StacyKinney.com » Twitter Tips

Search Engine Marketing Tips for Capturing Real Time Twitter Traffic

stacykinney — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:30:53 +0000

Search Engine Marketing Connects to Social Media

Some months ago, Google added Twitter to its real time search engine. With search becoming more social, social media marketers have been presented with yet another avenue through which potential customers can find them. Here are a few search engine marketing tips that will help you take advantage of Google’s real time Twitter search engine and send web surfers to your website.

Search Engine Marketing Tips for Twitter

Optimize Your Twitter Page Title – Search engines use the title of web pages to both categorize the page and to display in the search results. The focus of search engine marketing is to rank well for a particular keyword; in this case, your name. To rank for your name, you need to make sure it is included in the title tag of your Twitter profile page. This is very easy to do. Log into your account and click on settings. Update the Name option (not the Username). Your name should now display in the title bar of your browser.

Optimize Your Description – Along those same lines, search engines use the bio block on your Twitter profile to describe your Twitter page. Therefore, your bio should be a real one that describes you. Additionally, you should try to include your target keywords in your description. For example, if you are targeting “search engine marketing” then your description could say something like, “I am an affiliate marketer interested in search engine marketing…”

Optimize Your Tweets – Just like your description, your tweets should include the keywords you are targeting and preferably within the first 20-30 characters of your tweet to make the most of their search engine marketing value. This is because the search engines include the first 30-40 characters of your tweet in the title tag. As we just discussed the title tag influences how web pages are index in the search engine catalog.

Tweet Often – Since it is a real time search engine, the most current results for the search query will be shown. This means if you want to stay on top, you’ll need to tweet often and probably during times when most people in your target market is using the search engine. This search engine marketing tip can quickly become an unwieldy task so you’ll want to use a tool like Tweetminer (now Pluggio) to schedule tweets to be posted throughout the day.

Link, Link, Link – Don’t forget to include links back to your content so readers can get the full story. The same Twitter etiquette rules apply so spamming is a no-no. However, don’t be too modest and avoid linking to yourself at all cost. As a search engine marketing bonus, the links do show up in the search result. When people click on it, they will be sent directly to your web page.

Build a High Quality Following – You and your Twitter followers are linked internally. There are rumblings that having Twitter followers whose Twitter profile has a high Pagerank linking to you will give your own profile a boost. Even if this is not true, you want people who are engaged and willing to spread your content around which will give your search engine marketing a boost.

Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter and other internet business tools.

(photo credit: yufujamar)

Check out the articles in my archives for more search engine marketing tips for ranking well in Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

How to Unfollow people on Twitter

stacykinney — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:30:55 +0000

How to Unfollow people on Twitter

UnTweeps

Unfollow Tweeps who do not Tweet often enough

Your Twitter Karma

Who is following you & who is not – Bulk unfollow

Friend or Follow

Who is following & who is not – Se more detail on each person

*TwitFresh (New one I came across – Awesome !)

Unfollow everyone not following you – happens within minutes (WARNING – does no take you to another screen or allow you to pick people. If you put your info in and hit submit then BAM they are all gone)

How to use Tweetminer (now Pluggio) – My Favorite Twitter Tool

stacykinney — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:57:55 +0000

TweetMiner (now Pluggio)

*** A new tool I just started using and it is awesome! ***

This tool allows you to schedule RSS feed for content from your favorite sites, RT your favorite people and either schedule specific time or add to rolling schedule. New feature to help you find people to follow ! Definitely check it out !

(Click the image to get a better look a the features.)

(Click the image to get a better look at the features.)

Learn How Tweetbeep and Tweetburner Could Help You on Twitter

stacykinney — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:30:06 +0000

Two Twitter Tools

Tweetbeep and Tweetburner will help you identify people with like interest on Twitter & tracking for your business

Two great tools to help identify people with like interests & tracking for your business.

TweetBeep

TweetBurner

What is # Follow Friday on Twitter?

stacykinney — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:30:25 +0000

Discover some tips and tools to help you on Follow Friday

I remember my first Friday on Twitter. I was completely confused & had no idea what was going on? Why do I see #FollowFriday? What does it mean?

Every Friday people will send out their favorite people and recommend that others follow them. Many times you will see tons and tons of tweets like this….

#FollowFriday @Terry_Allison @ckinney @mmangen @williger @David_Kaufer @MirrorFinish @Mastocytosis @westham999 @AnthonyTilghman @Msbbp404

#FF @DeanBenninger @MyGreenSide @billbudgets @teamarete @EcoFan @amous @eQuin2010 @ArwenTaylor

After a Follow Friday or two I felt like my eyes were going to roll back into my head. Fridays had now become chaotic & almost stressful for me. I had so many followers and it was too much to try and recommend them all and how was I ever going to keep up with it?

I found an awesome tool to make Follow Friday so much easier. The Twitter Tag Project, which allow you to scan the last 200 tweets, count the dups, and return your most active friends.

The results will display: (you hit tweet and that is it) – So Easy!!

Latest update and breaking news about Follow Friday:

Many more Follow Friday went by before I started to realize that my eyes were still rolling in the back of my head. The tweets all day long looked the same to me. It all looked like a bunch of noise & was not really following any new people on Friday. That is when I decided to do things very different then everyone else on Twitter.

I decided that it is all about creating value & that each person deserves to know a little about that person & why they should follow. I also decided that I would make #follow recommendations every day of the week & not just on Friday. This way the recommendation would really stand out apart from all the noise.

Now my Follow Friday recommendations look like this….. (Some of my Favorite peeps )

@Terry_Allison Great friend who does Joint Ventures w/ Authors, Speakers, Trainers, Real Estate and Niche Experts for Promotion/Profit.

@ckinney Good friend. Always engages- very helpful here on Twitter & She markets a Carwash Magazine. Take time 2 get 2 know her..

@mmangen Great girl – My friend. Does Bookkeeping & Property Management Virtual Assistant. QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Excel Queen.

@williger Darren is a tea drinking, guitar playing, low-carb eating, wine making sales maker who writes 4 MyLowCarbPages.com – Luv it !

@David_Kaufer awesome guy -good friend to follow – Great Tweets – He is a marketer, entrepreneur & Passionate #Green advocate

@MirrorFinish Frank is super guy. Always here to help & he tweets to help keep your car and boat like new. Mobile detail biz

@Mastocytosis An incredibly brave women & great person who is always helpful. Follow her & learn about her cause to raise awareness….

@westham999 Really great guy who always engages and is very helpful to me. He mixes it up with music & fun.. Be sure to follow

@AnthonyTilghman He is a great guy who always engages & here to help.

@Msbbp404 Awesome – always engages and RT’s – truly a wonderful person!

@DeanBenninger He is a great guy to know. Always engages here on Twitter & very helpful person. check him out !

@MyGreenSide She is awesome lady… Mother & wife — I am learning great #green info from her… check her out

@billbudgets Jessica is very cool girl. Good friend to have. Always helping others & she takes the stress out of bill paying…

@teamarete He is Entrepreneur, Bringing 25+ years of business development experience to the home business industry. Super guy to follow!

@ecofan Super guy & father. Always engages. He is an Entrepreneur that LOVE’s Alternative Energy. check him out

@amous He is a super guy who really helps out & engages on Twitter. He is holding the famous bunny on twitter #amousbunny – check him out!

@eQuin2010 He is super cool & helpful. He engages and RT’s. Great friend to have. Check him out! Has new #green biz too!

@ArwenTaylor She is great & engages. She also writes articles for people & does SEO. Internet savvy girl.

@davorado Great guy who does magazine design, media, & publishing. He is all about Sharing, learning, and meeting new people. #follow

@AmericanWomannn My fun & passionate friend & the lady who started #Hunkalert & #babealert. She is always on here & will engage!

Those were just a few of my favorite peeps on Twitter. There are so many wonderful people that I have connected with that I wish I could name them all.

I now keep a word document with all the people I feel deserve to go on my list & then I will recommend them throughout the week including on Follow Friday and even promote their business. I continue to add more and more people that I feel add value & are worth tweeting about on Twitter.

I think people deserve to know why they should follow others on Follow Friday and those you recommend deserve to be in the spotlight!

TwitterLocal – Find Real-Time Local Peeps on Twitter to Network with

stacykinney — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:30:54 +0000

Twitter Local: A great way to connect with Local people.

http://www.twitterlocal.net – This is a great way to connect with local people on Twitter and to market your local business. It is also a great way to find peeps for your local “Tweet Up” events too!

TwitterLocal

What is a Quality Twitter Tweet?

stacykinney — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:30:01 +0000

Pointless Twitter Tweets?

According to an August 2009 study conducted by Pear Analytics, 40% of the tweets on Twitter are nothing but pointless babble. Meaning a lot of people are posting tweets that do nothing to add to the conversations taking place on Twitter. This would include tweets about going to the bathroom or sharing the fact that you are eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I don’t know about you but that is information I could have lived a lifetime not knowing.

While pointless tweets do have their place (they help people get to know you better), if you are seeking to build a Twitter following then the bulk of your tweets should be of better quality than that. But what is considered quality Twitter content?

Quality content is subjective but a good definition to go by is that it is content which interests your target audience and adds value to the community. Some examples of quality Twitter content would be links to relevant news articles or tips that help increase productivity.

Twitter Tweet Categories:

Informational – These are tweets that tell the reader an interesting fact or relay a piece of information. These are generally accompanied by links to articles found on blogs and online newspapers that expand on the subject.

Tips – Twitter users like to share nuggets of advice that has helped them navigate life a little better. Tips range from dating advice to productivity to what store is having a sale on shoes.

Quotes and Observations – Oftentimes these tweet are quotes from well known thought leaders but can also include original observations about life which are condensed to 140 characters.

Conversation – This is the normal back and forth talking that happens when people gather together. Tweets either start a conversation or respond to an ongoing one.

Retweets – This is the sharing of content posted by other Twitter users which the poster feels would interest his/her followers.
Self-Promotional – This category includes the selling of products and services as well as links to personal websites or things the user is involved in.

What Makes a Good Mix of Twitter Tweets?

The honest answer to this question is that it depends on your target audience. If you are using Twitter for your online political magazine, then the bulk of you content will be informational with some Conversational and Retweets thrown in to round things out. On the other hand, if you are tweeting for personal networking, then you’ll probably be posting a lot of Conversational tweets, Retweets and probably even Quotes and Observations.

It is best to monitor the feeds of people you want to network with on Twitter to see what they are posting. This will give you an idea of the type of content they are attracted to which will help you fine tune what you are offering in your Twitter stream.

Posting quality content on Twitter is the best way to stand out from noise and attract followers looking for substance. Using Twitter effectively is just one way I generate traffic to my business and increase sales. Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter and other internet business tools.

How to Add RT/Retweet Button on Your Twitter Page

stacykinney — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:30:01 +0000

How to add RT/Retweet button on your Twitter page

This a a great little tip to add a RT button to your Twitter page. No more cut and paste. Just Follow these simple steps…

2 Steps to get the Twitter RT button:

1) download this

2) download this

What does # Hashtag Mean on Twitter and Why Do People Use Hashtags?

stacykinney — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:30:09 +0000

What does # Hashtag mean on Twitter & Why do people use Hashtags?

If you are truly brand new on Twitter, then you are probably wondering what in the world does # this mean? You will see it for #FollowFriday also known as #FF, #music, #jobs, #MusicMonday, #ecoMonday and much, much more.

#Hashtags are used for trending topics on Twitter and as a way to make categories. These categories can be searched by using the search tool on Twitter. It is pretty cool because many people put themselves in categories like #green, #eco, #health, etc.

This is a great way to find people with like interest or participate in something fun happening on Twitter at any given time.

Twitter Hashtags for Events

There is also another cool thing you can use the hashtags for if you have a group of friends or maybe you are all at a cool event? Let’s say you are at an event and you decide to use the hashtag #rock23, then you all tweet and use this #rock23 hashtag so you can see what everyone is saying about the event.

If you want to see what is happening right now on Twitter and all the #Hashtags being used then check out this site… http://www.hashtags.org/

More Help with Twitter Hashtags

Twitter Marketing – The Real Secret to Amassing Twitter Followers

stacykinney — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:30:11 +0000

Twitter Marketing

In a previous article on Twitter marketing, I passed along a few general tips on how to gain Twitter followers. Today, I want to delve deeper into the process of gaining more twitter followers. I hope that by doing so you will understand the secret behind why so many people are able to easily amass thousands of followers and how you can use this information to increase the size of your Twitter following.

The Real Secret to Twitter Rock Stardom

Marketers who sell Twitter programs that claim to increase your Twitter following emphasize the need for you to be a good Tweeter. Even in my previous articles, I talked about the dos and don’ts of being a good Twitter community member. However, through my time using Twitter marketing I’ve come to understand that being a good tweeter is only a small part of the equation.

If you look at any top ten Twitter list, you will notice that most people on the list are famous for other things besides being a Twitter celebrity. In fact, their fame came long before they decided to join the social networking community. A good example of this is Oprah. The day she signed up for a Twitter account, she had tens of thousands of people following her and she hadn’t even written her first tweet! Those people followed her to Twitter because of her stardom and not because she did any Twitter marketing.

Now you don’t have to be a mega superstar to get the Twitter followers you want. But you do have to understand that having a popular Twitter profile is less about posting tweets at the right place and the right time and more about raising your visibility and selling yourself as someone worth following on Twitter.

The Twitter Marketing Two Step

Getting more followers on Twitter is a two part process. The first part involves getting found on Twitter. After all, people can’t subscribe to your feed if they don’t know about you. The second step entails convincing people you are awesome and that following you would bring about world peace. Okay, that’s exaggerating things a bit but you get the picture.

Twitter Marketing Tips

Market your Twitter Profile – In addition to putting your Twitter profile link in as many places as you can (on your website, in your email signature, other social networking profiles), use other conventional marketing tactics to raise your visibility on Twitter. Organizing a contest or offering free premium content to Twitter subscribers are both great ways of getting people to notice you.

Hashtag Your Tweets – Hashtags are Twitter’s tagging system that aggregates all the tweets marked by a specific keyword. They are called Hashtags because of the hash mark (#) used to turn a keyword into a clickable link that pulls up other content similarly marked. Research hashtags that your target audience follows and tag your tweets with them whenever possible.

Use Keywords – People also use Twitter’s search function to find tweets on topics of interest. Research regular keywords you think people in your target audience would use to find information on Twitter and sprinkle your tweets with them.

Participate in Memes – The Twitter community has a number of hashtag memes going on at any one time with the most popular one being FollowFriday. Observing the trending topics is a fantastic way to find these memes.

Talk to People – Put your party face on and strike up a conversation with your fellow tweeters. Showing interest in others is a sure way to gain Twitter followers.

Tips for Selling Yourself to Visitors

Build a Good Brand – Your overall presence on the internet will greatly influence whether or not people follow you. So you want to work on building a strong and consistent brand in the online community as a whole.

Your Bio – Don’t leave your bio space empty. Fill it with something interesting that hooks visitors’ attention and makes them want to get to know you better. Tell them about your business and your quirky interests.

Personalize Your Profile – Use a custom background that includes a picture of you (or a representative avatar) and your contact information. Use Twitbacks to design a background that reflects your tastes and personality.

Post Quality Content – Last but not least, make sure you have quality content that people will want to follow you for. Twitter marketing is about making people want to pay attention to you. Quality content will do that.

Gaining more Twitter followers is a challenge anyone can tackle as long as you have the right moves. I have been effectively using Twitter to promote my home based business. Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter marketing and other internet business tools.