Anyone who has been on Twitter as long as I have (6 years I believe) knows that the site has gone through major transformations in the past. Lately, Vine might be the only major change in a while but there was a time when it seemed like proper Twitter etiquette changed week by week. When I first started, links were magical and very few people posted them. Today, many accounts post nothing but links. This is a big mistake.
If you post only links, you’re really not posting anything at all. Why? Because people aren’t really following you if that’s the case. Run some tests. Use bitly or goo.gl or other click tracking link shorteners and you’ll see what I mean. If you aren’t getting clicks it’s because people have tuned you out. If they’ve tuned you out, it’s probably because you’re posting too many links.
Alyssa Milano is a celebrity that has been on Twitter for a very long time. She has always remained active throughout. She isn’t anywhere near the size of a Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga in sheer numbers but for someone who hasn’t been in the public spotlight for a while other than a couple of short-lived TV series and a bit role in New Year’s Eve, the actress and full-time mom is able to drive tremendous traffic to the links she shares. It’s because she mixes it up. She’s real on social media. This is a trait that is growing harder and harder to find.
The best way to use Twitter to drive traffic is to use Twitter for things other than driving traffic. You’ll get more people to pay attention to you by having conversations, posting thoughts and real statuses, and posting interesting pictures and videos. Work in links at a much lower frequency and you’ll actually be able to drive more traffic to them than if you set your Twitter account up with RSS feeds and Facebook posts.
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