Using Twitter for SEO

As much of a computer nerd as I may be, I avoided using Twitter for quite a while, and only started using it properly about three months ago. At first I didn’t see much point to a “micro-blogging” service, but the more I use it the more I’m beginning to understand why it’s used, and in turn how it can be used for SEO purposes.

Admittedly, any link posted on Twitter appears as “nofollow” and thus isn’t much good for passing any link juice or PageRank. However, we do know that Google still crawls “nofollow” links (doesn’t make much sense, does it) and so your links will still get followed and thus any updates you make to your website will get cached quicker. The main benefit is not SEO though, it is to drive direct traffic and increase credibility.

It would also seem that Google has an infatuation with Twitter, and Tweets tend to show up reasonably quickly in the SERP’s. There are a few tips when using Twitter that may help you out if you are Tweeting for SEO purposes:

Pick a Good Username

Your username will also become your Twitter URL (i.e. www.Twitter.com/mjwtaylor) so try and make it either something to do with your name or your business name. This will help your rankings in Google and ensure people know exactly what they have found when they come across your account. It will also ensure your account is found easily when searched for through Twitter itself.

Write an Effective Bio

Ensure you put in any critical information, keywords or key phrases in your bio as this is the most important part of your Twitter account and will be the core content Google sees.  It also tells the reader what you are about and what they can expect to find in your Tweets.

Tweet About Things That Interest You

This might seem obvious, but make sure you don’t just Tweet about your website. Otherwise people won’t see any value in your Tweets. Sure if you have something on your site you want to promote, then post about it, but make sure you post about other things as well.

Tweet Regularly, but Not Too Regularly

Don’t overdo your Tweets. People will lose interest if you are Tweeting dozens of times everyday.  At the same time, people will forget about you if you only post once a month. I like posting once a day or so, but in saying that, if you have something interesting to share then by all means share it!

Begin Your Tweet with Keywords

Google tends to take into account approximately the first 40 characters from a Tweet for SEO purposes (as it also shows “Twitter” and your username before showing the tweet itself, so don’t have a stupidly long username!). Make sure in this 42 characters you have included the keyword or key phrase (but in a way that makes sense).

Include Your Keyword

Be sure to include your keyword at least once in your Tweet, preferably more but not in a spammy way. Try to include “buzz words” if possible, which should get you some traffic through people searching for the “buzz” terms.

Shorten Your URL!

Most links from Twitter tend to be deep links which have a huge amount of characters in them. You don’t have the characters to waste in Twitter, so try using one of the many URL shorteners out there. My preference is a new service called Twilitics. It’s simple, easy to use and provides you with a simple tracking mechanism showing how many times your link has been clicked. Bit.ly is also a useful service.

Spread the Word

Make sure people know about your Twitter account. You can do this by adding your Twitter URL to your email signature, adding it to your website, or spreading it on your forum signatures.

Give it Some Link Love

Twitter accounts need link love too! Where possible send a couple of links pointing to your Twitter account to ensure Google finds it. The same theory applies to Twitter accounts as it does to normal websites: the better the quality of links you get to it, the better it will rank…

As always, if you have any questions leave me a comment and the same goes for if you think I have left out something important.