25 Nov Using the Right Hash Tags to Boost Your Twitter Followers

Whenever an online service or website’s traffic potential becomes widely known, all sorts of misconceptions arise about that ‘new’ traffic source. This was true about forums and yahoo groups back in the day and it is definitely true now about Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, to name just a few. In fact there is so much misconceptions and flat out hype, that it is very easy to lose sight of the fact that these social network sites and services can produce quite a bit of traffic. However, they can only deliver on their traffic potential if you, the promoter, do something that can trigger this traffic tsunami. No, it’s not a simple case of ‘if you build it, they will come’ Field of Dreams type of online marketing hype. The hard truth that many online marketers don’t seem to get is that traffic gravitates towards quality content. You can’t escape this basic fact.
As mentioned by Pam Moore’s article, it all boils down to knowing who your target audience is, finding out what turns them on, and building content that captures their attention. It truly is that basic. However, it is easy to list out these elements but hard to implement because you need to experiment with the right message blend. Thankfully, when it comes to Twitter, there is one feature you can use to help you get your link in front of the eyeballs of people who are already interested in it. (Re)introducing the hash tag.  I am reintroducing it because many marketers misunderstand this key Twitter feature. On one hand, some marketers think it is some sort of heaven sent bullet that delivers oodles of traffic just by mere usage. On the other hand, many marketers ignore it as irrelevant. The truth is that if you use it correctly, it can impact your ROI as far as Twitter traffic is concerned. Read the guide below to get the inside scoop about this little-understood and underutilized traffic generating feature of Twitter.
What Are Twitter Hash Tags?
Hash tags are keyword tags you put after the main body of your tweet. They help to categorize your tweet. People looking for a certain category of tweet can search for the hash tag to retrieve all posts related to that tag.
How Can Hash Tags Help You?
Many people use Twitter as a search engine because people tweet all sorts of late-breaking news trends. There are generally three ways to search for tweets on Twitter: words in the tweet, the name of the Twitter user, and hash tags. Tweet words retrieve so many results and not all of them share the same theme. Searching for the name of a user returns their twitter account and people’s mention of their name. This can be confusing and results in a jumbled mass of information. Searching for hash tags pulls only tweets where the authors consciously categorized their tweets. By consciously tagging your tweets, you direct how your tweet will be searched and this boosts your traffic potential. It’s like getting traffic from a search engine-you optimize how you wish to be found.
How To Pick The Right Hash Tags
Not all hash tags are created equal. Some hash tags are merely temporary trends. Don’t waste your time on these. However, there are some ‘classic’ hash tags that people search for over the long haul. One key way to determine this is through how many people use the hash tag and over what period of time. There are websites that track hash tag trends. Use these to find tags with a big long-term following and start tagging your relevant tweets accordingly.  Don’t spam hash tags-make sure you use the most relevant tags to your tweet’s content.
If you need help setting up your Twitter account or finding the right twitter hash tag subject lines, don’t hesitate to contact me at www.thesocialcalling.com or follow me on twitter @randisherman.