Are You a #Hashtag Hog?

It’s great to see how more people are getting into Twitter, especially the entrepreneurs. They understand that it’s the fastest way to push their brands and alert followers of an upcoming sale. But like everything else, Twitter can be done wrong. And like everything else, the wrong usually stems from something small that gets out of hand. In Twitter’s case, it’s the overdoing of the hashtags. It’s not unusual to see a tweet or 10 with more words with too many #s tacked onto them like a fly to a flytrap.

All of my Tweeps know exactly what I am referring to. All of my Tweeps know what a “Tweep” is.

I understand the reason behind it all, as I used to be guilty of this, too. When you use hashtags in tweets, chances are you will be re-tweeted or mentioned. I wrote a post called “What we can all learn from Zumba”, which showed readers how the exercise craze has the ability to actually teach us how to run our own businesses. Yes. I’m that good! Well, I took my blog link to Twitter and of course, I placed the pound sign next to the word Zumba. That blog post got so many re-tweets that day, from Zumba enthusiasts, Zumba bloggers, Zumba video watchers who are too lazy to do Zumba, and anyone else who cared that day about Zumba. I had no need to go hashtag crazy with any other words (like #blog, #writing, #business, etc.) and neither should you, my friends. So don’t be a hashtag hog any longer. Here’s how to curb your hogging ways:

Pick a hashtag, any hashtag. So you’re looking for the best way to get noticed on Twitter and you’re seconds away from striking the # key next to what you think is the best word for a hashtag. Next thing you know, you have five hashtags which clutters your tweet. Try sending your tweet using the most popular hashtag, instead. You will get followed, mentioned and re-tweeted, trust me on this. Keep in mind, purposely using the hottest trending hashtag can come off as spam if you don’t tweet it right, so try for relevance. And creativity.

More than three is a crowd. If you must make room for more than one hashtag, use no more than three of them. Keep your tweets meaningful, because meaningful tweets, like those of author Terry McMillan, get re-tweeted, over and over again. More than 50 percent of your tweet should not consist of #s. Would you retweet anyone with several hashtags plastered throughout a tweet? Me neither.

The end. Keep your hashtags for the end of the tweet. Doing this allows your follower to easily read what it is you’re tweeting about. Reading tweets. Isn’t that the point of it all in the first place?

In what I like to describe as a hot mess, hashtag hogging has no place in Twitter. Imagine if everyone went bezerk #with #using #thepoundsign #or #what #theoldschool #calls #thenumbersign. See my point? Share your thoughts on hashtag hogging in the comments.

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Tyjuana Wilson is a freelance writer, copywriter and consultant who provides to small business owners: articles, press releases, website/blog content, newsletter copy, and more. More importantly, she is also watching her 14-year-old diva, Tyra, grow before her eyes. Click here and check out Ty’s e-book, “What to blog about…” for free.