Using tags

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  michellekschwartz · Member · May 21, 2014 at 7:02 pm

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  I’m new to blogging, and want to understand using hashtags, mostly to increase readership.

  1. If I use tags within my blog post, do I need to use the # before/after the words to formally make it a tag?

  2. Will the use of tags within my blog post increase readership. For example, if a hashtag is #livelife then will anyone who searches for “livelife” be directed to my blog? Or is that not the way it works?

  3. I understand that there are ways to include Twitter feeds into my blog, but that is not my intention.

  4. What does adding tags (on post page) actually do?

  5. What does the tag widget accomplish?

  Thanks!

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  rachelmcr · Member · May 23, 2014 at 2:39 pm

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  Hi there,

  You can read all about how tags work on WordPress.com here: Tags

  1. If I use tags within my blog post, do I need to use the # before/after the words to formally make it a tag?

  Nope! Tags at WordPress.com don’t need a hashtag at the beginning.

  2. Will the use of tags within my blog post increase readership. For example, if a hashtag is #livelife then will anyone who searches for “livelife” be directed to my blog? Or is that not the way it works?

  Yep, using tags can definitely increase your readership. A post using a tag will be including in that tag’s page in the WordPress.com Reader. Anyone who searches for that tag in the Reader will see your post in the stream of all the posts using the same tag.

  You can also use more than one word in a tag, so if you’d like you can use “live life” instead of (or in addition to) “livelife.” One thing to watch out for is that using too many tags, or tags that aren’t relevant to your post’s content, can make it so your post doesn’t show up in the Reader. We have tips for getting the best use out of your tags here: Tags in the Reader

  4. What does adding tags (on post page) actually do?

  In addition to including your post on that tag’s page in the Reader, you can also use tags to view all of the posts on your blog using that tag. For example, if you use the tag “livelife” you can view all of your posts with that tag at a URL like this:

  http://stillhearinghismusic.wordpress.com/tag/livelife/

  5. What does the tag widget accomplish?

  The Tag Cloud widget adds a list of your most popular tags (up to 75 of them) in your blog’s widget area. We have more information about that widget here: Tag Cloud Widget

  Please let me know if you have any other questions about that. :)