SEO Tips for Twitter: How to Get More Google Traffic When You Tweet

If you’re a Twitter user, you can get more Google traffic every time you send out a tweet. This is not just because of what you tweet, but because search engines like Google rank your tweets, much like they rank any other kind of content you publish. Many website owners don’t even think about this. But yes, search engines do rank tweets! After all, it is content.

But, what do they look for when ranking tweets? What are the SEO optimization tips for Twitter you can use to get your tweets to rank high? Well luckily, this information is given to us by some of the search engines themselves.

Here, we’ll discuss the criteria the “Big G” (Google) uses to rank tweets. Now mind you, they don’t let us in on all of their secrets, but follow are three SEO optimization tips for Twitter -- as they relate to Google. As Google is by far the most popular search engine and the one that most webmasters rely on to send traffic, knowing what they look for will help you to get more traffic from every tweet.

SEO Optimization Tips for Twitter: Google Reveals 3 Factors They Look for to Rank Tweets

The following are SEO optimization guidelines Google has admitted they use to rank tweets. In the article, Google Reveals Factors for Ranking Tweets, they say the look at:

I. The Number of Followers: Mind you, they only use this to a certain degree. Much like any site that have massive amounts of followers, you’re going to catch the attention of search engines when you have a lot of followers/traffic.

While having a lot of followers is important, it’s not the be all and end all, which brings us to the next SEO optimization tip for Twitter on the Google list, ie . . .

II. The Quality of Followers: What Google looks for are the quality of those following you. Hence, if the bulk of your followers are made up of spammers, then they’re not going to get your tweets ranked very high. The aforementioned flat out states articles states:

Google also ranks tweets by followers to an extent, but it's not just about how many followers you get. It's about how reputable those followers are. . . . in social media, as established users follow another user, the quality of the followed user goes up as well.

In other words, you want followers who are relevant. For example, I have several Twitter accounts. The reason I do is because I market several different products. So, my freelance writing Twitter account targets others who are in this niche – ie, freelance writers, bloggers, online media, etc..

My foreclosure cleaning Twitter account targets those in the real estate market, eg, realtors, appraisers, home improvement contractors, etc.

SEO Optimization Tip for Getting High Quality Followers

While I have no control over who follows me, I can control who I follow. And, as many of those I choose to follow will follow me back, this helps to ensure that the quality of my followers remain high.

III. The Use of Hashtags: According to Google guidelines – at the time of this writing -- the use of hash tags in tweets is a big red flag for Google. This sparked touched a nerve with many readers of the aforementioned article. Some of the readers of the article responded:

Hashtags used to be a way to incorporate your tweets into relevant areas. It is disheartening to think that they would be penalized but whatever the almighty Google desires.

I'm actually not shocked AT all since hashtags are to Twitter as meta keywords are to Google.

Like everyone else, I'm pretty surprised that hashtags would be seen as a redflag, great to know that now!

Google relays that their reason for monitoring hashtags is part of their way of controlling spam. So if you use a lot of hash tags in your tweets, you may want to cut down on this practice in order to get your tweets to rank higher.

Get More SEO Optimization Tips for Twitter

For more SEO Tips for Twitter, read SEO Copywriting Tips for Twitter: Get More Traffic from Every Tweet.