Twitter – First Impressions Matter

Before you start to think about gathering followers on Twitter, it’s essential you give a lot of thought to how you present yourself to the Twitterverse.

The first thing a potential follower will do is take a look at your Twitter home page to read your profile.

So it is your profile that will be the make or break of their ‘to follow or not to follow’ dilemma.

Powerful Twitter profiles

Your Twitter profile comprises of the following elements:

• Picture
• Twitter name
• Biography
• Web address
• Number of tweets, followers and those you follow
• Your latest tweets

 Making the most of each of these will boost your chances of being followed.

1. Picture

The most effective picture you can use is one of yourself. Many companies will argue that that’s not possible and would rather use their logo.

For large companies that’s fine, but I would suggest adding a line in your profile telling the reader who it is that’s tweeting (or the tweeter signing off with their name or initials) to add the human touch that is so important in social media.

2. Twitter name

Twitter is becoming more and more crowded (with in the region of 500 million users worldwide) so finding a Twitter name that’s not already being used isn’t that easy.

But rather than going for something off the wall, if possible use your own name. People will be able to find you and it will generate more of a connection.

3. Biography

With only 160 characters to play with, you’ll have to get creative. An eye-catching and memorable bio will encourage people to follow you. Plus, if you can add in keywords that sum up what you do, that will make you more visible. For example, I am a copywriter and so have used that word at the start of my bio.

4. Web address

If you have a website or blog, make sure you include it in your profile. That way, if people are interested in you and what you have to say, you’ll make it easier for them to locate your website.

5. Number of tweets, followers and those you follow

The main information that can be gleaned from these numbers is how often you tweet, how many people are following you and the type of tweeter you are.

If you have way more followers than you follow, it will show you as someone worth following because you have a great deal of influence in the Twitterverse. If have a few more followers than the number of people you follow, you’ll be seen as someone who offers great information. But, if you follow way more people than follow you, you’ll be flagged up as a potential spammer.

6. Your latest tweets

This will give a flavour of the type of thing potential followers can expect.

If they see loads of self-promotional tweets, they’ll steer well clear of you. But if they can see you offer great information and interact with other tweeters, they will be more inclined to click ‘follow’.

That is just a quick run down on how to make your first Twitter impression a good one.

Do you have any other tips you’d like to add?

If so, leave a comment below.