This blog post aims to break down the differences between Mastodon and Twitter, offering a comprehensive comparison to help you decide which platform might be better suited for your needs.

Understanding the Basics

Twitter

Twitter, launched in 2006, is a microblogging platform that allows users to post short messages—known as tweets—of up to 280 characters. It is renowned for its real-time updates and has become a go-to source for breaking news, public debates, and direct communication with celebrities and public figures.

Mastodon

Mastodon, on the other hand, is a decentralized social network that emerged in 2016. Unlike Twitter, Mastodon operates on a federated model, meaning it is composed of multiple servers (instances) that are independently operated but can communicate with each other. This allows for greater control over content and community rules, providing a more tailored experience for users.

Key Differences

Decentralization vs. Centralization

One of the most significant differences between Mastodon and Twitter is the underlying structure of each platform. Twitter is a centralized platform, meaning all data and interactions are controlled by a single company. This centralization allows for unified user experiences but also raises concerns about data privacy and censorship.

In contrast, Mastodon’s decentralized nature means there is no single entity controlling the entire network. Instead, users can choose from various instances, each with its own rules and moderation policies. This decentralization offers greater privacy and control but can make the onboarding process more complex for new users.

Content Moderation

Content moderation is another crucial area where Mastodon and Twitter differ. Twitter has a centralized moderation team that enforces platform-wide rules and guidelines. While this can ensure consistency, it can also lead to perceived biases and uneven enforcement.

Mastodon’s federated model allows each instance to set its own moderation policies. This means users can choose instances that align with their values and preferences, fostering diverse communities. However, this can also result in inconsistent moderation standards across the network.

User Experience and Interface

When it comes to user experience, Twitter’s interface is straightforward and familiar to most users. The platform’s design emphasizes simplicity and ease of use, making it accessible to a broad audience.

Mastodon’s interface, while similar to Twitter in some respects, can be more complex due to its federated nature. Users need to select an instance and may encounter different rules and features depending on their choice. However, Mastodon’s open-source nature allows for greater customization and third-party app integration, offering a more personalized experience for tech-savvy users.

Community and Culture

The communities and cultures on Mastodon and Twitter can vary significantly. Twitter’s large user base includes a wide range of voices, from individuals to brands to government agencies. This diversity makes it a vibrant platform for global conversations but can also lead to conflicts and toxicity.

Mastodon’s smaller, instance-based communities tend to be more niche and focused. Users often join instances that reflect their interests or values, resulting in more cohesive and supportive environments. However, this can also limit the reach and diversity of interactions compared to Twitter’s vast user base.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Twitter Advantages

1. Real-time engagement: Ideal for breaking news and live events.
2. Wide reach: Large, diverse user base.
3. Simplicity: Easy-to-use interface.

Twitter Disadvantages

1. Centralized control: Potential privacy and censorship concerns.
2. Moderation issues: Perceived biases and uneven enforcement.
3. Toxicity: Higher potential for conflicts and harassment.

Mastodon Advantages

1. Decentralization: Greater privacy and control.
2. Customizable: Open-source nature allows for personalization.
3. Supportive communities: Smaller, niche-focused instances.

Mastodon Disadvantages

1. Complex onboarding: New users may find the federated model confusing.
2. Inconsistent moderation: Variability in rules and enforcement across instances.
3. Limited reach: Smaller user base compared to Twitter.

Conclusion: Which Platform is Right for You?

Choosing between Mastodon and Twitter ultimately depends on your priorities and preferences. If you value real-time engagement and a broad reach, Twitter’s centralized platform may be more suitable. However, if you prioritize privacy, customization, and supportive communities, Mastodon’s decentralized model could be a better fit.

For social media enthusiasts, tech-savvy users, and digital marketers, understanding the nuances of each platform is crucial for making an informed decision. Both Mastodon and Twitter offer unique advantages and challenges, and the right choice will depend on your specific needs and goals.

As the social media landscape continues to evolve, staying informed about these platforms will help you navigate the digital world more effectively. Whether you choose Mastodon, Twitter, or both, embracing the strengths of each platform can enhance your social media experience and broaden your online horizons.

Understanding the Value of Tagging in Your Bio

Tagging on Twitter, achieved by using the ‘@’ symbol followed by a username, creates a clickable link to the tagged account’s profile. This seemingly simple action can have a profound impact on your Twitter presence:

• Boosts Engagement: Tagging facilitates easier discovery and interaction, encouraging tagged accounts and their followers to engage with your content.
• Enhances Networking: It signals a connection or affiliation with individuals or brands, fostering relationships within your industry or interest groups.
• Increases Visibility: When done strategically, it can expose your profile to broader audiences by tapping into the followers of the tagged accounts.

