Hashtags are used to tag Tweets with a particular topic, e.g., #SEO, #marketing, #Tumblr, etc. Hashtags can be used in the text (sentence) of a Tweet or placed at the end of the Tweet.

While some hashtags like #SEO can be incorporated into a sentence, most seem to be placed at the end of a Tweet merely to add that Tweet to a bigger conversation. For example, when the tornado warnings kept so many people in Southwest Virginia up late in early May, those of us on Twitter tagged our Tweets with #vawx, which stands for “Virginia weather.” This allowed us to create a Twitter feed with only those Tweets containing that hashtag.

Twitter is searchable, and not just by #hashtags. Keywords also play a “key” role. There are two primary differences between keywords and hashtags; keywords can be more than one word (i.e., Virginia Tech) and are not preceded by a hash mark (pound sign). Hashtags are preceded by a hash mark and cannot contain spaces. If you used #Social Media, only #Social would be recognized as a hashtag. But “Social Media” is still searchable.

Here are some examples of how to use hashtags and keywords in a Tweet (the bolded words are only to highlight the use of keywords and hashtags).

Using keywords and hashtags in a sentence:

Are you a search engine optimization novice? Want to learn more about #SEO? Follow our Tumblr! http://nrv.me/jRcAKR

Using keywords in a sentence and tagging the Tweet with a #hashtag at the end:

Keep up with the latest search engine optimization news and information; follow our Tumblr! http://nrv.me/jRcAKR #SEO #Tumblr

Below is another example of how a Tweet could have been optimized better with keywords and hashtags.

Original Tweet:

Rising opera stars handpicked for next month’s Vocal Arts and Music Festival at Virginia Tech. http://ar.gy/Mop

There are no hashtags associating this Tweet with a topic, such as opera or the arts. It has the keywords “Virginia Tech” which is good, but the Center for the Arts has a Twitter account, so when writing a Tweet about another department, college or office within the university that has a Twitter account, reference it in your Tweet. See below for an example.

How the Tweet could be optimized:

Rising opera stars selected for @ArtscenteratVT’s Vocal Arts and Music Festival at Virginia Tech. http://ar.gy/Mop #opera #arts

This Tweet includes the Center for the Arts’ Twitter handle in the body of the message and tags the Tweet with two topic; opera and arts. Plus, we still have the keywords “Virginia Tech.”

Even though you only have 140 characters to work with in Twitter, you can still craft a highly-effective message and include it in searches using appropriate keywords and hashtags.

Happy Tweeting!

Gary Cope is the SEO and online marketing specialist for Business Bullpen. You can follow Gary on Tumblr or Twitter.