After reading a very insightful article by Rana Shabaz on the best traffic source for websites and blogs , I was initially surprised that Twitter was cited most often (especially since Facebook has many more users).
But then I realized that some of the things I really like about Twitter are what make it a good platform to use in building traffic: it’s easy to share web/blog links; it gives you a quick way to get the word out for your posts; (reasonable) self-promotion isn’t frowned upon and the 140 character limit makes it easy to quickly find relevant information. So here are just a few tips on how to use Twitter to drive traffic to your website or blog:
Fill out your bio completely: Twitter gives you 160 characters so use them wisely. Include keywords that will attract your target audience, a live link to your website (or other social media site), as well as a few words about you personally.
Start following “influencers” in your industry: Use Twellow or WeFollow to search for people who have a large following and start following them yourself. You want to share quality content on Twitter and Re-Tweeting a link/tip/quote from a leader in your industry is a great way to start building your reputation as a reliable source of helpful information.
Save Searches for keywords in your niche: Use the Search function to find Tweets or People who mention those keywords and then start following appropriate people. Save the Searches that you find most helpful and then review them several times a week to look for new people to follow (once you’ve saved a Search simply click in the search bar and a listing of your saved Searches appears).
Use Lists to curate content and make connections: The List function helps you categorize the people you are following. As the number of people in your Following grows, it becomes difficult to quickly read through all their Tweets in the timeline. The Lists you have created give you an easy way to see the latest Tweets from your most important connections. *Note* A well-crafted List can also help you been seen as an expert in your industry since others can choose to follow/subscribe to your List. In the example below, I am building a public list for “social media or tech news” and am starting to gain subscribers to my list:
Share great content: Twitter is a great platform to share lots of helpful content. Just remember to share other people’s content more often than promoting yours (think of the 80/20 rule: share other’s content 80% and your content 20% of the time). People will be more receptive to clicking on links to your website/blog if you’ve been sharing quality content from a variety of other influencers/sources.
Keep in mind that your goal is to have more Followers than people you are Following – if your ratio of Followers to Following is out of balance Twitter may temporarily “freeze” your account (i.e. you don’t want to be Following 500 people when you have only 50 Followers).
Share quality content, stick to the 80/20 Rule of sharing, Re-Tweet industry influencers and other people you connect with…and you’ll soon be driving traffic to your website or blog.
About Terry League