1. Spaces are an absolute no-no. Even if your hashtag contains multiple words, group them all together. On the other hand, do not use very long words/phrases. While #smallbusinesswebsitedesigninPhiladelphia hits on all of our topics, the likelihood of someone searching for that phrase is slim to none.

2. Do not use punctuation marks such as commas, periods, exclamation points, question marks and apostrophes.

3. Do not use asterisks or any other special characters.

4. Do not use the symbol @before someones *twitter handle - when you do this you are sending a direct message to that person or you are replying to him/her.

*On Twitter, your username, or handle, is your identity. My Twitter handle is @RodEves