7 Tips for Tweeting Links that Get Clicked

This is a guest post by Kiesha Easley. If you think you’ve got what it takes to high-jack Traffic Generation Cafe audience, write for us.

I’m not your average “status update” (linkless) type of tweeter.

Most of my tweets are retweets of awesome content that I’ve run across. I still take time to engage and interact with others by joining conversations and responding to the tweets of others, but I rarely tweet just to give an update.

Some people might argue that is not the most engaging way to interact on Twitter, but since it works for me when it comes to networking and bringing traffic to my blog, I’ll continue my practices.

Perhaps, it works for me because I go out of my way to promote other people’s posts – not just my own. Maybe it’s also because I do my best to spice up my tweets. I even do this when retweeting other people’s stuff.

This makes what I’m tweeting a little more inviting and more likely that my tweets will get clicked.

I’m also not afraid to retweet my blog post links throughout the day, but I definitely try to change them up a bit.

For example, I might start with:

10 Ways I like to Thank Twitter Followers for Retweets http://t.co/vzi3ffb

then a few hours later, I might tweet:

When I see someone has RTd or done something to promote a post of mine, I like to return the favor in unexpected ways http://t.co/vzi3ffb

This actually reveals a little more about the post, making it a bit more interesting. If someone wants to view my Twitter stream, they won’t be bombarded with the same tweet over and over again – plus, it provides more opportunities for click-through. A viewer might be more compelled to click the same link with a different description.

Here’s what I do to switch things up and get people clicking:

Use the blog post’s title without the “|Website Identification” -
It’s not really necessary. It’s distracting and takes up space you could be using to add more spice. But this won’t work as well if you’re not creating catchy headlines for your posts in the first place.

Use key sentences from the post –
That’s how I’m able to change up my tweets. I might be tweeting the same link, but the text is a different because I’m using different pieces from the post.

Use caution!
If you’re promoting your own posts, try to limit those tweets to no more than 4-5 per day, spaced out by no less than 2-3 hours. I know there are people who think tweeting every 15 minutes during the first couple of hours after a blog update is a good idea, but I think all you’re going to do is irritate the spit out of the people who are online during that time.

Spacing out your tweets makes it less likely that people will get annoyed and it also opens your tweets up to be seen by a new audience, since different tweeters log on at different times.

Use numbers even if they aren’t in the title –
Don’t be afraid to add numbers if it’s relevant, for example if your post does in fact, contain 3 suggestions, highlight that in your tweet.

Ask a question –
Your post title doesn’t have to be a question, but you can spark conversation by converting it to a question if it isn’t already.

For example:

4 Ways You’re Destroying Your Credibility and 5 Tips To Avoid It http://t.co/NiObWyU RT @HectorCuevas

Becomes:

Are you destroying your blogging credibility? Want to know how to avoid it? http://t.co/NiObWyU RT @HectorCuevas

Retweet the work of others
When retweeting the work of others, move the “RT @mention” to the end of the tweet to draw more attention to the content and the link. The @mention will be seen by the intended person, but it won’t distract other viewers.

For example, I might tweet:

10 Questions for Planning Out a Year of Blogging RT @fuelblogging http://bit.ly/fxJbfw

@Mention the Guest Poster
When you’re tweeting a post written by a guest poster, take a moment to add the guest poster’s Twitter ID to the tweet. Since they’re not the site owner, the tweet is not going to automatically show up in their @mentions and they may never know that you enjoyed and retweeted the post. That also means you’ve missed out on a great networking opportunity.

Most guest posts have an author’s bio section that usually contains the Twitter ID. If not, don’t be afraid to visit their blog; usually the information you need is right there in the sidebar.

So whenever I read a guest post that I like, I might tweet:

Targeted Internet Marketing Looses to Information Overload? http://bit.ly/fChjT5 RT @tnsblog @webtrafficcafe

Of course this is not a science that will repeat the same results every time; tweeting is an art. So play around with the way you construct your tweets and find out what works best for you.

Read more on how to get RTed:

• Art of Retweets: Top 10 Ways To Improve Your ReTweetability
• Big Tips to Get People Retweeting

Image Credit: http://twittercism.com/magic-retweet-number/

What tips would you add for tweeting links that get clicked?

If you like this post and think it would be valuable to your followers, share the ish out of it for me, would you?