Twitter has been a great resource for professionals, organizations, job seekers, bloggers, and anyone else who uses the platform to get the word out. However, how do you know if the tweets you are sending out to the Twitterverse are being optimized?
Sure, sending out tweets regarding your professional and personal lives could help you stand out, but you probably need a pretty huge following before people start caring. So, how can you make sure your tweets are actually getting read?
Use hashtags. Using Twitter hashtags is a great way to optimize tweets because it's like you're adding information to the Twitter library. So, think about including industry-related hashtags after your tweets to help you get found. For example, if you are posting job related advice for recent grads, you could use #jobadvice or #classof2011 after your tweets. That way, if a graduate is looking for information or advice, they may be able to find your optimized tweet, which could lead to an extra follower or retweet.
Comment on what's trending. Unlike other popular social networking sites, Twitter has the ability to let users know what's popular, or "trending." If there is a major worldwide event or occasion for example, chances are it will be trending. So, it may be a good idea to comment on what's trending since lots of people are talking about the subject, as well as following it.
Further think about tweeting a unique opinion and responding to others so you stand out. Why? Well, since the topic is trending, there is bound to be a lot of repetition. Your distinct opinion will help you look different in a sea of literal followers.
Use URL shorteners. The noteworthy thing about Twitter is that users are limited to 140 characters. So, tweets need to be short, sweet and to the point. The same goes for posting links. Not only will long tweets fail to meet Twitter's requirements, but also they aren't exactly aesthetically pleasing.
Services like
bit.ly allow users to crunch long links down, while at the same time saving the shortened link so you find them later. This may increase your chances of retweets since your users will be able to promote your tweet within the character limit.
Tweet button. Tweet buttons are buttons at the end of a blog post or article that allow users to retweet or comment without having to leave the actual page. This is important since it eliminates the hassle of shortening URLs or copying and pasting headlines. All the work is done for the reader. Users are probably more likely to promote your blog or article if there is a tweet button available since it saves them time. If you give your followers every reason to actually want to share your information (including good content), there's probably a high chance that they will.
Do you optimize your tweets? If so, how?
Guest Expert:
James Alexander is
Vizibility's founder and CEO. He's the guy with two first names. If you 'Googled' his name in 2009, you would never have found him. Now, he ranks within the first few results of a Google search. Find James in Google at
vizibility.com/james.
