By now, if you aren’t already on the social networking Web site Twitter, you’ve no doubt heard about it. Twitter has been making headlines almost from the moment it appeared in 2006.
Twitter’s number of visitors has surged 131 percent in the U.S. last month, with 5 million new users joining the site in March. Considering how popular Twitter is worldwide, the number of user is expected to grow exponentially. This post on TechCrunch forecasts 50 million global Twitter users by the summer, 2009.
So what does all this mean to you, the business owner? It means that if you aren’t already taking advantage of this real-time communication tool, you need to lock in your user name! The last thing you want to happen is for someone to register your company name and camp out on what should be your account.
The Twitter platform already has a built-in search engine for you to quickly find what people are saying about your company (if anything!) or your industry. Many major companies like Southwest and CNN are already active on Twitter and have been able to communicate with their audiences constructively and efficiently. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what the people you’re trying to work with are saying about your business?!
But what does this mean for search engine optimization? Well here in Las Vegas, USASEOPros uses Twitter on a daily basis to glean information about the SEO industry, keep tabs on communications regarding the company, and responding in kind. Twitter serves as a wonderfully efficient platform to “keep our ears to the ground”. If you’re interested, you can follow our Twitter account online.
For the average business user, merely creating a Twitter account and giving the occasional update will help boost your online exposure. Our Twitter profile is currently ranked on the first page for Google for various keywords related to our business and company name. We’re frequently adding to our following/followers lists, and we make efforts every day to tweet about industry-related articles and blog posts. Twitter also adds a meta description to your user profile, so it will increase your visibility on the search engines with some personal branding.
Links are a very important part of SEO. The more (legitimate) sites you have linking back to your home page, the more relevant search engines like Google deem you to be. Having a Twitter account that links back to your Web site is a great way to get started. Even better, you can tweet about posts and content you have on your site, and provide links back to the content. If you’re doing a good enough job, you’ll have people actually help you by re-tweeting your links!
Interaction also has an impact with SEO. Sites like Google, Yahoo and MSN take into account how fluid your website is. It’s helpful to have fresh content on the site frequently. Placing a link on your Web site with your Twitter feed will keep your site up to date and let visitors know of another avenue to contact you.
It’s also possible to use Twitter to spot trends on popular topics that you can potentially glean some exposure from. If you operate a solar panel business, attaching your name to the CNN/Ashton Kutcher race probably wouldn’t have helped you much. But if CNN publishes an article about the positive effects of home solar panel installation and the Twitter universe is discussing it, it might not hurt to chime in with your own personal knowledge.
Most importantly, Twitter can be a tool to help you learn. You’ll come across interesting blog posts, new articles and commentary within your industry that you may not even be aware of! Twitter is a place of discovery and community. As you share your knowledge, you’ll be simultaneously increasing the amount of exposure your business getting and improving your SEO.
By: Zack S.
Tags: improve your SEO, search engine optimization, SEO, Twitter, USASEOPros
[...] One of the most recent posts discusses how Twitter can be utilized for SEO purposes. Some of the more experienced optimizers already know who to use Twitter as helpful tool, but if you’re a bit newer or just want to promote your business, this is a great post to read. Twitter can be used for a variety of different reasons including monitoring your brand, interacting with customers, and promoting links to your website. To read more on the subject, check out the full post on how Twitter can be used. [...]