Nov 21 2011

Twitter And SEO

Twitter, unlike other social networks (ie Facebook and Google +) does not lend itself nearly as well to SEO.

There are a few things that you can control that could potentially affect the SEO of your brand – but more than anything, Twitter has been found to drive traffic like whoa. So at the bottom of things, if your account is entertaining, reliable and genuine, then your brand reputation and online presence will be affected, especially as Google is now including tweets in search results.

Meta-Data

Yes, your Twitter account, to one extent or another does have meta-data that you can manipulate – though you may have to think outside the box a little to see it.

First things first, you’re going to want to choose your username with care – that will be your URL forever, and remember that having a proper and accurate URL that reflects the contents of the page is quite important.

Your username or handle and your profile name can be different – choose that carefully as well – perhaps consider what variant of your brand has the highest search volume.

Next – your profile bio, limited as it is, is your meta description – plug in some keywords naturally and reflect your brand and brand image. Plus, you get 20 additional characters (160 rather than 140) in your Twitter bio – use them wisely, and if you try and keyword stuff your Twitter bio, it is going to be painfully obvious. Just don’t.

Don’t forget about the alt-text and image name when you upload your profile picture to Twitter!

Be Proactive

Nobody will follow your account and thus your brand, if nobody knows you’re on Twitter! So take the time to spread the word and do that thing that most of us are quite uncomfortable doing – toot your own horn, tout what you excel at, pimp your brand and services. Get those followers rallied, and then keep them hooked.

That means not just having a shell account. Especially with Google’s Freshness update you’re going to want to keep any social accounts you have active and relevant. Engage with your customer base, your loyal fans and followers – ask questions and answer theirs. It’s a give and take, and don’t forget that in the analytical approach to social media.

Choose Your Thoughts Wisely

We’ve all seen the scandals that can unfold on Twitter because people don’t understand the context of a hashtag, or because people forgot that the internet is in no way private. But there is another reason to choose your characters in Twitter with care. As Google is now in fact showing tweets and Twitter profiles in search engine results, it is about the first 40 or so characters of your tweet that will show up in the title tag of that specific result along with Twitter / yourusername.

SEO for Twitter may seem straightforward, but as history tells us, it’s amazing how stupidly people (and large brands) use social media.

Mary Turner knows that Twitter isn’t all about SEO or finding ways to get more twitter followers (though that helps), it’s about engagement and dialogue.

5 Responses to “Twitter And SEO”

  1. Xeno Savvas says:
    November 21, 2011 at 11:34 am

    This article has made me re-think my Twitter strategy. May have to start again…

  2. ?????? ???????? says:
    November 21, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    ??, ????? ????? ???????????? ?????????? ????! :)
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  3. Henry Louis says:
    November 22, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    Yes, Well said. I agree with you. It gives an idea about utilizing the twitter in proper manner. Good informative post.

  4. Liz@SEO Tops Sites and Links says:
    November 22, 2011 at 3:11 pm

    Even if Twitter does not help that much with SEO, it rewards us with SERP. It can drive more traffic to your site by tweeting or posting your latest links. It’s even better if you have lots of followers to retweet your post.

  5. las vegas custom homes says:
    November 24, 2011 at 9:04 am

    I did not know this about twitter ans SEO. It is true however that twitter accounts if used wisely have the potential to dive a lot of traffic to your site. As long as your page is informative and it has many followers then you can be sure of increased traffic.