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Finding More Followers on Twitter

Guest post by: Lonny Dunn

Article Overview: Twitter is Undervalued as a Search Engine. In this short series of articles, Lon will demonstrate basic search, locality search, and advanced search features. This article covers basic search feature of Twitter, and how to use it to find followers using keywords.

Finding More Followers on Twitter

Using Twitter as Text Tagged Article', 'Click', 'Search Engine']);"> Search Engine

Finding Followers Based upon Keywords. Basic Search Feature.

Twitter as Search Engine? I thought it was a Microblogging and Social Networking Site?

Actually, Twitter has always had search feature built in and is highly undervalued in that category. By using the ubiquitous search window, you can find all kinds of data and information in real time. In this article on Evan Carmichael, we will explore briefly a way in which you can gain valuable followers by using Twitter's Search for Basic Words. In another Article, we will examine the use of Twitter to build a following of local tweeters or people in your city or neighborhood. That article is entitled Twitter as Locality Text Tagged Article', 'Click', 'Search Engine']);"> Search Engine here on Evan Carmichael.

When looking for anything on Twitter you don't really have to use the hash-tag. It might seem a bit geeky or "technical" to the uninitiated, but veteran Tweeters use the pound sign before a word to highlight it. But we can find anything without the hash-tag. Why Tweeters call the pound sign a hash-tag is irrelevant, but when using the search feature, you should try searching with the hashtag, and without.

In "Old Twitter" the search box is to be found on the right hand margin. It is under the hyperlink for "ReTweet". You can begin to experiment now by simply typing Tree in the box, without the hash-

tag. Immediately, you will note that there are many tweets that have the word tree therein. Note that whether the tweet has spelled Tree with a capital T or not doesn't matter, we have found all tweets with the word Tree.

Now, still in Old Twitter, type in #Tree with the hash-tag, and you will see that your search has narrowed down to find tweets that contain the word #tree or #Tree but only with the hash-tag in front of the word.

That is basic searching. You can follow those people who have like interests in Trees. Always remember to search with or without the hash-tag, and you will have a different range of users and your searches will be more thorough.

In so called "New Twitter" the search box is located next to the Twitter Logo, on top, near your browser - and is a grey box, that is barely visible to a new user. It's there, look for it.

It is rather easier to follow people using this technique in New Twitter. You can simply: Left Click on the Tweeter's Name, and glance to the right, move your mouse over the "Follow" Button, and hit Follow. Move the Mouse to the Left again, and go to the next person who used the word "Tree" and follow them. It will take about ten minutes to follow a hundred people this way.

If you get 1 out of 10 to follow back within 24 hours, you are doing well. This is an extremely high rate of return in a specific category like "Tree" since the word could just be used in passing, and there is no way to determine how or why it was included in a Tweet. However, there is a silver lining. By using this technique you are following "Active" people who have tweeted in the last hour or so. Their last tweet is mentioned on their last tweet.

Even using these techniques, it can be time consuming finding people of like minded interests, and seem rather hit or miss. You might also get discouraged. But give it time. I have helped many business accounts gain large followings on Twitter over time, and through dedicated effort using these very techniques. I have trained Social Media Managers in all major markets using these techniques.

In the right hand margin on Carmichael, you can see an article on Locality Based Search for Twitter.

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Article Tags: Entrepreneur, followers, Locality Based Searchlocality search, Search Engine, search engine, search feature, Small Business, Social Media, Twitter



Related Forum Posts
Re: Using Twitter To Double Your Traffic? - I'm sure in many cases Twitter sends more traffic than Search Engines because most people don't have good enough SE rankings to get SE traffic. But anyone can get Twitter traffic. The problem is that Twitter traffic won't convert for the most part and SE traffic will. I'd venture to say that 98% of the time getting just 100 visitors from search is better than getting 2000+ from Twitter.
How to Use Twitter to Market Products? - How do you use Twitter to market products? Has the Twitter route given you good results? Please share your experience and ideas on how to use Twitter to take a product to the customers. Thank you in advance.
Re: Social Media Works If You Do It Right... - Hi Michelle, Ah, but it seems hashtags are still being used by a lot of people - including Twitter! So I would still use them for your keywords. It's just that if you are searching for something on Twitter you can either go the #hashtag route, or do a direct search on the Twitter homepage. I guess you could use #hashtags when searching on the Twitter homepage as well! DH
Re: Facebook or Twitter? - Thanks for the feedback guys! I personally started with Twitter and am now moving over to Facebook. I polled people on both my accounts and (not surprisingly) the Twitter people said Twitter and the Facebook people said Facebook! The actual order of my social media presence looks like this: 1) LinkedIn (with little success) 2) Twitter 3) YouTube 4) Facebook
Re: Twitter vs Facebook - I use Facebook pages for Business and rarely ever use Twitter. I hace lost count of the no. of Hotels that I have visited, regarding their marketing campaigns, that may have 5k Facebook Fans and only 100 followers on Twitter. It is a lot more difficult to engage with people on Twitter and thus harder to gain traction. If you are a business like Nike, then Twitter is great, but if you are an SME, then focus on Facebook or LinkedIn (if you are providing a professional service.) You can always have your Facebook feed directly in to Twitter, so you can have a presence on both, but do the work on one. Also check out ping.fm for managing campaigns - it is a free tool, and a great time saver.


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