How to Tag Someone in Your Twitter Bio

Before proceeding, ensure that the account you wish to tag is aware and consents to being included in your bio, especially if it’s for professional or promotional purposes. Here’s how to seamlessly incorporate tags into your Twitter bio:

Step 1: Access Your Profile Settings

Log into your Twitter account and head to your profile. On the web, click on “Edit Profile” near the top of your profile page. On mobile applications, tap on your profile icon, then select “Profile” followed by “Edit Profile.”

Step 2: Edit Your Bio

In the “Edit Profile” section, you’ll find a text box for your bio. This is where you’ll integrate the tag(s).

Step 3: Tagging Users

To tag another Twitter user, type the ‘@’ symbol followed by the user’s exact Twitter handle. Ensure you’ve spelled the username correctly to link to the right account. For example, to tag Twitter itself, you’d include `@Twitter` in your bio.

Step 4: Review and Save

After adding the user tag(s) to your bio, take a moment to review your bio for any typos or errors. Once satisfied, click “Save” on the web or tap “Save” on mobile devices to update your profile.

Best Practices for Tagging in Your Bio

• Relevance is Key: Only tag accounts that are directly relevant to your personal or brand identity to maintain a professional and coherent profile.
• Keep It Balanced: While tagging can be beneficial, overdoing it can make your bio look cluttered and spammy. Aim for a tasteful balance between informative text and tagged accounts.
• Update Regularly: Relationships and affiliations evolve, so periodically review your bio to ensure the tags remain relevant and beneficial.

Conclusion

Incorporating tags into your Twitter bio is a strategic move that can enhance your profile’s discoverability, foster networking opportunities, and boost engagement. By following the steps outlined above, you can effectively tag individuals or brands in your bio, leveraging the interconnected nature of social media to your advantage. Remember, the goal is to create a compelling, informative, and cohesive Twitter presence that resonates with your target audience and aligns with your social media objectives.

The Significance of Your Twitter Username

Your Twitter username, or “handle,” is more than just a name; it’s a statement. It’s the first glimpse users have of who you are or what your brand represents on the platform. An effectively chosen username can significantly impact your Twitter presence, aiding in:

• Brand Recognition: For businesses, a username that aligns with your brand makes it easier for customers to find and engage with you.
• Personal Branding: For personal accounts, especially influencers, a memorable username can help in establishing and growing your personal brand.
• Networking and Engagement: A unique username can spark curiosity, encouraging more interactions and connections.

Utilizing the “@” Symbol

The “@” symbol is what sets your username apart from mere text, signaling to users that what follows is a clickable link to a Twitter profile. When devising a username:

• Keep It Simple: The simpler your handle, the easier it is to remember and type. Avoid overly complex combinations of numbers and letters.
• Consistency: If possible, use the same handle across different social media platforms. This consistency helps users find you easily, not just on Twitter but across the digital world.

The Power of Hashtags

While your Twitter username itself cannot include hashtags, understanding their use is crucial for brand managers and influencers. Strategic use of hashtags in your tweets can:

• Enhance Discoverability: Tweets with relevant hashtags get more exposure, making your profile more likely to be found by interested users.
• Community Engagement: Using or creating branded hashtags can foster a sense of community and encourage user-generated content and engagement.

Emoji: The Universal Language

Incorporating emojis into your tweets – though not in your username – can make your content more engaging and relatable. They serve as visual cues that add personality and emotion to your messages. However, when using emojis:

• Maintain Relevance: Ensure that the emojis you use are relevant to the content of your tweets and reflect your brand’s voice.
• Keep It Professional: Overuse of emojis can appear unprofessional. Use them judiciously to enhance your message, not overshadow it.

Crafting Your Username: Practical Tips

When it comes to creating your Twitter username, here are actionable steps to ensure it stands out:

• Brainstorm: Start with a brainstorming session, noting down keywords related to your brand or personality. Consider how these could be incorporated into a unique handle.
• Research: Check to see if your desired username is available and if it’s being used in a similar form by another account. Aim for uniqueness to avoid confusion.
• Short and Sweet: Twitter restricts usernames to 15 characters, so brevity is key. A concise username is easier to recall and share.
• Avoid Numbers and Underscores: Unless they are a part of your brand, numbers and underscores can make your username appear cluttered and harder to remember.

