Hashtags are just keywords with a # or hash in front of them, and they are all the rage. Everyone is using hashtags. If you’re an author, hashtags are important because they help readers find you and your books. However, if you’re new to the world of hashtags it can be very confusing. To learn more about Hashtags don’t miss my articles, Do Authors Really Need Hashtags, and 5 Hashtags Every Author Should Use.
If you’re a writer, and heck even if you aren’t, you can use hashtags. Here are five tips for using hashtags:

1. Don’t overdo it. If you’ve ever seen those twitter posts that are almost entirely hashtags, you know what I mean when I say this. Don’t let the message you’re trying to convey through your Twitter post be drowned out by the number of hashtags at the end of the post. Two to three hashtags per post is perfect.

2. Be creative when using hashtags. What I mean by this is if one of the keywords you want to use as a hashtag is already in your post, by all means plop a hashtag in front of that word. This saves you character space and you’re not repeating yourself by adding the same keyword with a hashtag at the end of your tweet. Here’s an example: “My new #BDSM #erotic #romance Re-Scue just released today!” See how I saved character space here? Now this doesn’t mean you can’t add other hashtags at the end of your tweet as long as you don’t go over the 140 character limit, but you get my idea. But again, don’t overdo it, you don’t want to put a hashtag in front of nearly every word in your sentence, and you don’t want your entire tweet to be hashtags.

3. Don’t just use hashtags on Twitter. The truth is hashtags can be used on any social media platform including Google+, and Facebook, and in fact you should use them there as well! This allows for consistency and you’ll reach more readers and fans. After all, not everyone uses Twitter, or Facebook or Google+ for that matter, but chances are most people use at least one of them!

4. Be careful when using hashtags. What I mean by this is that you should know what the hashtag you’re planning on using is being used for elsewhere on the web. You can research any hashtag before using it by going to a service like Tweet Deck signing up for an account and doing a search for conversations using your selected hashtag. Now this will just be on Twitter mind you, but it will give you an idea. After all, you don’t want to use a hashtag and then later discover the conversations around that hashtag have nothing to do with reading, or books for example. Which leads me to my final tip.
5. Research hashtags before you use them. It might seem like a no-brainer to use a particular keyword/ hashtag, especially if the keyword/hashtag in question relates to your book. However, there are thousands of hashtags that have nothing to do with books, or reading and while it may seem as if it would be a good fit, make sure you research it and that you’re reaching the audience you want to reach, and not just annoying a bunch of people who have no interest in say reading BDSM erotic romance books.
If you follow these five tips, you will be using hashtags like a pro in no time! Good luck, and post a comment if you have a question, I’ll get back to you!