LinkedIn might be trying to get away from hashtags, but they’re still showing up. As of late last year, LI stated several times that they’re deprecating hashtags, but they’re still showing up on the left-hand side of my FYP AND they’re still showing up in the URL of my posts.
What do I mean?
Click the three dots on the top that appear on any post. Then click “copy link.”
Paste the link in the URL and then you’ll see what I mean.
Hashtags still show up in the URL. You can see an example in the picture I share below. The Hashtags I used for the post were:
That being said, this is WHY it's also SO important for your hook to be that good. Based on CLEARLY anecdotal evidence, it seems that LI will take the first 7 words of your post and use that as the URL.
Why is this important?
I'm talking keywords and SEO, baby.
Now, I'm not an SEO expert but I have been around the 'ol interwebs block a time or two and I know how important it is for you (and me) to get found on the old googlenator. Using industry-specific, keyword-rich, and niche-specific words is super important to getting found organically.
So should you use hashtags for discoverability? Yes.
Do you need them? No.*
*You better have a damn good hook.
'Cause the hook will bring you back. I ain't telling you no lies. 😉
Deuces,
Mo