Imagine a world where you could write a new page for your website and instantly sky-rocket to the #1 position in search results for the most competitive term imaginable. No more waiting and fretting over every last detail of SEO and competitive analysis. Just instantly number one and directly in the face of the audience you are hoping to reach. Well you can!
Alright so maybe I lied a little. I didn’t say WHAT search engine or for how long right? Twitter has a handy feature called a hashtag that lets you do just this. Utilizing this to promote your new product, web page or blog post can get you that coveted #1 spot (at least until someone else tweets using the same hashtag).
What is a Hashtag?
A hashtag is a short concatenated word or phrase prefixed with the hash symbol. These hashtags when used in a tweet and clicked by a user will force a twitter search for the term. The resulting search result page will be a list of all tweets that contain the hashtag listed from most recent to oldest. Here is an example tweet using a hashtag:
My new Thesis based website design: http://bit.ly/aUyhiD Starting to tinker with all that 1.8 has to offer. #thesiswp
A couple things happen as a result of using this hashtag:
- Anyone who reads this tweet and clicks on the now hyper linked hash tag will be re-directed to a search result page for it. You can see this here.
- Your tweet will be at the very top of this search result page until someone else tweets with the same hashtag.
Twitter users add hashtags to their tweets as a way to be added to a search result page that people check to see whats new on that particular topic. Most Twitter users have a list of saved searches they use to check in on topics that interest them. People can hold open forum style conversations in this way without having to follow or be followed by the users in the conversation.
How can I use Hashtags to Market my Website Content?
This is where the real power of Twitter as a business marketing tool comes into play. Let’s say you wrote a new blog post on Widgets. You could take the following steps to make sure that your tweet promoting this new post reaches the most number of readers as well as the most relevant:
- Go to Twitter and use its handy search function to find tweets on Widgets.
- You may recognize some of the users in the search results as experts in the field of Widget making. Follow their tweets back to their profile and see what hashtags they commonly use.
- Click on their hashtags to see if there is an active conversation that relates to your blog post about Widgets. Do the people using that particular hashtag seem like the ideal audience for your blog post?
- If so add the hashtag to your tweet promoting your post.
Now when any user checks that search result page they will see your tweet at the very top!
This system is a perfect way to place your tweets, links and message in front of the exact type of user you would deem ideal for your content. You can also use as many hashtags as 140 characters will permit.You may find that there are a few popular tags people use when talking about your Widgets. Its possible they use #widgets to talk about Widgets in general and #acmewidgets to talk about Widgets made by the ACME corporation. Go ahead and use both if it makes sense.
Using hashtags can expand the reach of your tweets far beyond the wall of those who follow you. It is also a great way to increase the number of followers you have as it will be exposing your words to people interested in the topics that you love to write about.
If you have any questions or interesting stories on the use of hashtags and Twitter feel free to leave a comment below. If you would like some help with integrating Social Media Marketing strategies with your website or business feel free to Contact Me here.