Social Media

The Importance Of Your Twitter Profile

When people consider following you, apart from being interested in what you’re discussing and sharing on Twitter, most will check out your Twitter profile. Having an incomplete profile or a poorly crafted one can hinder your brand perception.

Even now I still see Twitter accounts with great photos and a relevant @username but a poorly thought out or non-existent bio! So let’s look at how you can improve your Twitter profile.

Your Bio

This part of your Twitter profile deserves the most attention, and surprisingly this is the section that a lot of people ignore! Remember if someone taps your @username or you are mentioned in a tweet this is what they’ll see first or if they’re searching for a local service you’ll want your profile to appear – so crafting a precise, informative and, most importantly, search friendly bio is critical.

Your Twitter profile allows for up to 160 character so don’t just have a few words or a url. Accurately describe what you offer, where and who the services are relevant to and your location – this is your chance to sell yourself to prospective followers/clients.

If one person in your company manages your Twitter profile consider adding their Twitter @username to the bio so it makes the account more personable.

Don’t forget that Twitter accounts are searchable so you include keywords that people might be using to search for your services that’ll make your account more visible. Try to include relevant #hashtags, @usernames and links – all of which are clickable. Don’t just add #hashtags to the end of your bio though, incorporate these into your actual bio in a legible way if you can.

If you’re not sure what #hashtags to include in your bio do a Twitter search to see what other companies in your target market are using. Remember if your #hashtag is more than one word don’t separate the words with a space as this breaks the #hashtag – if you want to make it easier to read just capitalise the first letter of each word.

Other areas to consider in your profile are:

Website & Geographical Location links

Twitter allows you to include a link to your website and geographical location – so make sure you use it. This allows the visitor to quickly find out more info about you and your services. Make sure you’re able to track click-throughs from this using a third party app like Bit.ly as it’ll give you an insight into the popularity of your site or services on social media.

Profile & Background images

Ensure your Twitter profile image clearly displays you or your company logo/product – nothing cheesy here, be professional! Your background image is also a great sales opportunity so make the most of it.

Your Username

If you’re a business this should be your business name. Try to avoid abbreviations and remember to keep your username consistent across other social networks as well. Your @username has a character limit so if you’re adding details to your brand name, for instance your location, make sure you can do so in 15 characters. Your real name can be 20 characters long.

That’s a quick summary, focusing on your Twitter bio, on how to make the most of your Twitter profile.