Examples of Clever and Effective Twitter Usernames

To further illustrate the impact a well-crafted username can have, here are some examples of clever and effective handles:

• Wendy’s (@Wendys): The popular fast-food chain incorporates its brand name into its handle, making it easy to remember.
• Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen): Actor and comedian Seth Rogen keeps it simple, using his name as his handle for consistent personal branding.
• The Rock (@TheRock): Dwayne Johnson uses a shortened version of his nickname – “The Rock” – for a memorable and recognizable username.
• National Geographic (@NatGeo): By abbreviating their brand name, National Geographic’s handle is concise and easy to remember.

In Conclusion

Your Twitter username is a critical piece of your online identity. It requires thoughtful consideration and strategic planning, akin to naming a product or brand.

Remember, the digital landscape is always evolving, and flexibility is key. Don’t be afraid to reimagine your Twitter handle as your brand or personal brand grows and changes. In the dynamic realm of social media, adaptability is your greatest asset.

By following the guidelines and tips provided, you’re well on your way to carving out your unique space on Twitter. Happy tweeting!

An increase in the number or a higher follower not only brings a huge difference in your business and sales but also enables your audience and customers to trust in you and in turn heighten their interest in your content.

When looking at social media statistics, many businesses utilize Twitter when they want to engage more with their customers.

Being a simple to use social media platform, Twitter is a great platform, especially for small businesses if you know how to use it well. But, many people are often puzzled as to how to get likes and followers. While there are those who prefer to get them through buying you can still get Twitter likes through other means.

Below is a look at how to increase twitter likes for your business and why connecting with the right audience can be of significant boost for your business profile.

Work on Your Twitter Profile

Start by creating an inviting profile that is friendly. Upload a clean and clear profile photo that clearly displays your facial features.

If you are using your brand’s logo, ensure that the most important elements are centered. If you intend to use the circular format, know that any pictures or text on the edges of your profile picture won’t show.

You will have to resize your image to 400px by 400px. You can find the appropriate dimensions using a tool like Canva. You also need to update the ‘Bio’ and include relevant tags, keywords and location information to give your followers a sense of what your business is all about.

Tweet Frequently

Different from other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, with twitter you will need to use a more aggressive approach and content strategy. Unlike ON Facebook where you can post once per day, with Twitter you have to stay active and tweet at least three and seven tweets daily for you to maximize engagement. There are some businesses that tweet close to 20 times per day, but remember that your content should also be optimized for your intended audience.

Tweet fresh content and relevant articles related to your business so that your audience finds your page worth following. Even if you can’t find time to be online at all times, you can utilize the social scheduling software so that any new followers can still see your tweets. Although you can also schedule tweets to optimize engagement don’t overdo it making it look as if your followers are engaging with bots.

Actively Engage in Twitter Chats

Engage in the chats with people of similar interests by replying, retweeting and tagging others.

You can also start by following other people or follow them back to spike their interest. But be careful with twitter chats and avoid hijacking the chats by being the only one that’s always talking.

Let new followers know that you’re human and avoid posting your products in a chat unless someone asks you to. This prevents too much unnecessary information which looks like spammy content.

There many other ways to increase twitter likes from using hashtags to posting visual content, gifts, memes, and infographics. Simply determine which data is more compelling to your audience. 

For the longest time, the social media platform is filled with bots that merely retweeted messages, followed people, and broadcasted tweets without making any genuine interaction with users. Brands used bots to gamify Twitter’s very lenient system at that time and spread their message faster. While efficient and effective to an extent, these accounts don’t add any value to the platform as a way to build relationships.

Thankfully, Twitter caught on with the bots in the hopes of bringing the social element back to its platform. The efforts taken should put encourage people to use Twitter more for engaging with like-minded people and their audience.

For businesses, you need to find Twitter tips and tricks that take into consideration the latest changes in the system. There are tactics and strategies that stand the test of time in terms of helping your Twitter account grow. Also, there are potentially new techniques that you can implement on Twitter given the changes taking place.

In this post, you will learn the best possible Twitter tips and tricks that will help increase your followers and build relationships with your audience in the hopes of growing your business.

Five Twitter Tips And Tricks That Stand The Test Of Time

1. Spruce Up Your Profile

Personalizing your profile by using a hi-res photo of yourself as your profile pic and sharing information about yourself on your bio is a great way to start.  Help people associate an image on your profile, and your actual picture should work well enough. Your bio should describe what you do professionally but don’t be afraid to add your personal touch to make your profile stand out.

You also have the opportunity to upload a cover photo that appears on top of your profile just behind your profile pic. Make it compelling and feature a call to action to help users act upon your offer, among other ways you can create a killer Twitter cover photo.

