Optimising your Twitter profile
Lesson 3 of 8 of using Twitter to promote your business
Get the most out of your Twitter profile
It's quick and easy to set up your Twitter profile. Just enter a few details about your business, personalise your profile, and you're ready to start sharing and reading tweets from other users.
To get the most out of it though, you should put some extra time and effort into your profile. The details you provide are the ones your leads, potential clients, and existing customers will see when they interact with you, so they should promote your business and the products and services you offer.
Customise your Twitter header
If you don't customise your Twitter header, you are wasting a lot of onscreen real estate! Use this area to further reinforce your brand image.
Feature images of your products, your workplace, and/or pictures of the people who make up your company. Keep it simple.
Different options for screen size and resolution mean that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for your header, but Twitter’s recommended dimensions are 1500x500 pixels.
Write a better bio
Your Twitter bio is one of the most important areas to optimise. Though brief, it will give the reader a quick insight into who you are and what your company does.
Remember, you don't have to use all 160 characters! People love Twitter because it is quick and straight to the point. 160 characters of dull bio copy will not convey the kind of message you wish to get across.
Not only should your bio be compelling, it should also communicate the services your business offers. You have limited space, but ideally anyone who reads your bio should feel no confusion about what it is you and your business actually does.
If you have a well-known tag line, then you can use it as your bio – but if you don’t yet have global exposure or a slogan everyone instantly recognises, you should expand upon it a little.
@usernames
In addition to links, you can also include @usernames and #hashtags in your profile.
If you have a corporate or business Twitter account that features regular updates from a number of your team members, or multiple departments and teams with their own Twitter accounts, then the use of @usernames can be very useful.
The BBC Twitter bio includes a short bio description and uses @usernames to direct readers to the department.
The nature of the BBC means that it benefits from having multiple accounts, and using the @username in their bio ensures that users can easily find the Twitter account they're looking for.
Hashtags can also be used in your bio, and could prove indispensable if you are using a particular hashtag for a marketing campaign or Twitter competition.
A well-optimised Twitter profile will help people find your business in an online search, and give prospective customers immediate insight into what your company is all about.
