot of your focus should be on smaller, more specific hashtags. These will have a greater impact for getting your brand out there. The same goes for keywords. While ranking for large keywords is wonderful, targeting niche keywords will get you noticed.
7. Use Branded Hashtags and Keywords
Using branded hashtags and keywords is a great way to mix your brand in with your marketing consistently. Branded hashtags and keywords are phrases that use your brand terms. That can be your brand name, your tagline, or even your specific services.
6. Refer to Influencers In Your Industry for Hashtags
There are lots of ways to pick hashtags. We’ll get to a few specific ways later on down this list. One great option to start with is referring to influencers within your industry. Check out the hashtags they use, and compare them to their most popular posts. You can use those hashtags as a jumping off point.
5. Find Unique Hashtags and Keywords
Finding unique hashtags and keywords plays into many other practices on this list. When it comes to the hashtags and keywords that will boost your business, using common ones will help you build a baseline. Unique options, however, will set you apart from the rest. You want to sprinkle them in, to keep a measured balance.
4. Think About Target Audiences for Hashtags and Keywords
Using the right hashtags and keywords comes with the goal of reaching an audience that can turn into the best customers and clients. When you’re planning out your content, keep your audience top of mind. Creating a buyer persona and fleshing out their social media and web needs will help you along.
3. Keep Your Words Clear
This tip is more for hashtags than for keywords, although it is important for both. For hashtags, clear words are vital for making your content easy to digest. Using CamelCase will also help with this endeavor. CamelCase is especially helpful for longer hashtags.
2. Do Competitor Research on Keywords
Competitor research is your friend in so many areas of marketing. For keywords, competitor research can help you find the keywords and ideas your competitors are targeting, so that you can do it better. You can use a tool like SEMRush to do this research. You can also do it manually by checking out the sites of your competition.
1. Utilize Hashtag Research Tools
There are many approaches to finding hashtags, many of which work well in conjunction. If you’re looking for one strategy to implement, using hashtag research tools is a stellar choice. Some great options include:
All these sources can simplify your hashtag research. When it comes to choosing hashtags and keywords, finding ways to streamline the workload gives you more time to focus on the rest of your business.
Frequently Asked Questions About Choosing Hashtags and Keywords
Choosing hashtags and keywords becomes more intuitive the longer you practice. The eight principles outlined in this blog post will help you get to the point of comfort with the process. Our answers to these frequently asked questions will give you further advice on how to choose hashtags and keywords.
How Do I Choose a Catchy Hashtag?
The best way to choose a catchy hashtag is to brainstorm, check references, and keep your brand and business in mind. You want something that is meaningful for your business and the audience you want to reach. Brainstorming and checking against lists of recommended hashtags will help you find unique options for your hashtags. This is also helpful for keywords.
What Is the Three-Hashtag Rule?
The three-hashtag rule is the guiding principle of choosing a hashtag for your product or service, who it’s for, and what problem it solves. When choosing your hashtags, these three facets of your business should be your focus. Hashtags that check all those boxes in some way or another will be helpful for your brand.
Is It Better to Use All 30 Hashtags?
There are sources that say using 20 to 30 hashtags per post is one of the most effective ways to reach your audience. This statistic is often tied to Instagram, but it applies to other social media platforms. You don’t have to use that many hashtags. You can decide on a post-to-post basis. A good amount of hashtags, however, will increase your social media visibility.
Are Hashtags Still Relevant In 2023?
Yes, hashtags are still relevant in 2023. Through the years of social media growth the rules around what makes for great hashtag usage has changed. The overall importance of hashtags, however, has remained. At the time of writing, we’re halfway through 2023, and hashtag importance is showing no signs of slowing down.
Is It Better to Use Big or Small Hashtags?
The best practice when it comes to the popularity of hashtags is to use a mix. Big hashtags are popular, but receive heavy traffic. You should use a few to categorize your posts. From there, a mix of medium and small hashtags will round out your hashtag optimization and build your community.
Choosing Hashtags and Keywords: What Are Your Key Content Tags?
Choosing hashtags and keywords can boost your business and build up your use of web and social media marketing. If you’re looking to work with a marketing team to make the most of hashtags and keywords, reach out to Mr. Thrive Media today!