2. Plan What To Tweet

It’s not enough to keep tweeting about your blog posts or site pages. If you mindlessly keep sharing your content, you risk alienating your audience from keeping up with your updates. It may come to a point that they will unfollow your account!

To prevent this from happening, you need to know what your audience wants to read from your Twitter feed. Doing research and identifying your buyer persona helps you identify what to share on Twitter. However, you still need to develop and test the editorial calendar of your tweets. It’s best to plan the messages ahead of time so you can make the necessary changes later on if something’s not working.

When planning your tweets, there are lots of tools you can use. The free versions of Hootsuite and Buffer are good enough to start you off with but there are other platforms that will help you manage all your social media efforts much better.

Below are the types of tweets you should consider including in your Twitter publishing calendar aside from the usual blog post update:

• Questions – Ask your Twitter followers questions that they want to answer and participant in. You can use this opportunity to ask questions that will help you improve your engagement with them.
• Memes – It depends on the type of audience you have, but memes are effective ways to give your followers a hearty chuckle, especially if the humor is related to your brand.
• Images/videos – Diversify your tweet by publishing content other than text. If you have limited content creation skills, use Canva to help you create images using its vast selection of templates and Lumen5 if you want to repurpose your blog post into a video.
• Retweets – Find influencers whom you want to content to and find their best, latest, and most relevant tweets so far that you can share with your followers.

Lastly, you need to make sure that you tweet the messages at the best times possible. Most premium social media management tools show the times in a day when your followers are most engaged. However, you can only see this if your Twitter account isn’t brand new and have a substantial amount of followers for a while now. If your account is fairly recent, you can still take a cue from this CoSchedule post to help you find the best times to publish your tweets. Just make sure of the time zones of your audience to ensure that they see your tweets at their time.

3. Use The Best Hashtags

If you want to increase the reach of your tweets, use the most searched hashtags for each. Refer to this post at Sprout Social for a list of tools that you can use to find the best Twitter hashtags. Just make sure that you exercise restraint when it comes to including hashtags in your tweets. Using three hashtag maximum should be enough.

4. Run Giveaways

If you sell products or services, find a way that you can offer them for free to a raffle winner. Use a tool like Rafflecopter or KingSumo Giveaway for WordPress to help you create a widget and landing page where people can enter and win your prize. Whenever they submit multiple entries, you can set up either tool to encourage participants to tweet your giveaway or follow you on Twitter.

Launching a giveaway is a great way to help extend your audience reach aside from just growing your Twitter followers. It also puts a spotlight on your business and what you’re offering which will drive more interest from your target audience. Assuming that you offer the right product or service as your prize, you not only increase your email list but also boost your Twitter followers at the same time. Either way, it’s good for business!

5. Find Other Ways To Build Followers

You can’t engage with your followers if you don’t have any. While some of the tips mentioned above will help you slowly but surely build your Twitter followers, you may need a faster and more efficient way to grow your audience on this platforms.

Below are quick ways that you can boost your Twitter followers before you properly plan your engagement strategy:

• • Befriend influencers – You need to find a way to get influencers in your niche to take notice of you. Aside from retweeting their messages, you can ask them questions about their tweets, tag them to tweets that they might find useful, and other tactics that will get their attention. As long as you give them value consistently, there’s a good chance that they will recognize you long enough. From here, you can take this chance to get help promoting your Twitter profile and content.
  • Hijack conversations efficiently– It’s hard to find conversations about your keywords and hashtags using Twitter’s native search. You will have manually search them every time you log in and engage from there. However, using a tool like Awario or Mention, you can automatically receive updates from your email if there are latest tweets or Twitter threads about your topics from interest. Just enter the keywords and hashtags in the tool of your choice so you can stay on top of things.
  • Buy followers – While a controversial take on growing your Twitter followers, it could help tip the scales to your favor if you do it judiciously. Getting a portion of followers using this method can help complement your strategy of acquiring followers. As long as you don’t overdo it, you should be okay.

Follow These Twitter Tips And Tricks To Grow Your Followers!

Twitter is on the verge of being the trustworthy social media platform that it was once when it started out. Once it cleans up the bots and users focus on building relationships with people, then the sky’s the limit for Twitter. In the meantime, you can start growing your followers first and reap the benefits from having lots of people to engage with later on.

A steady stream of emergent technologies and new trends has occasionally modified this flow—for example, older platforms like Facebook have been slowly throttling the “organic” reach of business posts while newer platforms like Snapchat have disrupted the idea of a social “post” altogether—but few developments have completely revolutionized the game.

Twitter, current underdog in the social media marketing world, might have the potential to spark that revolution. The platform is at a crossroads, and its recent developments could cause a major disruption in the scene.

