Hashtags can be a confusing concept, so today I’m sharing Hashtags 101 for writers. I’ll give you a list of popular hashtags and teach you how to use them effectively.
First, lets back up and evaluate the reason we’re all working at building an online presence. We are looking to deepen existing relationships and build new ones. But building new ones can be difficult if the only people we interact with are those we already know, either online or in person.
We can get a little bit of exposure to new folks by our existing connections introducing us, but that’s a time consuming way to go about it.
What if there was a way for someone to search a given social media network by topic and find new, interesting people to interact with? That would be a great way to grow our connections.
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Collectively speaking, I’ve seen a lot of improvement in how authors interact online. That said, there are still some common mistakes. These things are affecting your blog, making readers click away before they finish a post and even unsubscribe altogether. The funny thing is that most of them are minor and easily correctable. So take a look at the list, and see if you can improve your interactions with just a small change!
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Successful social media is something of an art form—with lots of gray areas. Building a successful online presence takes a good amount of flexibility and a little bit of experimentation. But even though I encourage people to find their sweet spots, there are a few things you want to avoid. Today I’d to weigh in on linking your social media accounts and other major blogging and social media no-nos.
No-no Number One
Do not link your blog with social media. What I mean by that is you don’t want your blog o send a notification of your newest blog post to Facebook or Twitter or any other social network. On the surface it seems that would be a great shortcut for those (almost all of us) who find ourselves in a constant time crush. But it’s not.
Here’s why:
You run the risk of spamming your friends and followers. Computers make mistakes, and especially if you have Facebook and Twitter linked, you can get repeat messages. This is unintentional spamming.
People today are smart, savvy and cynical. We can tell when something posted on social media is computer generated and we won’t bite. So you’re not getting any traffic this way.
Finally, you need to control the way your social media updates go out and how they’re worded. Different platforms may need slightly different wording. You also want the opportunity to add relevant hashtags and mentions.
