Twitter can be an effective tool for promoting your business online. As with anything in life – you only get what you put into it. So, with that in mind, always remember that Twitter is no golden egg but with a bit of effort on your part it could turn into the goose that lays the golden egg for you.

Here is a list of top twitter tips that I have used and advised various businesses to start using to help them getter a better realisation on how Twitter can be, if used correctly, a powerful marketing tool for their business.

Posting to your Twitter Account

Keep it relevant with links : Linking out to certain links when posting a tweet, always ask yourself, “Is this worthy of me telling people about it?” If you are just posting links without any concern, your followers will soon stop clicking and in some instances your followers might decrease.

By all means submit links but don’t just rely on Twitter as a link bank. If you find a followers link worth value then retweet what they have just posted – it highlights that you are interested in your followers and that the conversation isn’t just one way.

Keep an eye on trends : A great way to measure what people are interested in real time is Twitter trends. Dependent on your industry or creativity levels, this is a great way to promote your business/service/product if you can find a relevant angle.

Don’t be afraid of using #hash tags : Getting found on Twitter Search can bring added traffic, followers outwith your own timeline. Don’t get carried away with #hash tags but again try and make them relevant to your tweet and what people might be searching for.

Don’t be afraid of posting the same tweets over again : There is no rule to say you are only allowed to post a tweet once. Remember, you’ll be adding new followers to your account on an almost daily basis, they might not have seen your tweet that drives good traffic.

Also you can use the repeat tweet to test new search parameters with different #hash tags.

Think about using twitter tools : Trying to manage your account from your web page can be messy, especially once you start having more than a few hundred followers. Using browser or desktop tools such as TwitterFox or TweetDeck is a wise move. It makes managing your account much more simpler, you’ll wonder why you never started off with them from the beginning.

Tips for Following on Twitter

Auto following tools : Personally, I don’t recommend using auto-following tools. It may take you longer doing it the manual way and building your following count over a time period but your timeline will be filled with accounts you have personally vetted – adding greater value to your Twitter experience.

Run culls on your account : This should be a weekly or monthly priority for any self respecting Twitter account. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who run the follow/unfollow game only to boost their own credibility.

Using tools such as Friend or Follow will highlight to you those parasitic accounts that are only interested in building their own followers list.

Check a followers timeline before you follow them : It makes more than perfect sense to always look up the person before you follow them. Blind following is a bad habit to start and can have you following spammers that will turn your timeline into a non-relevant noisy mess.

It doesn’t take long to check out a potential followers last 10 tweets. It is your timeline after all, give it some respect and vet who you want to follow – you’ll get a better experience from Twitter by doing so.

Simple Rules for Followers

Try and answer replies : Those followers or other Twitter users who @ you are your lifeline to making Twitter a success for your business. Again, dependent on the size of your account try and reply to them – if you can.

Word of warning, however, sometimes Twitter accounts do this as a ploy to increase their own visibility or they might also have some other tactic at play. A lot of the time simple common sense can be applied to see who is genuine and who has a game plan.

Retweet followers tweets : Some say the currency of Twitter is the ReTweet (RT) and their not far wrong. If you click on a link within your timeline and you think the information is worthy then by all means please RT.

I normally find the best model for a RT is using the following layout …

Title or Description : url … #hash tags (if appropriate) … ( RT @username)

This layout, I first noticed being used by @pageoneresults and it makes for a perfectly readable RT and I have found it has a better chance of being read than any other layout.

Measuring your Twitter performance

URL shortening & analytic services : It is difficult to monitor just how successful your Twitter business account is growing. Adding followers is one way, but how much of a reach is your tweets actually achieving?

Using URL shortening services such as bit.ly offers you built-in analytics as to how many impressions your tweet achieved and also, more importantly, clicks. You can also see which country your clicks came from and if your tweet was ReTweeted.

I do have a spreadsheet that I use to help manage business accounts – if anyone is interested in receiving the templated version then they can use the comments section and I’ll email them it over.

Promoting your account : Like all good business marketing your Twitter account should also be seen as essential. Have it on your blog/site/business cards/company lit/anywhere you deem necessary. You never know where your next follower/potential lead/sale may came from.

Happy Twittering!

You can follow me on Twitter by clicking here.