1. “Moments” Could Lead to Aggregated Social Content

Serving as an additional button on the home row, “Moments” aggregates posts from millions of Twitter users about a certain event, news story, or unfolding incident, and collect them in a meaningful way for the average viewer.

It’s proven popularity could spark a revolution not only in social media, but also in journalism. Content could be aggregated from thousands of sources at once, resulting in a reliable, unbiased depiction of almost any public event.

2. Google Integration Could Lead to Blurrier Lines Between Platforms

Twitter’s partnership with Google has also been interesting. As part of a new deal, Twitter’s entire tweet stream was made available to the search engine giant.

On mobile devices (and on desktop devices), users who search for certain types of information find recent popular tweets embedded in their search results. This could be the start of a new revolution in social and communication integration—and one where rival Facebook is already making progress.

Facebook is working on a system that integrates virtually all chat and social applications into one aggregated chat platform—so a Skype user can chat with a Facebook user on separate platforms but within the same conversation. Other platforms could easily follow this trend and start developing solutions and concessions that marry multiple platforms together.

3. Periscope Integration Could Mean More Immediate Social Transmission

One of Twitter’s most covered moves was its acquisition and integration of Periscope, once a separate social application that allows users to live stream video to their followers at any time. With Periscope users viewing 40 years of video every day, it’s easy to see how users could grow to expect a more instantly transmitted first-person perspective from their friends and followers.

Should other platforms adopt similar features, the days of typing out status updates could be over and immediate experience could be the vast majority of all updates.

4. Advertising Failure Could Be a Wake-up Call for Social Platforms

Of course, Twitter’s future isn’t guaranteed to be positive. The company has struggled with generating sufficient revenue from advertising for years.

Investors have openly expressed their concerns over Twitter’s profitability since the company’s IPO, and recent data suggests it hasn’t done much to improve the appeal of its advertising side. Without operating revenue, all those fancy new integrations and gadgets would mean nothing for Twitter, and it could wind up suffering heavy losses even if it’s at the top of its game from a functionality perspective.

Such a dramatic transition could serve as a wakeup call to other social media platforms that have failed to monetize effectively (or procrastinated doing so)—such as Snapchat or Instagram.

5. The Death of Twitter Could Spell a Downsizing Revolution in Social Media

Finally, advertising revenue aside, it’s possible that Twitter’s new integrations simply won’t fare well with their target audience. Already, Twitter users are pulled in multiple different directions with multiple different, more popular apps—it’s reasonable to think that Twitter may still go the way of MySpace if things don’t turn around. Such a surprising change could spark a wave of user rejections (and company concessions) that lead to a “downsizing” phenomenon in social media. Today there are hundreds of platforms available, covering hundreds of niches and offering overlap in functionality at every corner. Eventually, all the superfluous platforms could fizzle out (with Twitter being the first major player to suffer that fate), and users could instead focus only on the few, most popular candidates.

Admittedly, these possibilities are speculative, and some of them are direct contradictions of each other, preventing them from all unfolding simultaneously. But they’re important considerations because Twitter could realistically go in a number of different directions, from becoming a new hit through a second user revolution to fizzling out and becoming a cautionary tale. Twitter’s next moves will be especially significant for the social media world at large, so if you’re invested in a social strategy or if you just love social media, stay tuned.

You desire also the appreciation from your readers or some mentions from popular people in your niche.

In a few words, you want to get over yourself and write the most popular article of your blog.

But sometimes achieving this mission is not just so easy.

In this post, I introduce you ViralContentBee, a great website you can use as an effective tool to get more traffic to your website, while increasing your authority online.

How Viral Content Bee Works

The first and most important thing : ViralContentBee is free.

So be sure to create an account, by using your email, your Twitter or your Facebook credentials.

Complete your profile, adding your first and last name, and your email.

Select the groups of interest, by choosing among different categories (in this way, you will get just projects to share belonging to your interests in your dashboard).

I’ve chosen affiliate marketing, copywriting, blogging tips, SEO and social.

Then set your Twitter, Facebook and StumbleUpon details.

Before creating your first project, you need some credits.

You can earn them, by sharing other users content.

Your Dashboard

In your dashboard, you will see all the projects available to share.

You may want to visit the links of the stories and start sharing the ones you like.

You will receive a specific amount of credits, depending on your social media account “popularity”.

For example with Twitter profile, I earn 4 credits each time I share a new project (I’ve around 25k followers).

