I’m following over 700 people on Twitter so I’ve looked at a lot of Twitter pages. Yes, I look at pages and tweets closely before making a decision to follow someone. Some profiles are pretty sparse, while others are fairly elaborate. What’s the saying? “You only have a few seconds to make a first impression.” This is especially true on Twitter where people scan your page, then instantly make the decision to follow or not follow.
So how do you customize your Twitter profile page to maximize followers? Here are my top tips:
Make sure you fill out your name so it’s searchable. This sounds so simple, but consider this: The Humane Society of the United States is @humanesociety, but the profile name is listed as HSUS. If you use the Find People search on Twitter and type Humane Society, the HSUS page does not come up because the Twitter search only searches the Name field, NOT the username. A better name would have been Humane Society of the US.
Fill out the Bio and Web site fields. This is a perfect opportunity to link your Twitter page to your company Web site or blog AND provide a short elevator speech. The bio and URL add perspective and credibility. You can be formal, you can be clever, or you can be funny in the bio field. Check out other bios for good ideas. I like @pmohara and @neagle. In addition, I hear from many, many people that if someone has not provided a bio or URL, they are much less likely to follow that person.
Upload a thumbnail photo, image or logo. If you’re tweeting as a person, your followers can associate your tweets with a photo. If you’re tweeting as a company, you get another opportunity to display your logo on your followers’ tweet streams.
If you are in the Web, design, marketing, tech or social media business, then I highly recommend uploading a custom background. Otherwise, use one of the backgrounds available in the Twitter gallery to make your page stand out. The background is another opportunity to provide information about your organizaton, list your services and passions, and have a call to action/contact information. I love @adamplitt, @alexslemonade, and @discover_police.
How about you? What are some of your favorite Twitter pages? Do you agree that you are less likely to follow someone if they don’t have the name, Web site and bio fields filled in?
3 replies on “Top Tips for Customizing Your Twitter Profile”
Great post, very helpful tips. In terms of creating a twitter handle/username, I agree on the importance of keeping in mind when you are setting up your account for a business to use a company name, and avoiding using a personal nickname or a handle that does not relate directly to your organization. If you think of it as branding space for your organization it will help guide you in the profile information, background and images you select.
Yes, to all four. I’d go so far as to say that they should be mandatory for any organization that takes Twitter seriously. And that’s a great counter-example with “HSUS”.
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3 replies on “Top Tips for Customizing Your Twitter Profile”
Great post, very helpful tips. In terms of creating a twitter handle/username, I agree on the importance of keeping in mind when you are setting up your account for a business to use a company name, and avoiding using a personal nickname or a handle that does not relate directly to your organization. If you think of it as branding space for your organization it will help guide you in the profile information, background and images you select.
Here are some great tips I came across on how to customize your Twitter background: http://mashable.com/2009/05/23/twitter-backgrounds/
Thanks for the great insight!
Yes, to all four. I’d go so far as to say that they should be mandatory for any organization that takes Twitter seriously. And that’s a great counter-example with “HSUS”.
Nice tips. There are some great Free Twitter background generating programs out there for those who are not graphics savvy. Here is a blog post that lists 5 of them: http://singlefunction.com/5-free-online-twitter-background-generators/