Thanks to social media, hashtags have had an interesting life. Their dominance on Twitter is clear, their failed integration on Facebook is painfully obvious, and they’ve managed to work their way into a variety of other social networks. Now, they’re being integrated into WordPress in an way that help bloggers keep readers engaged.
HASHCORE is a plugin that allows WordPress users to link to hashtags within their posts. When a reader clicks on one of these linked hashtags, their presented with a popup that gives a real-time look at Twitter users employing that hashtag, along with a button that encourages them to follow the blogger’s Twitter account.
Why is this important? Site engagement and Twitter engagement. Providing readers with the means to check out a hashtag without navigating away from your site will keep them on site longer, and helps to encourage greater engagement. In addition, making it easy for readers to follow your Twitter account right from the popup can help boost your Twitter following, particularly if your reader isn’t familiar with your site or brand.
The HASHCORE plugin is $9.99 a month, but a free version is available as long as you don’t mind including HASHCORE-related ads on your site. You can register to be a publisher here.
Thinking of taking over a popular hashtag for your own brand’s benefit? Read about Jell-O’s #FML campaign before you do!