You will get a specific amount of credits, depending on the number of your followers:

TWITTER
100-999 = 1
1000-4999 = 2
5000-9999 = 3
10000-49999 = 4
50000+ = 5

Don’t worry about the quality of the content available for sharing, it’s manually reviewed by ViralContentBee staff.

The same should be considered before submitting your posts.

How to Add a Project

After having collected a good amount of credits, you can create your first project (be sure to submit just your best articles – you may want to check the site quality guidelines here).

In your profile menu, select “Add Project”:

You want to include the URL of your article, adding its title and a little description.

Select the most appropriate category, and then assign a budget to your project (this will be the amount of credits you will use for promoting your post).

Finally, choose which social media network you want your content to be shared on : Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and StumbleUpon.

And you want to be sure people will mention you via Twitter, by ticking the “Retweet Me” option.

You are now ready to click the “submit” button, to get your project placed in moderation queue.

After a ViralContentBee moderator will approve it, other users will see your article for sharing.

How to Manage Your Projects

You can check your stories by visiting “My Projects” in your menu.

You can manage all your items here.

If you have enough credits, you can revive old projects.

The menu you see in the image above, lets you edit your project, add more credits, stop or delete it, export to CSV, move to a folder or check the sharing statistics.

Interactions

An interesting feature of ViralContentBee is the “interactions”.

Basically the system tracks each share of your project and lets you visit the corresponding URL.

You can follow the promoter of your content on the social media network used, and you can thank him publicly on Twitter, for example.

In this way, you can grow your network, interacting with people who shared your content (many of them are influential people).

You can achieve this, by visiting the link as showed below (click to enlarge):

How to Become a PRO user

PRO users will get access to the PRO forum.

And more juicy privileges, such as:

– a specific amount of credits renewed monthly automatically;

– +1 Google button on each project;

– priority in project renew queue;

– better analytics;

– the option to submit projects by RSS.

You can become a PRO by subscribing at this page.

Still Not Clear?

You may want to take a look at the ViralContentBee official video.

Are You Ready to Watch Your Posts Go Viral?

After having understood how ViralContentBee works and submitted your projects, you can enjoy the results.

As per different case studies, your traffic will increase up to 200%, by having your articles shared by social media influencers.

Your social media authority will improve, due to mentions and shares by people within your niche.

In this way, you can also build more following!

Finally, it’s an easy way to always get fresh and good content to give to your audience.

Conclusion

I hope this article will guide trough ViralContentBee and lets you get the most out of it.

I use it for sharing my most important articles, and I ensure you it really works.

What do you think?

Have you ever used ViralContentBee?

Please share your experience in the comments below, thanks!

No?

Then you are missing a great opportunity to increase the effectiveness of your social media marketing.

If you follow the steps mentioned in this post, you will be able to have Twitter Cards integrated in your WordPress blog in less than 5 minutes.

What are the Benefits of Twitter Cards?

Twitter Cards may help you increase the visibility of your content on Twitter.

You need to implement some meta tags in your blog, and your articles will definitely look more sexy on Twitter.

Not to mention, you should also be able to enhance your brand and attract more followers.

Talking about the mobile market, your tweets will look better also on mobile users.

All these features will make your content stand out!

Here below you see an image of one of my latest posts, after the integration of Twitter Cards.

How to Integrate Twitter Cards in Your WordPress Blog

First of all you need to decide which Twitter Cards type you want to implement:

• summary;
• summary below large image;
• photo;
• application.

You want to choose one, depending on your website type.

I have choosen “summary below large image” and the image above shows that kind of Twitter Cards (see more information directly on official site).

So how can you implement Twitter Cards in your WordPress blog?

The answer is using a great plugin, called “JM Twitter Cards”.

Now you want to login to your blog dashboard and select “plugins”, “add new”.

Then search “JM Twitter cards” plugin and install it (this is the link to directly download it).

Finally you want to enable it.

It should appear a menu in the left side of your dashboard, showing the name of the plugin.

Go for it and click on “general”.

This is what it the page will look like:

You need to enter your personal and website Twitter username.

Select your card type.

Now go on the “images” menu, and select a picture that will be taken as default if no featured image is added in any of your blog posts.

Under “Robots.txt” menu, select “yes”.

Finally clicking on “home settings”, you may want to personalize the message of home meta description.

Now you need to validate your Twitter card here.

Go to validate and apply, insert your blog URL (which need to contains cards meta tags) and follow the easy procedure to apply.

A message with approval will be sent to your email within few minutes (in my case) or up to few hours.

All this process won’t take you more than 5 minutes.

