Twitter and Search Engine Optimization

With the announcement of Google+, everyone already in the social media space has been defending and redefining.  There’s no question that Google has aimed some of its new features at the big players, FaceBook and Twitter.  The competition is for the “always on” market…you’re always connected to your social network.  Are FaceBook and Twitter concerned?  Does Elmer Fudd have trouble with the letter “R”?

But that said, let’s look at Twitter’s strengths…specifically as it comes to search engine optimization.

Posts

Think outside the stream.  Have an outward bound perspective with your tweets.  Update your blog and social network from your Twitter account.  It’s only 140 characters, not your whoe life story!  And, less is more.  Keep your other web presences current with your Twitter pearls of wisdom or flashes of genius.

Real Time Results
The Twitter stream is its greatest strength, as well as its greatest weakness.  The stream is constantly updated and it’s driven by time, not necessaily relevance.  But that’s the beauty of Twitter.  It’s always current.  So if you fall behind by a few hours, you may miss content.  Stick your net into the stream, using targeted searches, to find content relevant to you and your niche.

Followers
Unlike FaceBook, and like Google+, there’s no forced connection between following and followers.  You follow who you want.  And you can pick up followers all the time.  If you have a blog, there are good tools to allow you to automatically update your Twitter stream when you add content. 

For example, I  have a WordPress-based blog, internetmarketingsearchengine.org.  I use the WP->Twitter plug in to write posts to Twitter when I add a post.  If you have 1000 followers, you’re making 1000 connections right away for your new content.  Not to mention the ripple effect of retweets.  Try to make your Twitter handle reflect your  or relate to your web site.  And, don’t miss this one, make sure your web site is on your Twitter profile and in your auto-follow messages.

Searches
Searches are your net in the Twitter stream.  Use searches effectively to filter out what you don’t care about and find the information that benefits you. 

On average, there are about 3,000 tweets per second!  That’s a lot of stuff.  Surely some of it is relevant to you!  So if you do A/C repair in Dallas, (CALL ME), you’d be smart to have a search stream going for something like “A/C Repair Dallas”.  Same idea if you deliver cupcakes in NYC.  Find out who shares your interest.  Find out who’s looking for your product or service.

Searches are a great way to test your keywords for SEO.  If there are a lot of tweets for your keyword or keyword phrase, you’re on the right track.  Again, the beauty of Twitter is it’s real time.  You can test keywords and adjust.

TweetDeck
If you’re serious about Twitter, you need to look at TweetDeck.  It’s great and it’s free.  You customize your Twitter view by adding columns.  In addition to your stream:

  • See who’s mentioning you
  • Track your direct messages, like auto-follows
  • See what’s trending world-wide
  • Add custom search columns – like “A/C Repair Dallas”, and track activity

Twitter Polls
Easy to set up and use, with the pound sign(#) , or one of the apps like Polls.tw.  Polls are a great way to:

    • Get feedback from your followers
    • Adjust your search engine optimization strategy
    • Engage with your followers
    • Find new followers
    • Get new content for future posts

 

Twitter Rules Of The Road

    • Tweet others like you want to be tweeted
    • Post  - Post new content regularly.  And post when your followers are watching.  Remember time, not relevance, drives the stream.
    • Engage  - Be active in conversations.  Ask for feedback.  Be responsive.
    • Follow the right people – people you admire or want to be like.  It’s been said you become a product of the food you eat, things you read, and people you associate with.  Associate with the right people.
    • Be helpful - Offer advise or suggestions based on your expertise.  Pass on useful information.  Reference advice or information from other authorities in your niche.  You’ll be appreciated, and likely have the favor returned.
    • Don’t be pitchy – only thing worse than a phone solicitor is a tweety one

 

Matt Cutts Video on Twitter and Page Rank

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Filed under: SEO

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