Getting Started on Twitter

I admit I’m still something of a newbie on Twitter, still finding my way on the question of how to use it most productively and usefully.  Since many of our clients are newbies also, I thought it might be helpful to share what I’ve learned so far.

I started my engagement with Twitter by following some colleagues and a few industry gurus who I thought would have valuable things to say.  I was skeptical, I admit, and expected to see lots of “I’m going to the store” sorts of tweets that would be a waste of my time.  There were some of those, to be sure, and a fair amount of grandstanding and chest beating by various tweeters.  The first thing to get right, I quickly discovered, was finding the right people to follow.

Finding who to follow was a process of trial and error, and continues to be a dynamic process.  I’m constantly evaluating whom I want to follow, deleting those who tweet only drivel, or those who tweet so much that they crowd everyone else out; and adding people who seem interesting, who have insightful things to share, and who are followed by others whom I respect.   Yes, it’s time-consuming, but I figure that the 30 minutes I spend per day twiddling with my twitter account is sort of like the time I spend filtering through the contents of my fridge – I clear out what’s moldy or stale and make room for the stuff that will feed and nurture my body, or in Twitter’s case, that will feed and nurture my mind, my work, my life.

Once I was satisfied with whom to follow, I started to tweet a few thoughts myself.  Timid at first, I wasn’t sure which of my many thoughts were appropriate or valuable enough to send out blindly into the ether.  To make it a little more concrete, I pretended I was talking to a colleague and searched my current working memory for what I could say that they might value.    “I’m checking out Twitter for my SEO clients” was my first brilliant contribution.  OK.  Yeah.  Duh.   But you have to start somewhere, and that’s my first piece of advice to someone looking to get started.   Just start.   Start by following other people whom you’d want to talk to or who you think have something valuable to say.  Follow them for a week or two, and see what they’re saying, how they’re saying it.   Then dive in yourself.   Trust that you’ll get the hang of it – and you will – in a way that works for you.

For me, the most valuable use of Twitter is for discovering new pathways through the immense wealth of information on the Internet.    I scan the tweets of people I follow for links to interesting readings about what’s going on in the areas that interest me – professional education, skills development, industry happenings, current trends, smart commentary, etc.    I can’t truthfully claim that I read everything they write or follow every link they provide, but I do read a lot of it, and I find my daily quotient of learning has grown immensely and I’m more informed on topics I care most about.

I also feel compelled to share back.  So, as I read and peruse the Web and find valuable nuggets, I add my own short commentary and send the link out to my followers.   It’s  my way of saying, “hey, I found this interesting and thought you would too.”  I don’t personally know all (or even most) of my followers and their interests, but I make the assumption that if I find something interesting to me, it’s worth sharing.

But of course, that’s me.   When you start following and tweeting, you may find that you value Twitter for different reasons.  For some companies, it’s an excellent and unique way to hear and understand what your customers are saying about you (and there are some cool tools such as Tweetdeck for tracking what’s being said about your brand in the twit-o-sphere).   For others, it’s a way to keep followers informed about upcoming events and news.   For others, it’s a way to follow and actively engage with what’s going on in your “world”.  The important thing is to try it, to jump in and see where it leads you.  Remember, it’s just a conversation – and one you probably don’t want to miss!

The final thing I’ll say about Twitter is its increasing importance in search marketing.  Google rolled out its real-time search technology about a month ago, and Twitter (e.g. tweets) are a key element of this latest search algorithm.  As Google’s Amit Singhal describes, “when high-quality pages link to another page on the Web, the quality of the linked-to page goes up. Likewise, in social media, as established users follow another user, the quality of the followed user goes up as well.”   (read more here)  What this means is, as you become more popular, more “followed” on Twitter, the likelihood of your being listed in Google search results goes up.   So, once you’ve built a following based on your record of valuable tweets, you are more likely to gain more traffic and, most likely, still more followers.   If you use your Twitter account to link back to your own website or blog, the traffic will most likely follow.

Helpful Twitter links:

• The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Marketing Your Business on Twitter
• Mashable Social Media Guide:  40 of the Best Twitter Brands and the People Behind Them
• Mashable Social Media Guide: How to Create Custom Backgrounds for Twitter
• Jeremiah Owyang:  The Comprehensive FAQ Guide to Twitter
• MIT Technology Review article:  How Google Ranks Tweets
• Grace Smith:  Essential Guide to Using Twitter for Inspiration