Among the most powerful tools, you can use to promote your content online are keywords, hashtags, tags, and categories. However, do they have any relevance to search engine optimization? Beyond social media and paid advertising, what other methods do you use to reach your audience?
The purpose of today’s post is to explain the difference between keywords and hashtags. Examples will be provided! In the following sections, we will explore how categories and tags are related. Then you will see how they affect how you appear online, so you can determine what is worth your time and what requires the assistance of a professional.
What Is The Difference Between Social Media Hashtags and SEO Keywords?
As much as hashtags and keywords are both used to facilitate the search for specific content, they are not the same thing for search engine optimization.
- For social media hashtags, you use the hashtag symbol (#), but not for SEO keywords. Unless you are referring to a particular movement, such as #MeToo.
- You post your content on a particular social media platform and your audience finds your content using hashtags. It is important to note that SEO keywords are used by bots and your audience in order to locate relevant pages on your website.
- There is more to keywords than just the topic of a word. Keywords refer to “search intent”: a deeper understanding of the reasoning behind why someone is searching for particular terms.
- There is no limit to the number of words that can be used as keywords. It is also possible to think about search intent in terms of a series of words, also known as a key phrase.
Research and Tactics for Hashtags
By researching hashtags and developing a hashtag strategy, you will be able to focus on existing groups of content for your social media posts. It is important to maintain consistency in the types of topics you cover and the number of hashtags you use across each platform when developing a hashtag strategy. As you examine the industry you wish to target, you will be able to determine:
- Brand hashtags: These include your business name and hashtags you will use consistently, such as #HairByYourName and #NonBinaryHairByYourName.
- The hashtags associated with your target audience are referred to as audience-specific hashtags. Using hashtags such as #Nonbinary or #NonbinaryStyle will be of interest to your audience and they will be searching for them on a regular basis.
- Location-specific hashtags: These are targeted at your location and the surrounding area. Alternatively, you may wish to take advantage of popular local hashtags such as #DiscoverYourCity or #ExploreYourCity.
- Post-Specific Hashtags: These are hashtags specific to a particular post. The purpose of these descriptions is to describe what your audience is seeing in your post. Use a hashtag for the specific hairstyle you are posting or mention what brand of razors you are using.
Is a Hashtag The Same as a WordPress Category or Tag?
There is no similarity between hashtags and WordPress categories or tags. By using hashtags on social media, a single post can be found on the platform it was posted. The use of keywords increases the likelihood that certain pages or posts of your website will appear in search engine results.
The confusion arises because hashtags, categories, and tags are all organizational tools. You can navigate content on your website by using categories, and you can do the same on social media platforms by using hashtags. The importance of tags is somewhat less hierarchical.
How Do Social Media Hashtags Affect Search Engine Optimization?
It is not true that social media hashtags have a direct impact on SEO. Social media activity, however, can have a positive impact on search engine optimization. You will therefore have a greater chance of being found by your audience if your social media posts are more searchable. The result of this is brand awareness, which results in people searching for your brand and sending more organic traffic to your website.
Conclusion
Both your hashtag strategy and your keyword strategy accomplish the same goal. By doing this, you will be able to build awareness of how your services and products fit into the needs of your core market. An SEO expert can help you optimize your keywords and content for organic search results in a similar manner to working with a social media manager on your hashtag strategy. I have created a simple keyword research tool below if you are unsure how to choose your SEO keywords.
