Top 5 Twitter Tips You May or May Not Know - But You Can Use Them Today

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Top 5 Twitter Tips You May or May Not Know - But You Can Use Them Today

If you're reading this, then chances are you have either heard of Twitter or are currently using Twitter. As with any new social networking platform or application, there are features you may not know about which can help you get more out of it. Twitter is no exception. Here are some features which are not commonly known to most people which can help you get the most out of using Twitter. And be sure to follow me on Twitter!

1. Using Hash Tags

In his recent post over on Techcrunch, Digg’s Kevin Rose gave us his Ten Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers . One tip he had which stood out to me was the use of the # hash sign. How you use it is by placing it before a word which you want to track. For example, say you want to track usage of the word “poodles” via Twitter. You can go to either TwitterGroups or hashtags.org (Hashtags.org) where you can do a search on “poodles”. browsing/searching at Hashtags.org or TwitterGroups. You can set it up with RSS feeds as well.

If you want to use a hashtag on a word you want to track in one of your tweets, simply place before the word. Using the word “poodles” again, just type #poodles in the body of your tweet. For example: my #poodles eat a lot of cheese! Using the hash sign in tweets can also increase your exposure to other Twitters. When someone does a search for a word which you have “hashed”, your tweet(s) will be part of their search results if they use a site like TwitterGroups or hashtags.org.

The key is to use it sparingly and only when you have a real interest in the word or topic the word pertains to. You can learn more about hash tags at this wiki on hash tags.

2. Turning Off @replies Which Are Not Sent To You

Social Media consultant, Chris Brogan, passed along a bit of knowledge which I don’t think too many Twitter users know about. Are you tired of scrolling through reply messages which are not directed to you but to those people you follow? There is a way to stop it. Go to your Twitter account page and click on Settings at the top of the page. Now, click on the Notices tab. Here is where you can set the @ replies to: Show me @ replies to the people I am following. Doing this will fix that annoying problem.

3. How To Retweet A Tweet

To expand your Twitter reach (and hopefully increase the number of people following you), you should start to retweet interesting or relevant posts from people you follow. Think of retweeting and relaying a message to someone else. In this case, you are relay (retweeting) a message which was sent out by someone you follow. By retweeting a message, the original person’s message is being sent out again but this time to people who follow you. These people may not follow the person who originally sent out the message. This may prompt someone who is following you to begin following the original messenger.

To retweet a message, you can do one of the following: RT @originalsender’sTwittername: theoriginal message retweet @originalsender’sTwittername: original message retweeting @originalsende’rsTwitternamer: original message All three do the same thing so just use the one which you have the easiest time remembering.

If you find yourself retweeting a lot of messages, then you should consider creating an account on Retweetist- yet another way to grow the number of Twitter followers you have.

4. Create A TwitterCounter Account And Gain More Followers

One of the easier things you can do to increase the number of people following you on Twitter is to add a TwitterCounter badge to your site / blog. A TwitterCounter badge looks like the familiar FeedBurner badge which most blogs have. By adding this to your site, people will see the number of Twitter followers you have. This alone may entice them to click your button, adding you to their Twitter list.

The key, though, is to only add this badge if you have more than 50- or even 100- Twitter followers. The reason why is much like a Feedburner badge, if you see someone only has a handful of people following their RSS feed, then you may think there’s a reason why. The opposite applies when someone has a high number (like over 50 or 100) in the Feedburner badge: the higher the number, the more likely someone will follow you. This logic also applies to your TwitterCounter badge.

5. Twitter Plug-ins for WordPress


One of the great things about using WordPress for a blogging platform is the numerous plug-ins available. With the increasing popularity of Twitter comes a smattering of useful plug-ins you can link to your Twitter account for different purposes.

Here are some that I am currently using on my blogs: TwitterCounter: An easy way to install TwitterCounter for Wordpress users. Integrate TwitterCounter.com badges on your blog to display the number of followers you have on Twitter Twitter For WordPress: Displays your public Twitter messages for all to read. Twitter Tools: A complete integration between your WordPress blog and Twitter. Bring your tweets into your blog and pass your blog posts to Twitter.

More Twitter Resources

Here are some more Twitter resources to help you get the most out of Twitter:
Creating A Custom Twitter Profile Background Image
Top 10 Essential Twitter Services and Applications


Originally posted at - http://twitpwr.com/6yv/
Posted by geekentrepreneur