We’ve taken a break from our series on Twitter for the last couple of weeks but today, we’re jumping back in with a BAM!
If you’re serious about getting thousands of Twitter followers and getting retweets, then you’re going to need to know things like how to write great tweets or how to tweet at the best times when your followers are online,
You’ll also want to avoid making these popular mistakes.
But to really take your tweets to the next level, you’ll want to follow these expert twitter tips below from Dan Zarrella.
If you don’t know who Dan is, he’s one of the most well known and sought after social media experts.
He’s best well known for studying statistics from social networks and turning the patterns that he discovers into a science.
Social media marketers and entrepreneurs are in love with this man ♥.
I was invited to a webinar called The science of Twitter that Dan did last week. So from the webinar, here are 18 tips to help you get more followers, clicks, and retweets. Â
At the end of this blog post you can find a link to Dan’s SlideShare presentation as well as a link to Dan’s website.
Twitter Tip #1: Â Your profile picture has a direct effect on the number of followers you get
If you just have the default Twitter egg, you’re going to lose out on followers.
Research shows that you make up your mind about a person within just a few seconds of meeting them.
It’s the same when you meet someone online. That’s why a good candid picture of yourself is a must-have if you want to get more followers.
I’ve known about this tip for a while and that’s why it’s step 1 of 7 in the free guide to getting thousands of Twitter followers.
Twitter Tip # 2 : Â Tell people why they should follow you
If you have a call to action in your Twitter bio that tells people why they should follow you, then people who come across your profile are more likely to follow.
Check out the graph below for a list of the words to include in your bio that get the most followers.
Twitter Tip #3: Â Don’t think that public conversations will help you to get more followers
When you reply to someone’s tweet using a mention, it does very little to expand your reach on Twitter.
Instead, check out the next tip to find out how to expand your reach.
Twitter Tip #4:  Tweets with interesting links are more likely to get retweeted and will help you expand your reach
People on Twitter LOVE to click on links. Â Check out the graph below.
Twitter Tip #5: Â The number of tweets you send out a day has little effect on the number of followers
There’s no such thing as tweeting too much. Â If you send out a lot of tweets a day, you don’t have to worry about people unfollowing you.
Twitter Tip #6: Â The more you refer to yourself in a tweet, the less likely your tweet will get retweeted
Using words like “me” or “I” in your tweets won’t get you very many retweets.
Make it mostly about your followers and you’ll be on the right track.
A list of the words that get the most retweets are coming up in another tip.
Twitter Tip #7: Â Tweets with negative words or sentiments are a quick way to get unfollowed
Your followers don’t like negativity.
Statistics show that if the overall tone of your tweets are negative then you will get unfollowed.
Be positive and your followers will keep following you.
Twitter Tip #8: Â To get more clicks, tweet over longer periods of time
If you send out more than one tweet per hour that has a link in it, you’ll get less clicks on the second and third tweets that you send out that same hour compared to your first tweet.
If you share 4 links or more in the same hour, your click through ratio drops to almost zero.
Therefore, its best to tweet 1 or 2 tweets per hour that contain links to maximize the number of clicks.
Twitter Tip #9: Â Try tweeting longer tweets to get more clicks
The research shows that longer tweets get more clicks if there is a link in them.
At the same time, don’t forget to leave 10 to 20 empty spaces in your tweets so that your followers can retweet you easily.
Twitter Tip #10: Â Try putting your links 25% of the way into your tweet. They may get more clicks.
This one sounds weird but tweets that had a link in them a quarter of the way through got more clicks. Â The heat map below illustrates this well.
Example tweet: Check out Dan’s great Twitter post INSERTÂ LINKÂ It might just have the answer to how to get more clicks and retweets.
Twitter Tip # 11: Â Using calls to actions in your tweets results in more clicks
Using action verbs like watch, click, check out, view etc. will get you more clicks if you use them in your tweets.
Twitter Tip #12: Â Tweet later in the day and later in the week to get more clicks
Tweets sent on Thursday thru Sunday get more clicks.
Tweeting later in the day will get you more clicks than tweeting in the morning.
You can check out slides 33 and 34 in the SlideShare that’s linked to at the end of this post to see the graphs if you like.
Twitter Tip #13: Â For the most retweets, try tweeting during Friday afternoons
Friday afternoons seems to be the most popular time when people like to retweet the most.
Twitter Tip #14: Â These are the top 20 retweetable words to include
Include these words in your tweets and you’ll get more retweets.
Twitter Tip #15: Â These are the least 20 retweetable words
Avoid these words to avoid not getting retweeted.
Twitter Tip #16: Â Writing great headlines in your tweets will help you to get more clicks and retweets
What you say in your tweets has a direct effect on the number of clicks and retweets that you get.
