Think: Each Twitter hashtag you use has the potential of introducing your post to a new group of readers. But if the post and the topic don't match, they won't click on your blog post. If they do relate somehow, you have a shot.
Think about what you generally blog about. There is #writing #writers and #amwriting for general authorly use. But if you blog about writing or about your writing, you've probably used the hashtag many times.
What if you write #Christian and/or #Catholic fiction? You could try either of the hashtags, or try the more specific #ChristianFiction. I have tried #CatholicFiction when appropriate, but not enough other people use that hashtag.
Genre-specific hashtags can be good if you write in popular genre. Try #scifi or #paranormal or #romance.
Trending hashtags are popular topics. Your general Tweets and retweets will sometimes be right for such a topic. But should you write a blog post specifically to fit a popular topic? Not unless it fits your blog's themes.
It's important to evaluate a potential hashtag you are thinking about using. Try a Twitter search on the hashtag. See how many people have used it recently. You want one that's about medium in popularity. Rarely used hashtags won't get you many new viewers. Very, very popular hashtags won't get you many, either, because many of the viewers may not be interested in your specific content.
You need a hashtag that fits your specific niche, or the specific niche of the piece of content you are promoting.
The important thing to remember when using Twitter to promote your blog is you do not want just anyone to read your blog. You want the kind of reader who will like your blog's content. If what you have is an author-blog, you want those who might read your books as well. It does you no good to gain thousands of new blog viewers if most of them hate science fiction and that is what you write.
The best advice is to experiment. Try a new hashtag and see if you are getting more readers from Twitter that way. Just because a hashtag didn't make it onto a 'best hashtag' list doesn't mean it won't be a winner for YOU.
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This post is an experiment. I may turn this blog into a blog about blogging to keep from cluttering up my other blog with that content. If this possibility is of interest to you, please do comment.
