A reader was perplexed.
He wrote,
Janice – don’t suppose you’ve written anything about using Twitter? I can’t get my head around it at all!
Getting blog traffic from Twitter can be as fast as actually writing a Tweet, so dubbed due to the fast nature of the writing.
According to recent statistics, 302 million people actively use Twitter each month. Clearly, that’s a huge market that bloggers can tap. Getting Twitter users to your site is easy and quick.
Twitter is an online social media site used to connect people with similar interests. The difference between Twitter and other social networking sites is that users are limited to 140 character messages called Tweets.
Since bloggers and other content creators can Tweet about their posts, Twitter is a great way to promote your blog and drive traffic to your site.
How to Get Blog Traffic from Twitter
1. What to put in your Tweet:
The Tweet should contain six parts placed strategically.
The Hashtag:
According to Buffersocial, Hashtags also have the potential to be truly valuable… Research says you should be using hashtags.
The beginning of the Tweet should have a hashtag (#), so it can be found by readers who might be interested in your article.
One complaint I hear is that people don’t know how to find like-minded bloggers. That’s why hashtags are used. My reader who requested this post is a humor blogger. By typing in #humor into the Twitter search bar, he will be able to find like-minded bloggers.
Some users will hashtag every word hoping one of them resonates with interested parties. This is a mistake.
Use no more than two hashtags or your Tweet is likely to be ignored.
There are many ways to find relevant hashtags for your readers. Sites exist which will help you know which are your best hashtags.
Hashtags.org is a free hashtag analyzer. Make an account and sign in with your Twitter account information.
By looking at the screenshot, you can see that the site analyzed the #blogging hashtag. An analysis of each hour in the last 24 hours was used.
Based on a sampling of all Tweets, in the last 24 hours, #blogging was searched at Twitter almost 350 times at 5:00 am and 11:00 am.
The advantages of using this site are many. I get current information, the number of people searching for my keyword, and the times that most of my potential readers are on Twitter.
RiteTag is another free headline analyzer. Some people consider it a hashtag coach. It analyzes your hashtag choices with colors which indicate varying degrees of effectiveness.
Note: it will install a toolbar extention on your computer. That way, when you use hashtags across all social media platforms, it can “grade” them for you.
The message:
After the hashtag, type a short message that you think will compel readers to click on your link. According to research, people are so impressed by statistics, numbers in your message will be the most persuasive.
This makes sense. Statistics provide credibility, proof, that your article is correct. (In my introduction, I told you how many people were using Twitter.)
The link:
Next comes your link. I like to use the shortlink since characters count.
The Call to Action:
Research shows that people are more likely to retweet your Tweet, share your message, which will give your writing more exposure, if you ask them to. I like to say “Please” if I have enough characters remaining.
Since characters matter, you might not have enough space left to write out “Retweet”. This is not a problem. Twitter users know RT stands for “retweet”.
There is protocol regarding this. If someone is kind enough to share your Tweet for you, you will be notified. Make sure you Tweet them with a message of thanks. You could simply write TY (thank you) or TYVM (thank you very much).
It only takes a second and goes a long way. Blogging is about reciprocation. Thank them, and if opportunity affords you the chance, retweet their link in return.
The @ sign:
You might want to send your Tweet to someone. The @ sign is used for this. If you ever write about someone in your article, send them the article link on Twitter using @.
You would write feat@ and then their Twitter handle which you can find by searching for them at Twitter. They may want to share the article that featured them with their social media followers which would give your writing more exposure.
Often people we blog about have a huge Twitter following, so this could lead to many new people at your site and the potential for huge growth for you.
According to Sue Anne Dunlevie of SuccessfulBlogging.com, “Include or link to influencers in your posts and then ask them to share your post is my #1 promotion key for beginning bloggers.”
My post 7 Tips I Wish I Knew When I Started Blogging gives more information about people you could send your Tweets to using the @ sign who might retweet them for you and my favorite hashtags.
The Picture:
Research shows that Tweets are more likely to be effective if a graphic is attached. Since my graphic for my post is still accessible on my desktop, I attach it to my Tweet. Caution: this will add characters to your message.
