This article was updated on March 5, 2020.

Twitter SEO strategies are as simple as they are effective. However, many small businesses still do not take advantage of this key social media platform which can help drive traffic, leads, and ultimately new business. One of the hallmarks of Twitter is its simple and open design. Many people appreciate the authentic communication on this social media platform. Twitter is still, for the most part, focused on publicly-oriented discourse. By contrast, Facebook personal accounts are private and business Facebook accounts continue to suffer from algorithmic obscurity unless advertising is implemented.

Make sure you are taking advantage of these key ways to increase your SEO with Twitter.

1. Pick a Twitter handle that closely represents your business or brand name. For example, singer/songwriter Ashley Phillips’ brand name is APSoul. Her Twitter account is aptly named: twitter.com/apsoul. If another person or business has taken the name you wish to use, Twitter may grant you the use of the handle if your business name is trademarked. (Thanks to fellow blogger, Blair Pettrey, for that bit of wisdom!)
2. Link to your website and include your location. Twitter makes it easy to ensure you include these elements, so be sure to use them! Even if you are an international organization, adding a local city and state to your Twitter profile will help optimize your business for local searches and won’t negatively affect international searches.
3. Be descriptive in your profile and use keywords in your industry. Twitter profiles are searchable by keyword, so including a few hashtags and/or keywords that describe your business will help increase your reach.

4. Post regularly about your industry and be sure NOT to begin tweets with someone’s Twitter handle. In the book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy, Social World, by Gary Vaynerchuk, he explains that beginning a tweet with an account name will prevent most people from seeing the tweet. By beginning a tweet with a Twitter handle such as @garyvee, Twitter assumes you only want to speak with that one person so it only shows the tweet to that individual plus people you BOTH follow. Dirk Hoag’s blog describes this process in great detail and offers an easy hack to make sure your tweet can be seen by all.

4. Mention others in your tweets. Mentioning other Twitter users in your posts is the primary way to begin a conversation with someone. At a minimum, it at least allows them know you have them in mind. A word to the wise: Don’t tag others in your tweets unless you are speaking to or about them directly or are certain the tweet is relevant to the person or company involved. Mention other Twitter users with authentic references in conversations for the best organic results. #FF posts, aka Follow Friday, a way to tell the world whom you would suggest as a good person to follow, have declined in popularity in recent years, but can still be used mindfully on occasion. For more details and history of #FF, read “The Origin of Follow Friday “ by Jeff Hester.

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