The absolute most important thing your Tweets are going to provide is a message. Think of this “message” as you would a blog post title–it needs to tell your readers (followers) what they’re going to find if they click your link.
Since Twitter revolutionized the news-gathering and information-sharing bubbles by helping followers cut through clutter and find EXACTLY what they are looking for immediately, your Tweet titles are more important than ever. If you have any hope to get clicks, re-Tweets, or Replies, follow these guidelines:
1. Don’t Use Caps For Every Word. To me, these Tweets seem to just be advertising a news article or a blog post. That might be fine, IF I actually want to read about what the title of the post is. Instead, I try to make a sentence out of the main points found in the post–talk to your followers, and TELL them why they should click your link.
2. Don’t start with a link. As I scan (VERY quickly) down my list of Tweets to see what I want to click on, I may only see the first one or two words of each Tweet. If there’s a link there (even a shortened one), you’re wasting valuable real estate on a link that’s nowhere near as descriptive as a solid title (message) would be.
3. How I made $_____ almost GUARANTEES no clicks. I’m not sure I’ve ever clicked on a link that was prefaced by these words (or some incarnation of them). Don’t make your messages look like spam, and your followers won’t treat them like spam. There are much better ways to approach the “make money online” Tweets.
Here are some examples:
“Online Success in Three Steps.”
This message doesn’t sound human to me, and it will seem stale and fake to your followers. Instead, try something like:
“I was able to build an online business in only three steps. Read this to find out how.”
“http://b.s.linky.thing Words that no one will read.”
This one’s pretty simple, just turn it around:
“Words people WILL read http://b.s.linky.thing.”
“I made $4 Billion yesterday and so can you!!!”
Seriously, by bringing this proclamation back down to earth a bit can increase your clicks and bring in more serious visitors:
“I make a full-time living doing this (very specific thing), and it’s not too hard to start…”
Well, there are certainly more title tricks out there… what do you think are some good tips?
@2009Taxes
No one made $4 billion yesterday! That is hilarious. I like the corrected version of the tweet much better.
@NickThacker
Thanks, Steve–maybe the fourth “rule” should have been 4. Inject humor as appropriate…
Thanks for stopping by and reading!
@MatchesMalone
So, I’m guessing this doesn’t apply to conversational tweets. Unless of course you believe Loren Feldman was right. And he may very well be….
Continuing the conversational tone of Matches Malone’s comment, that’s precisely how tweets ought to be constructed: like a conversation.
If you’re not going to say something at a cocktail party to the woman next to you, then don’t tweet it.
@david_j_parsons
Thanks for the advice, I’ll keep them in mind
@astateofmind
Interesting, turns out I’ve been making a huge mistake for quite some time – meaning, putting a link on the beginning. I never spammed, I just provided my followers with links to interesting articles related to my twitter profile.
Thanks for tips, I’ll make some updates to way I post tweets
@NickThacker
Hey all;
Thanks for the comments and the RTs–I agree with you that Tweeting should be a conversation–that’s the point of social media, in my opinion!
Remember–you can guide the woman at the cocktail party to paying you for your products, it just has to be done with some class and finesse…
@krenee76
These are some simple – yet insightful tips. Most of us are often in such a hurry that we don’t realize these small changes could make all the difference in the world. Thanks for sharing!
@mediausa
Wow really good guidelines! I am sure after following all these guidelines there will be possibility to o get clicks, re-Tweets, or Replies.Thanks for sharing useful post,keep it up.
some of these online marketers think that if they post on title what they that the readers will always click it, but readers nowadays are smart they know what is possible or impossible to do.
@OnethaM
Hi Nick,
Tip: Using blatent profanity is a no-no for me, very wasteful.
Thanks for the examples.
Onetha
Twitter has become part of our culture. While some people still may not see the value in engaging on the online social networking tool. Tweets can be like inspirational, funny, thought provoking, links to useful tools, links to great articles, links to favorite recipes, links to incredible videos, links to funny pictures, famous quotes.