For a more detailed guide, please refer to the video made by the creator of this plugin, Julien Maury :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l4k3zrD4Z0

Conclusion

I find Twitter Cards a powerful way to improve your visibility and increase your social media power.

What about you?

Have you already implemented Twitter Cards on your site?

I hope you found this tutorial easy to follow and let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

Thanks for reading!

If you are a blogger or internet marketer, without any doubt you already have an account on Twitter, but the questions is : are you using this social to its full potential?

There are a number of free tools online that you can use in order to expand your audience, increasing your exposure and building new connections.

Twitter is just great to promote your content, product or service.

Although it is true that is better to prefer quality over quantity, a large number of followers definitely helps to have a good influence.

Here you find a list of awesome free tools you can use to trigger the great potential of Twitter.

Twiends

With Twiends you can gain exposure for your Twitter account and receive new followers.

You can also this service to search for new accounts to follow.

Twiends is free and allows you to perform some action in order to receive free credits to spend on the site.

When you follow other Twitter accounts, you gain some “seeds”.

You can then spend your “seeds” to get new followers, increasing your audience and exposure.

Viral Content Bee

You can use ViralContentBee not only to boost your Twitter exposure, but also to increase your Pinterest and Facebook audience.

When you sign up for your account, you should browse within the category list on the left of the page, in order to find the topics you are interested in.

After this, you can choose to gain free credits promoting other user accounts.

With the credits gained, you can create new projects, that will be shared by members.

Tweepi

One of the most complete free tools available online for Twitter is Tweepi.

You can use it for “flushing” people who are not following you back, or reciprocate following users who are actually your followers.

You may want also to cleanup some inactive people and finally find new users to follow.

You can use Tweepi to follow up to forty accounts at once.

Remember that this site applies Twitter rules to allow you to follow a certain number of people at a time.

Be sure to not be too aggressive in creating your Twitter tribe and make one step at a time.

You can follow for example like 20-40 users and see how many will decide to follow you.

After some days, you can cleanup people who are not following you back.

Add Me Fast

AddMeFast allows you to gain free points by performing some actions with your social media accounts, included by following some Twitter accounts.

With the same principle of the other tools listed in this post, you can use the credits earned to list your Twitter account in their system, receiving some new followers.

Pay attention of which actions you perform, the frequency and the social media account you decide to connect.

AddMeFast.com can be a powerful tool, but be sure to use it wisely.

Some Tips to Increase Naturally Your Followers

Even if using the tools listed above can help you increase your followers on Twitter in a fast and easy way, by using the tips below you can increase your Twitter audience in a natural way.

1. Complete your Profile : if you still have an egg as profile picture, no one will want to follow you. Be sure to add a great description and a nice picture, with a big smile.

2. Follow influential users : identify your niche and find the most popular users to follow.

3. Tweet other users content : in this way people will notice your name and eventually will decide to follow you.

4. Mention Twitter accounts : when you are retweeting other posts or sharing some people content, be sure to include their @username.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask : you will be surprised of how many followers or retweets you can receive by simply asking for that.

6. Set up Twitter buttons on your site : in this way your readers can easily promote your content. Be sure to automatically include your Twitter username.

7. Use Triberr : it is a MUST use platform in order to boost your social media presence and influence.

A good read here:

How to Use #Triberr – Best #Social Network for #Bloggers? 

Conclusion

You probably already have a Twitter account, but be sure to invest some of your time in developing your presence and authority in this popular social media network.

I hope you found some hints in the post above and please let me have your comments or suggestions, leaving your feedback below, thanks!

I share useful resources connected to the two mayor social media networks in this article. Pure gold!

I go straight to the point, let me know in the comments below if you did not find something interesting or new for you.

Facebook

Not only you need to create a Facebook fan page for your blog or business, but you should also consider the trend of the moment : the Facebook groups.

There are a ton of groups that you could join. Some of them are created just for sharing your latest post, while in others you can learn a lot asking and answering to blogging , online marketing or SEO related topics.

Let’s go straight to the point. Here you find the list of the mayor Facebook groups that are popular right now.

I suggest you to join all these groups. Then up to you deciding whether it’s worth to be active or not.

The details and numbers listed below are updated to the date of the post ( May 20th 2013).

– Make Money with Blogging, Social Media and Internet Marketing (172 members) : it’s not just a sharing group. There are popular bloggers here, who are going to help you and will share their knowledge. You need to be active and bring your contribute. Don’t just join and spam your links here, or the admins will ban you!

– Blogger Ileane Smith Fan Club (3273 members) :  I have learned so much from this group. There are many active and popular bloggers here and Ms. Ileane share her knowledge to all the members. Definetely a group to join if you want to learn something new each day and if you need to expand your friendships.