2. How to Get Help With Your Tweets:
People that will help you:
Sue Anne Dunlevie mentioned influencers might kindly promote your Tweet for you.
Another group that might promote your Tweets for you are your very own readers. They have several ways to do this. At the bottom of your post are social sharing buttons that you might have set up when you made your blog. Your readers have the option of clicking on the Twitter bird which will retweet your link to their followers.
Another way they can promote your Tweet for you is if you embed Click to Tweet inside your post.
Note: You will need to know how to embed code into your post to use Click To Tweet. Click the “Text” tab at the top right of the screen in WordPress. Copy the code at Click to Tweet and paste it in Text mode on your WordPress blog.
In addition to hoping your readers and the influencers you write about will share your Tweets, there are guaranteed ways to get people to retweet your links. Groups of people exist who will share your Tweets for if you share theirs.
Just Retweet, Viral Content Buzz, and Triberr are examples of those sites. They work on the principal of reciprocation. If you Tweet their links, they will Tweet yours.
A more recent development on the Twitter scene is the development of Twitter chats.
Twitter chats are conversations that people with a common interest have. They are held at Twitter and have a moderator. There is a published schedule so participants know when to go on Twitter. They find each other through the hashtag.
While the participants may not promote your link for you, they support your learning about your topic of interest. It’s comparable to an online forum.
After I participated in a Twitter chat about blogging, many of the other participants added me to a Twitter chat list for that topic. The result was I gained more knowledge and my contacts grew.
Christoph of the AuthenticStorytellingProject has provided a Twitter chat schedule:
My Top Twitter chats to participate in (all times CST):
#CMWorld – Tuesdays at 11 a.m- Content marketing
#hcsm – Sundays at 8 p.m. – Healthcare and social media
#blogchat – Also Sundays at 8 p.m. – Blogging tips
#socialchat – Mondays at 8 p.m. – Social media topics
#peopleskills – Sundays at 9 a.m. – Working with people.
#mmchat – Mondays at 7 p.m. – Marketing topics
#mediachat – Thursdays at 9 p.m. – social media
#tchat – Wednesdays at 6 p.m. – talent engagement
Sites that will help you:
Hootsuite and Buffer are sites that exist that will schedule your pins ahead of time for you.
Much has been written about the best times to post your links on Twitter.
I post at times divisible by 3–9:00, 12:00, 3:00, and so forth. I have experimented with other times, but this works the best for me. I have heard others post every two hours. Stuart Walker of nichehacks.com likes 12, 5, and 6.
The odds are you will have difficulty being at a computer during the multiple times you want to post new and old links on Twitter in order to do just diligence to your blog promotion.
Hootsuite and Buffer will allow you to schedule your Tweets ahead of time. I am not familiar with Buffer, but I know that Hootsuite is free.
In conclusion, I find using Twitter a rewarding experience. You can promote your blog posts, get help with your promotion, and meet new people with common interests.
The best part for me is I get to see my blogging friends outside of our blogs. The friendships I’ve made through our blogs are perpetuated outside of our blogs. Blogging is about the connections we make. Those connections are made and strengthened on Twitter.
Convinced? If you haven’t already, go make an account at Twitter.com today.
UPDATE: Since writing the post, I have been using hashtagify.me. This free and easy site analyzes your keyword for you. I entered “blogging”, and it produced the ten most popular “blogging” hashtags.
Readers, if you would like to share my post on Twitter, or any other social media, I would be very pleased.
Do you have any Twitter suggestions or strategies? I’m sure the blogger who requested this post and many other confused potential Twitter users would be grateful. I look forward to your views.
Sources:
How to Participate Correctly in a Twitter Chat
Related Posts:
5 Powerful Ways Busy People Can Promote Their Blogs
5 Smart Things You Can Do to Be a Better Blog Promoter
20 Experts Reveal Their Secret to Blog Promotion
7 Tips I Wish I Knew When I Started Blogging
How the Hashtag do Authors use Twitter?
