How to optimize your Twitter profile

Your Twitter profile shows the world who you are. Done right a good Twitter profile can say a lot about you and your credibility.

1. Craft Your Twitter Bio with Care

Your Twitter bio is your one chance to romance Twitter’s search engine and the visits to your profile in 160 characters or less. Use super relevant keywords and hashtags.

When considering which hashtags to use be aware that the hashtags you use in your bio will be clickable and could also be a distraction from your bio.

If someone does click through the hashtag be mindful you are not driving them to your competitors if you are using an industry hashtag.

2. Add the Right Kind of Profile Image

Always add an image to your Twitter profile.

Businesses and brands should use a version of their logo that is easily recognizable and representative of your brand.

If your logo has a lot of text or doesn’t show up well in the small square for your profile image, consider creating a secondary logo that will suit Twitter and other social media profile images.

Think about color, image size, and how it will look from a mobile device, as well.

Twitter supports JPEG, GIF, and PNG file formats, and will accept profile photos up to 2 MB. Twitter’s recommended file size is 400×400 pixels.

3. Add a Header Image

Compare your header image to a magazine cover.

Change it regularly and use the space to showcase your brand.

You get 1500×1500 pixels, so there’s a lot more room to play with compared to your profile picture!

Here are a few ideas of what you feature in your header image:

Top-selling products
A new product
A picture of your team
A book launch
Your store or office (if it’s visually interesting)
A special business event
Your business at a trade show
Whatever photo you choose, be sure to optimize all images by saving the image file name with branded keywords to increase your chances of being found in an image search.

(This tip applies to your profile photo, as well!)

4. Point People to a Specific Page on Your Website

Here is where you can move beyond the typical home page link.

Think about some specific pages you want to send your Twitter followers.

Since many journalists and bloggers use Twitter to source stories, you could link to your company newsroom or blog.

Alternatively, you could use the link to point your followers to download a free guide, subscribe to your email list, sign up for a webinar or any other desire conversion you might have in mind.

5. Add a Location to Your Twitter Profile

If you’re a local business, fill out the location part of your Twitter profile.

This way Twitter’s algorithm can match up your content with other locally based audience prospects.

6. Make Sure Your Twitter Profile is not private

This might seem obvious, but it should still be said: make sure your tweets are public.

In the Privacy and Safety section within your settings, make sure the box next to Tweet Privacy is unchecked.

All businesses and brands should have public tweets so that they will get discovered.

7. Open Up Your Twitter Inbox for Direct Messages

If you want to make your brand more approachable on Twitter and optimize your accessibility, take the privacy off your direct messages.

How do you do this?

Head back into the Privacy and Safety area in your Twitter settings page.

Scroll down the page, go to the direct message option, and check “Receive Direct Messages from anyone.”

8. Pin a Tweet to Your Profile

If your Twitter cover image is like a magazine cover, look at the pinned tweet as your featured story.

Pinning a Tweet to the top of your profile is often skipped, yet it’s a valuable optimization feature where you can showcase content.

Think strategically when pinning tweets by including a strong visual, a clear call to action, relevant keywords, strategic hashtags and a link back to your website or blog for more detailed information.

Remember for new users landing on your profile the first thing they will see in your Twitter stream is the pinned tweet.

Make it sweet!
For more useful tips.

We have extensive experience managing a client’s Twitter profile correctly if you need some help be sure to drop us a line.