Although Twitter seems to be going through some turbulent times, it is still one of the top social networks in the World. And having a large presence on a world-wide stage like that is very important for anyone who is in the “digital” business. As I have grown my own Twitter follower base, I have compiled a list of useful tips and tricks to help you gain a larger share of the audience.
- Customize your profile page. – 1). Unique image. 2). Unique header. 3). Unique color scheme. 4). Tags in biography.
- Add a FOLLOW button on your blog.
- Add a Twitter SHARE button on your blog posts.
- Link to your Twitter profile from your blog / bio / info / contact pages.
- Pin your best and most important tweets and poles to your profile page. Switch them up often.
- Embed tweets in your blog posts. Write about Twitter.
- Avoid sending multiple tweets in a short period of time.
- Stop sending automated DMs.
- DO NOT use TrueTwit validation.
- Vary the type of content you share.
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1). Customize your profile page – seems pretty basic and self-explanatory, but there is a large segment of Twitter users who miss out on opportunities just because their profile looks like a generic bot. First thing to do is add a unique profile image. If possible, an image of yourself. It doesn’t have to be a recent image or could be a childhood picture or whatever but make sure it’s of you, if you got to go for the personal touch. If you are managing the Twitter account for a brand, then tag individual tweets so people know who they are talking to. Second step is to create a unique header image. This should be an image that you took yourself, or an image of you or your brand. It is important that the color scheme matches with your blog or company page. And maybe even uses some of the same graphical elements. the final step is to write an engaging biography that is an opportunity to tell people what you do and what you’re about. By conveying the right message you will attract the right followers and like-minded people with shared interests. Be sure to include a few important hashtags in your bio and maybe even a @SovietStoner mention. That will guarantee that you will pop up in searches a lot more.
2). Add a FOLLOW button on your blog. – add a social media button or Twitter follow widget to your blog. Using a follow button will make sure to let people know that you are open to connecting via social media, and it will make them stay on your blog longer. Adding multiple buttons for various social networks will make sure your readers can find you easier.
3). Add a Twitter SHARE button on your blog posts. – adding a Twitter SHARE button to your post makes it easy for your readers to tweet your posts. Make sure your Twitter username is included in your tweets. This will do several useful things for you. First it will make sure that the links to your blog are spread through THEIR segment of the social media market, creating a slew of backlinks, which is a huge plus for your SEO. Second, the tweets and retweets will raise the visibility of your own Twitter account.
4). Link to your Twitter profile from your blog / bio / info / contact pages. – Once again with the backlinks !! Make sure your readers can connect with you no matter what platform they are on.
5). Pin your best and most important tweets and poles to your profile page. – If you have something valuable or important to share, then Pin that tweet to the top of your profile. Whenever someone visits your profile, they will see this tweet pinned at the very top, and will be encouraged to like and share. Try to switch them up when you need to bring attention to a certain tweet or topic.
6). Embed tweets in your blog posts. Write about Twitter. – If you want to draw attention to any particular tweets, embedding them into your blog posts can boost engagement and help increase your following.
7). Avoid sending multiple tweets in a short period of time. – This will only cause your readers to get annoyed and unfollow you. If you have several tweets that you want to publish, try spreading out the publishing times. (I would say once every hour is perfect) There are several free tools available to help you publish to Twitter at a schedule of your choosing.
8). Stop sending automated DMs. – This can work as a temporary tactic to generate traffic or cross promote your other social networks, when done right, but the side effect is that you will lose followers. Seriously people, we do not need to be SPAMMED in our Direct Message box.
9). DO NOT use TrueTwit validation. – OK, this one is a bit of a relic. But it is still very annoying, and I still see a lot of people using it. So if you are not familiar with TrueTwit Validation, it is an add-on for Twitter, and it is free and easily available from Twitters own Add-On page. The add-on seeks to “protect” you from connecting with fake accounts (bots), by adding another level of verification. The user who wishes to follow you is sent a Direct Message from your Twitter profile, asking him to click a link to verify that he is a real human. If that user clicks the link, the add-on verifies him and allows him to follow you. The very NEGATIVE effect comes right after, when your very own TrueTwit add-on starts SPAMMING your very own list of your very own approved followers. Talk about annoying. I never understood why people use that add-on. If people want to follow you, why would you add another barrier for them to overcome???
10). Vary the type of content you share. – Just sharing an endless stream of links won’t help you much. You need to put up some visual material to keep your readers and viewers interested and engaged. Mixing up high quality images and videos from YouTube into your tweets will keep your readers’ attention.
@SovietStoner 