What do we do when we want something to be remembered and repeated on the internet? What tool links our posts to a host of other like-minded posts? This: #. Yes, that small symbol is a major means of connection in the world of social media.

Why the #, or, less colloquially, why the “hashtag?” Since its inception on Twitter in 2007, the internet has been flooded with phrases marked by hashtags. The reason is simple: hashtags make content readily searchable. Click on a trending hashtag and it will take you immediately to a horde of other posts, all marked by the same tag. Hashtags offer a sense of unity across individual posts.

Hashtags connect businesses—key words and phrases marked by the “#” symbol align ideas. Alternatively, they can coordinate events and allow participants to communicate. Like most social media, hashtags are an outreach tool: they facilitate and unify human interaction by linking every related post through an ubiquitous pound sign.

A good hashtag will save space and resonate in the user’s mind. Pithy phrases that encapsulate a message in a just a few characters work best. Furthermore, a successful business will tailor hashtags specifically to a certain market or group of people. Analysis of your past hashtags through sites such as Ritetag and Tagboard can help specify hashtags and find “what works.”

Too many hashtags in a post, however, will confuse the reader and he will not take it seriously. Conversely, having none at all will leave your post insular and disconnected from the rest of the internet—de facto from the rest of the world. So use the hashtag, but use it wisely—for when used correctly, it will connect you with your audience and spread your name.

See Fuel Lines for the original article.