For help on this, check out this blog post which shows you how to write great headlines.
Twitter Tip #17: Â Adding “please retweet” to your tweets gets you 4 times more retweets
If you want something retweeted, just add the words “please retweet” at the end of your tweet.
However, if every other tweet you send asks your followers to retweet it, then they’ll eventually get tired of it.
So use this one sparingly.
Twitter Tip #18: Â Tweeting news or saying things in a new novel way will get you a good amount of retweets
Being unique in your tweets and saying things in a fun way are two great ways to get your followers to give you some Twitter love.
Links to Dan Website and His SlideShare Presentation
To view Dan’s slides from this webinar, you can check them out on SlideShare by clicking here. Â You can visit Dan’s website here.
Next Action Step
Many of these steps are included in the free guide to getting thousands of followers.
If you haven’t gotten access to it yet, check out all the reasons why you’ll want to get it.
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[All tips and images are credited to Dan Zarella]
[author title=”About the Author”]
Comments 16
Just one comment on my own experiment…#3 is totally wrong. I used one account to test every social media assumption. It didn’t make a difference if I had a real picture or a logo, if I tweeted a lot or a little, if I sent nothing but links or just retweetable tweets….But when I’d engage in conversation with even a few followers I went from gaining 400 – 500 followers a week to 1,700 – 2,000 a month.
That’s good to know Trevor, thank you for sharing that. Dan’s research shows otherwise but I think that your experience definitely goes a far way since you were able to actually get followers by just engaging with others. I wish that a friend of mine would read your comment because he has thousands of followers but he never replies to any of his followers and he just ignores them.
I know this is a reply to something that was written 2 years ago. But I am just now discovering this post. I just wanted to add that yesterday I experienced this very same thing. I simply responded to someone (who had tons of followers; I don’t yet), and that simply response and subsequent Twitter conversation resulted in about 10 new followers over the next 24 hours. I think this is because when you engage in (even simple) conversation, you show emotion and you are generally saying “this is who I am” — people get to know you better, and thus feel more comfortable with you. And if they discover something that intrigues them or that they have in common with you, well, you have an instant new follower. Spoken by someone who JUST crossed over 100 followers. Ah, but I seek substance and not necessarily numbers. I don’t automatically follow back. I check out the type of tweets they have, and if it’s something I have no interest in and know it would be a waste of my precious time to wade through their tweets, I simply don’t follow back — and if they unfollow, no worries. That said, I am interested in growing my ‘followship’ — given that I am a writer (need to get the blog thing going again) and soon to be book author, and also that, as a Christian, of course, I’d like to share my faith through my gifts. If you read this far, thanks! Grace & peace.
Just one comment on my own experiment…#3 is totally wrong. I used one account to test every social media assumption. It didn’t make a difference if I had a real picture or a logo, if I tweeted a lot or a little, if I sent nothing but links or just retweetable tweets….But when I’d engage in conversation with even a few followers I went from gaining 400 – 500 followers a week to 1,700 – 2,000 a month.
That’s good to know Trevor, thank you for sharing that. Dan’s research shows otherwise but I think that your experience definitely goes a far way since you were able to actually get followers by just engaging with others. I wish that a friend of mine would read your comment because he has thousands of followers but he never replies to any of his followers and he just ignores them.
#10 – putting the link 25% into the tweet. I guess I’ve seen it before, but I’ve never given it much thought before. It’s going onto my ‘to-try’ list.
Thanks for a great article!
You’re welcome Jeremy!
I’ve been trying it out too and I’ve seen slightly better results so far. Still trying though. Have a great week 🙂
#10 – putting the link 25% into the tweet. I guess I’ve seen it before, but I’ve never given it much thought before. It’s going onto my ‘to-try’ list.
Thanks for a great article!
You’re welcome Jeremy!
I’ve been trying it out too and I’ve seen slightly better results so far. Still trying though. Have a great week 🙂
.
Solid
information, will defiantly be using this wealth of information to improve my
tweets starting today
.
Solid
information, will defiantly be using this wealth of information to improve my
tweets starting today
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Could you please clarify something about Tip #10? I’m trying to figure out what INSERT LINK is in your caption “Example tweet: Check out Dan’s great Twitter post INSERT LINK It might just have the answer to how to get more clicks and retweets.”
Maybe it’s something you forgot to put in? (I’ve done that!)
Thanks!
Author
Hi Linda, I’m sorry if tip #10 was confusing. What I meant by “insert link” was for you to insert your own URL or link back to whatever website your tweeting about. The whole point of tip #10 is to put a link in the middle of your tweet instead of at the end.
Dan Zarella says that he’s seen some scientific research that shows that this may get you more clicks. I’ve tried it before but personally, I haven’t noticed that it makes much of a difference.
I hope that helps, Linda 🙂