– WordPress for Business (1056 members) : a  lot of popular bloggers and useful information here.

– BlogEngage (1447 members) : Facebook group of the popular BlogEngage social community site.

Facebook sharing groups (in most of these groups, members just share their last posts – you understand the social power just checking the numbers here).

I mention only the groups above 100 members and they are listed based on the numbers :

– Share Your Topics (8290 members);

– Submit Your Link (5154 members);

– Share Your Posts (5043 members);

– Bloggerz (3402 members);

– Freelancer (2308 members);

– Smashing Bloggers (2193 members);

– Blog Promotion (1819 members);

– Blogging SEO (1778 members);

– Bloggers Tech (1688 members);

– Everything About Blogging (1505 members);

– Liberty Bloggers (1193 members);

– WordPress Warriors (1164 members);

– Pro Blogging Tips (1080 members);

– Blogger’s Point (1053 members);

– Social Media Promotion (1038 members);

– Blogging Squad (991 members);

– Indian Tech Bloggers (988 members);

– Web Designing (889 members);

– Readnsurf (864 members);

– Fast Guest Blogging / Guest Posting (829 members);

– Bloggers Marketplace (820 members);

– Blogger Help (810 members);

– Guest Blogging Portal (810 members);

– The Bloggers Group (773 members);

– Share and promote your blog (731 members);

– Post Sharing (727 members);

– MyLifein24hours.Wordpress.com (660 members);

– Blogger Forum (618 members);

– Blogology (617 members);

– Blogging Paradise (595 members);

– Can I get Google +1 (576 members);

– BlogShare (566 members);

– Bloggers and Guest Bloggers (543 members);

– Blogger Help Community (527 members);

– Bloggers Brunch (519 members);

– Blogger’s Network (507 members);

– Makemenoise.com (435 members);

– iTechCode (407 members);

– Blog Post Sharing Group (392 members);

– Blogging Cage (385 members);

– Bloggers Community (348 members);

– Profit Blogging (341 members);

– Reveal Dragon Blogger (334 members);

– Yet Another Spam Group (323 members) – I love the name! ;

– Up coming bloggers and blogging experts (278 members);

– Younger Blogger Success (261 members);

– Bloggers Community (218 members);

– Indian Blogger Discussion (204 members);

– Serious Blog Promotion (184 members);

– Share Your Story (170 members);

– Share Your Topics (165 members);

– Bloggers Paradise (152 members);

Secret Tip :  

I have joined some “secret Facebook groups” that indeed gave me some power up to my online marketing efforts.

I won’t mention the secrets and the features of these groups and it’s up to you discover these gems around Facebook (just ask to some of your friends if they are part of some of these).

Twitter

Still the beast of the social media marketing, in my opinion. You MUST have an account there!

There are so many online tools connected to Twitter, that it’s impossible to mention all the most important ones!

But according to the topic of this article, I list below the ones I use when I want to share new posts.

JustRetweet

I guess you already know it, but if not, then you need to pay a visit to this website!

The rule is simple, you sign in with your social media account and while you share other members links, you earn credits, that you can use to share your own posts.

JustRetweet is connected to Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.

You may set to which category you want to address your post and to which members, depending on their social media power (the numbers of their accounts).

Triberr

Triberr, I love it!

I know some bloggers who still do not understand the power of Triberr, but it’s a shame, because first of all there are many tutorials you can learn from.

Then you can simply search “Triberr” in Google to find out a big number of useful posts with great explanations of “How Triberr Really Works”, like this article :

How to Use #Triberr – Best #Social Network for #Bloggers?

In few words,  after signing up, you need to join tribes (or create your own one), in order to share members new posts available on your stream and have the possibility they will want to share your new articles.

Respecting the goal of this post, I am going to list the most powerful tribes I know (and I am member of – details and numbers updated to May 20th 2013) :

– Power Sharers : standard tribe, 316 members, 102 followers – 5,647,586 reach (contact me here – I am the chief of this tribe);

– Atomic Justice Tribunal : automatic tribe, 205 followers – 5,409,186 reach (contact @Justice Mitchell, chief of the tribe);

– Social Media SEO : automatic tribe, 378 followers – 3,933,753 reach (contact @Berrie Pelser, who is the chief of this tribe).

Conclusion

Social Media, like internet, continually grows and changes.

There is a huge number of social networks and interesting resources it’s worth the mention, but it’s impossible in just one simple blog post!

I hope to have you helped in any way with this article and please let me have your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks!

Image courtesy of bplanet at FreeDigitalPhotos.net