In this tutorial Hendry Lee from BlogBuildingU (follow him on Twitter at @hendrylee shares some tips on getting Twitter Backgrounds that are optimized for better readability.
Last time I spent some time tweaking my Twitter profile background, I didn’t change much. My goal was only to change the background and sidebar so they match my blog theme.
It appeared to be easy, but there are a few tricks to make the background appears nicely. Well, at the same time it is not as difficult as some people might think as it doesn’t require any specific HTML knowledge.
If you want a simple background such as my older Twitter profile (screenshot above), here’s how you do it. The tricks, summarized, are as follow: (more…)
Have you ever wanted a great background for your Twitter page that would represent you by having your contact information as well as logos and pictures of yourself, but do you not have the time to create one from scratch because of either lack of ability or time? Are you just not satisfied with Twitter’s automatic backgrounds? If these apply to you, TwitBacks is a great, free, and simple service that can make a customized and stylish Twitter background for you in no time at all. They make backgrounds that you can be proud of each time you link someone to your Twitter account.
How?
Part of the great thing about TwitBacks, a very popular and new company (less than a month old), is the clear-cut simplicity of the service. The first step is to visit their site, TwitBacks.com. Press the “Get Started Here” button and you are on your way.
A great thing about TwitBacks is that [many of] the fields are optional; letting you decide how much information you really want on your profile page. You can currently choose from 23 fresh background bases such as these or upload your own design if you’d like. After imputing all your information—including your applicable websites/blogs, logos, bios, email addresses, and other social networking site usernames such as those of Facebook, LinkedIn, and FriendFeed—you can press continue.
Since Twitter’s focus is on saying a lot with very little, it makes sense that the Twitter profile space is very brief and the default settings leave little room to present yourself in detail. It’s also the first and last thing potential followers will see before deciding to click “Follow” or to click away from your profile. Here’s a few tips to customize your profile so that potential followers will be convinced they can’t miss your Tweets!
1. Create a Custom Profile Page Background
Since the visual impact of your Twitter background is the strongest tool you have available, customize it to give people an eyeful of who you are.
You can make your own image on your computer and upload it under Settings – Design – Change Background Image. The first 200-250 pixels width on the left hand side is a great place to put additional profile information and list websites.
For a quick solution, you can create just the sidebar (250×700) as your background image with “no tile” selected. Then, modify the rest of the Twitter color scheme to complement it. You can use the first 200 pixels from the top for your picture or “header” for a possible logo and tagline.
The rest of the 400-500 vertical pixels should be used to tell others what you’re about and most importantly, what you’re looking for. Are you using Twitter to get business? To gather ideas for a project? To get feedback from customers? This is the best place to reflect your interests and other facets of your professional life if necessary, so that others can see it immediately.
Alternatively, you can use it to tell people how best to contact you like @garyvee who encourages people to email him instead of sending a Direct Message on Twitter.
A Custom Twitter Background can make a real impression and enhance your brand – but how do you make one? In this guest post post Hugh Briss from Twitter Image (a service that offers custom Twitter backgrounds) shares some tips on how to make your own.
I know what they say about making assumptions but I’m going to make one now and assume that most of you already understand the potential of Twitter, especially for those of us with something to promote. If you aren’t yet convinced that Twitter is going to do for the Internet what sliced bread did for the sandwich, I encourage you to spend more time reading Twitip. My job today is not to evangelize Twitter — which I love to do — but to talk about how to create cool Twitter backgrounds and show you how valuable the proper use of that space can be.
Generic is Only Good for Prescriptions
In addition to the generic Twitter background, Twitter currently offers 12 stock backgrounds along with pleasing preset colors for the elements on the page. You can also modify the colors of the overall background, text, links, sidebar background and the sidebar border. The first thing any Twit (easier to say that Twitterer) should do is change the generic background, unless you don’t like standing out from the crowd, in which case you can stop reading now.
Switching backgrounds and changing the color palette of your Twitter page is easy to do. Simply select "Settings" in the top row of links on your Twitter page, click on the "Design" tab and then either select a "theme" or click on "Change background image" or "Change design colors" and get creative. Don’t worry about goofing anything up. Any changes you make will not be visible to anyone but you until you click "save".
