What does it take to have a top Twitter account? Aside from being famous, it starts with implementing the following social media optimization tips to make your engagement and followers skyrocket.
In February 2021 Letter to shareholders, Twitter revealed statistics showing its popularity. More importantly, the social media giant shared that it has 192 million daily users, resulting in an average of 600 million more tweets per day.
Looking at these numbers, you can deduce two things:
- Making it big on Twitter can help your exposure explode.
- It can be difficult to make it big on Twitter since there are so many users and tweets.
While both of these are true, don’t worry, as we’ll show you how to make it big on Twitter with these Twitter optimization tips per post.
Best practices for tweeting
Below are some of the best practices for tweeting and optimizing your Twitter profile.
Twitter Optimization Tip: Organize your content base
It can be tempting to start tweeting so you can get in on the action. But before you do that, you want a solid foundation so you can:
- Inspire others.
- Connect with other profiles in your industry.
- Maintain brand focus.
- Promote your products without coming across as too pushy.
What can give you the solid foundation for achieving this list of goals? In formal terms, a “content house,” which is a list of topics you’re well versed in that will drive most of your tweets. By building your content house before you tweet, you’ll be better able to present yourself to the world.
Twitter Optimization Tip: Optimize your bio
While concise, your Twitter bio is an essential part of your profile, as it gives visitors a quick overview of who you are and what they can expect. Here are some tips to optimize your Twitter bio, as an empty one can get you overlooked:
- Make sure your profile picture is appropriate. A business logo or your face (try to smile) will work.
- Think about your header image and make sure it looks right on mobile.
- Include hashtags that reflect your company or industry.
- If you have any website links, don’t forget to include them so followers can instantly learn more about you.
- Profile images should be 400 x 400 in size. Header images, meanwhile, are 1500 x 500.
- Acceptable image formats for Twitter include: JPEG, GIF and PNG.
- Your maximum bio is 160 characters, so make sure every character counts.
Twitter optimization tip: Follow these Tweet basics
With your content home ready and your bio ready, now is the time to think about tweeting. Here are some tips to make every tweet perfect:
- Although you can use up to 280 characters per tweet, aim for something closer to 70-100 characters. Tweet about a specific topic for each tweet, versus multiple topics in a single tweet.
- With so few characters to make a massive impact, try to be as witty or original as possible with each tweet.
- Do not use all CAPS.
- Don’t overdo it with hashtags. Use a maximum of 1-2 hashtags (#) per tweet.
- Use percentages.
- Use images, videos and GIFs as much as possible.
- Learn the art of Call to action. What do you want your tweet to achieve? What do you want your readers to do after seeing your tweet? Tell them with a call to action, such as “Check out this link” or “Leave your thoughts in the comments.”
- Post engaging surveys
- Ask questions and answer the answers.
Twitter optimization tip: Be authentic
Although you may represent a brand, audiences often want to see the person behind those tweets, as this can drive engagement. In short, don’t be afraid to be yourself. The more originality and uniqueness, the better.
Twitter optimization tip: Take the conversation route
When you’re looking to gain new followers, it’s not enough to simply share a piece of information. You want to drive engagement, which can be achieved by talking about your tweets.
Here are some tips to spark conversations on your profile:
- If you get questions about your brand or business, tweet and answer them.
- Ask people’s comments or opinions directly.
- Ask lots of questions.
- Look for interesting facts to share and ask for opinions on them.
- Comment on the posts of other thought leaders and influencers in your industry or field.
- Post polls and other interactive content.
Twitter Optimization Tip: Share content from thought leaders
Creating and sharing your own content can help you build a following on Twitter, but so can curating content from others. Even better, the latter is much faster to accomplish.
Some may think that sharing or retweeting your competition’s content is the wrong move, but it adds value to your Twitter feed and can also help you connect with others by putting you in front of a popular influencer’s audience.
As for the mix of original and curated content you should aim for, that’s up to you. Some stick to a 60/40 ratio. As with anything, though, feel free to experiment and see what gets you the most interaction.
Additionally, be sure to tweet questions to influencers. Not only does this put you in front of their audience – which can bring you new followers – the influencer may even decide to follow you back as well. Just make sure you have good, thoughtful questions that are relevant to the influencer and not a waste of their time.
Twitter Optimization Tip: Connect with your followers
Why do so many people tweet? It’s not just because they enjoy the act. Instead, they want to be known. By engaging with your followers and leading conversations, you can give them the recognition they crave, which can keep them coming back for more.
To drive Twitter engagement among your followers, try the following:
- Ask followers to retweet.
- Reach out to followers via @mentions.
- Retweet anyone who mentions you @.
- Reply to every @connects.
- Ask your followers questions.
Twitter optimization tip: Be consistent
Twitter recommends a “regular content cadence.” You want to be constantly active with your tweets as studies show that each has a short lifespan averaging 20 minutes tops. By doing so, your audience can know when to expect new content, plus you have a better chance of jumping to the top of the list.
Try to plan your tweets in advance and aim for one to five posts per day to stay consistent.
Read more Social Media Optimization Tips.
Twitter Optimization Tip: Limit sales and product push
Even if your ultimate goal is to increase sales through your tweets, you should limit such content to about five percent of your posts. Aim to connect and engage first and let your website handle the sales on its own. Always give more than you ask for is the golden rule.
