Hashtags – What Networks You Should Use Them On

Hashtags. These are one of those things that still seem to mystify even savvy Silhouette and Cricut small business owners. Today, I’m taking a few minutes to show you which networks you should be using hashtags on – and which you should skip. Before we go on, let’s make sure you know what a hashtag is: Put simply, a hashtag is a keyword related to your social media post. You denote the keyword as a hashtag by using the # before it. For example, I could use the hashtag #cuttingforbusiness when talking about this blog. Now, onto the networks:

Facebook – NO to using hashtags on Facebook

Hashtags work on Facebook, but time and time again – various social media experts have recommended against them. If you really want to use hashtags in a post, limit it to one or two hashtags. In general, Facebook will give your post a larger reach for posts without hashtags. Personally, I skip using hashtags on my business Facebook page.

Pinterest – NO to using hashtags on Pinterest

Hashtags also work on Pinterest, but Pinterest may penalize your pins that have hashtags in the description. At one time, Pinterest tried hashtags throughout the network but it never caught on. Read this blog post directly from Pinterest to see where they warn you about using hashtags.

Twitter – YES to using hashtags on Twitter

If you tweet as part of your small business strategy, yes, you’ll want to use hashtags. In each Twitter post, you can use as many hashtags as you would like. However, you can read in this post directly from Twitter, that they recommend no more than 2 hashtags per tweet.

Instagram – YES to using hashtags on Instagram

If you use Instagram for small business, yes – you will want to use hashtags in each caption that you post to Instagram. You can use up to 30 hashtags per caption. I prefer to use hashtags in natural language such as: “I hope that you will stop by my blog #cuttingforbusiness to learn how to use your #silhouettecameo or #cricutexplore to make money” instead of “I hope that you will stop by my blog Cutting for Business to learn how to use your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Explore to make money #cuttingforbusiness #silhouettecameo #cricutexplore”. However, you can use hashtags as you would like.

Here’s a link to a cool infographic about using hashtags on various social networks. Which networks do you use hashtags on? Let me know in the comments.

Save this (hashtag free) image on Pinterest: