Twearch Engine Optimisation

Twearch engine optimisation, the art of gaining large numbers of followers on Twitter.  OK, so I may have made the word up, but it seems these days to associate anything with Twitter you just replace the first letters(s) with “tw”.

The quest for Twitter followers is a serious one to hard core twitterers and they keep a constant eye on their follower numbers, and notice when they are up and down. Personally I couldn’t tell you from one day to the next how many followers I have but some people seem view it as a measure of importance and also the value you add to the twitter “community”. But how do you get more followers? What are the secrets to a large follower list? It is very similar to the world of search engine optimisation, here goes:

Have a Keyword Rich Domain User Name

This will help you show up when users search for people to follow related to a particular topic. So rather than choosing the username johnsmith, why not go for johnnySEO? It could boost your follower numbers from the SEO community.

Include Your Target Keywords in Your Page Tweet Content

Again this will improve your rankings in the Twitter search engine when users are searching for people to follow. You would be surprised how much a few keyword laden tweets can boost your follower numbers. But make sure you don’t keyword stuff your tweets as this will come across as spammy and have the reverse impact resulting in you losing your new hard earned followers.

Make Sure Your Web Pages Tweets are Search Engine Tweeter Friendly

When somebody follows me, I check out their profile to see whether they are worth following back. If they are consistently posting useful or witty information I am likely to follow back but if their timeline is full of self promotion, affiliate links or insight into their private life I just don’t need, I probably won’t bother.

Write Useful Content to Generate Links Retweets

Retweets mean that your message, and more importantly your username, reaches a much larger audience than just your own followers. If provides access to a much broader audience and opens up the potential for those following the person who retweets to find you, view your profile, and potentially become a follower themselves. They may even retweet themselves which further expands the reach of your message. Obviously to achieve multiple retweets you need to be saying something interesting and/or important, so think before you tweet!

Engage with Your Visitors Followers

Engagement with others is the whole purpose of Twitter, so make sure you do this with your followers. If they provide some useful information, retweet it. If they provide you something of interest, thank them and engage in a discussion about the particular topic. This will help you become a valued member of their network, and mean they will recommend you to others they engage with. If you are really good they may even include you in #followfriday!

Don’t Engage in Black Hat Link Follower Building Tactics

Randomly following large numbers of people in an attempt they reciprocate, or trying one of the growing number of scams which claims to get you thousands of followers will only see you rejected by the twitter community. People want to follow others who are going to add value to their network.

Make Sure You Tag Your Images Tweets

Tagging tweets makes it easier for people to find them in the various Twitter search functions. If you are providing insight or information on the tagged topic, you will pick up followers who are interested in the subject.

Link Out To Follow Other Quality Websites Tweeters in Your Field

If there are Twitter celebrities in your chosen field of interest then follow them, engage with them and become part of their community. Many people will view other people’s lists of followers to find interesting people to follow themselves. By following a high quality of Tweeters you are providing a resource yourself, which will result in more followers, and will also pick up more followers by appearing in the follower lists of others.

Did I miss any?  Let me know.