If you asked me on any day before October 21st about Twitter, I would tell you what my opinion was:
"Twitter is a news feed. It's great for news, PR and corporate entities. It's not worth a Real Estate Agent's time to be on there unless they are researching opinions, ect. Interactions are weak, it's like having coffee pot conversations on the net. Pretty useless interactions, good to have your blog automate postings to it."
I stand corrected today. As of October 21st, Google & Bing have decided to INDEX twitter posts!
That doesn't mean you should go and sign up for Twitter without a plan just yet. I wanted to give you a game plan. Twitter just became relevant (to me) but it's still a place where time can be wasted in the bunches!
- When you tweet use key words - Atlanta Real Estate for example- there's a new SEO component to tweeting. I expect less relevant content and more keyword loading.
- Be mindful of who you follow and who follows you - there's a blogroll of sorts - which essentially means that there are links that link to you and who you follow. So if MadCrazyMan is following you, you may get a link on his page, but if you are following him... then guess what you might have a link back to him. Think about a client viewing your twitter account and seeing a link to MadCrazyMan...
- Start using #group functions - so you can be in all the relevant conversations.
- Make sure your TWEETS are content based to maximize them - the now age old adage of bringing value.
- Twitter "Titles" have a huge impact now... what are Twitter Titles? That's another post, but basically it's the first few characters of the tweet. Ex: Twitter /Joshua Javis: This is the title that will get indexed...
- For you twitter pros out there, you might want to take #5 into context and SCRUB your Retweets to be front loaded with the content you want indexed.
- If you are lost, but want to get into tweeting, just bring content and be real, just like any other social media.
- Tools like SocialOomph can help you schedule tweets so that it doesn't feel like spamming the network.
Thanks Joshua, this is very helpful to me since I just started twitting a couple of weeks ago...a new adventure and learning every day.
Twit at CapeDeb
Thank you for your advice.. revelant subjects only to maximize Twitter Power
Very good information. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes for continued success.
Thanks fro sharing as I do not yet Twitter. I am sure someday I will see someone Twitter and a light bulb will go off. Then I to will Tweet!
I've watching this development and I may bite the bullet and start some more tweeting. Better yet, I'll let my partner do it.
Joshua,
Thanks for this post, We teach a class on Twitter to help REALTORs and this will go into a folder as another example.
PG
Thanks for sharing - just getting involved in the Twitter world so I need all the advice I can get!
Agreed. I pretty much wasn't seeing a way to use Twitter in a way that yielded acceptable ROI...
But I recently figured out a way to generate website traffic, and create extra exposure for our listings by creating Property Specific Twitter accounts and configuring them to automatically follow and interact with other Twitterers in the area.
It's been working pretty well all around, so our little tech shop came up with TweetLS.Com.
[The indexing's great, but still, I doubt waiting for spiders and the eventual long tail click are really worth tweeting for :) ]
It will certainly be interesting and a new twist indeed!
your friend in Charlottesville Virginia!
like anything else it is a tool. Depends on how and when you use it.
Good post
Tony
Thanks for sharing this info.
bookmarked for further review later today. Thanks for tips. Although I have broken the 2000 following limit and approaching 2500 followers, I find I still have alot to learn about Twitter
Good post Joshua
Josh , thanks for the tips, it really makes sense to be active on Twitter even just as a SEO tool !!!!
Hi Josh, Thanks for the info!
Hi Joshua - You've got a good game plan. Twitter titles is something I'll need to pay attention to. I also think we'll get a lot of mileage out of strategic hashtags.
Thanks for the post -- it seems that all of social media is taking over search and you really have to scroll past the first page or two to get past all the posts that people do with their social media sites -- now with indexing tweets -- it will be interesting to see how search evolves.
Good info... Im on twitter, but will be more direct and strategic next time. thanks
Joshua - I'm still having a somewhat difficult time figuring out how to send relevant tweets to gain more exposure, provide valuable input, and network. I keep reading about things, but am finding it difficult for me to implement personally. I will continue to keep at it.
I think twitter has enormous potential to be a powerful business tool. I also think the manner of communicating will develop and mature with time. In many ways it is quite early in the game. The good news about that is we have the opportunity to play a role in influencing how it can be used in business.