Twitter is well known as a vehicle for successfully establishing a local brand. Thousands of companies have utilized Twitter to find local followers, make connections, and establish local recognition. Myriad true anecdotes support Twitter’s effectiveness as a tool for establishing local brand recognition.

Entrepreneurs may wonder whether Twitter can be used to expand local recognition to create a truly global brand. What features does Twitter boast to help businesses reach a world market? Can Twitter’s usefulness in the establishment of local brands translate into an effective global marketing strategy?

Pervasive Social Network

Without doubt, Twitter is the greatest pervasive social network utilized to date. Twitter is accessible to individuals worldwide, reaching markets that span a broad range of consumer interest, ideology, and location. Anyone possessing a mobile phone with Web service can access Twitter at any time – no laptop or desktop required. In addition, the number of Twitter subscribers grows daily at an astronomical rate. The possibilities for local businesses to interact with potential customers worldwide are limitless.

Never Fear, Communicate in Your Native Language!

Language barriers are often the greatest hindrance to businesses attempting to communicate with a global audience. Twitter provides businesses the freedom to project their messages in their native languages. Twitter supports a large number of world languages including the most common European and Asian languages. Numerous translation tools, provided free by Twitter, can be used to convert tweets from the language of the business owner to the languages of potential customers. Who knew that tweeting would become a powerful link to global communication? Twitter can help businesses that would otherwise be limited by geography or language to effectively communicate and compete in a global market.

Less Is More

When establishing a global brand, it is best to follow the caveat of “less is more.” Elaborate marketing strategies may succeed in some arenas and fail in others. Tweeting is nothing if not simple. Posting concise and informative tweets is the best strategy to follow in a world market. Potential clients will be more likely to read and re-tweet simple, short messages. Convoluted messages should be revised with a broad potential audience in mind. Simple is always the smart way to go.

A Global Brand Courier

Thus far, Twitter has been instrumental in achieving astonishing results for companies venturing into the realm of global brands. Currently, a number of globally recognized brands utilize Twitter’s features when offering promotions and new products, engaging in real-time customer service, and interacting in productive dialogue with consumers worldwide. Twitter has become an outstanding global brand courier for many businesses. Companies that strategically use Twitter for branding have experienced a marked influx of visitors to their corporate websites. Those who endeavor to create effective global marketing strategies must pursue their goals with a sense of venturesomeness. Twitter is the perfect outlet for encouraging creative branding initiative. Twitter has the advantage of possessing greater speed and interactivity than other internet conduits. Another tremendous advantage to utilizing Twitter for a world marketing campaign is that it is absolutely free! No other venue can deliver Twitter’s results at zero cost to you.

Growing your business involves dynamically increasing your brand visibility. How better to achieve that than through the largest social network on the Web? Start today by maximizing the potential of Twitter to reach your global audience.

Shopping Cart abandonment can easily lead to a headache for most retailers; however, it is easier for consumers to abandon their carts while shopping online rather than in a retail store. Shopping online can be easier than shopping in a retail store, but this increases the chance of abandonment. Apparently, cart abandonment rates reached as high as 60% last year due to the economy. Many people were jittery about whether or not to spend money in fear their money spending would backfire.

Check out 10 useful tips that can help you reduce shopping cart abandonment at your online store.

1. Ensure you show stock availability on product web pages and let consumers know which countries you ship to. If a consumer places something in their shopping cart only to discover later it is out-of-stock they will not be happy. In addition, make which countries you ship to highly visible. Try to ship to as many countries as possible.

Do not forget to disable the shopping cart button for products that are out-of-stock or on back order. This can save both you and your customers any unwanted frustration.

2. Let your consumers know the tax and shipping charges before they check-out. This will help avoid any shock with the total charge. This is the number one reason consumers abandon their online shopping carts.

3. Do not require a log-in. Instead, allow the option for a guest to check-out. Do not make account creation mandatory, but rather make it an option after check-out is completed. Rather, explain the advantages of having an account (faster check-out time, order tracking, special discounts, etc.) to consumers without being too aggressive.

4. Use SSL (secure socket layer) certificates on your online website. Make sure that you renew these certificates when they expire. These certificates protect the personal information and credit card numbers of your consumers. SSL certificates reduce the chance of identity theft. Many customers look for these certificates. If your online store does not have them, you will lose business.

Consumers want to know that you are looking out for them and you care about their business. SSL certificates are one way of showing that you care to keep their personal data and credit card information safe. Identity theft is a huge issue and worries many people. Avoid making it easy for identity thieves to steal information from your site.

5. Make credibility indicators such as TrustE and McAfee badges visible on your website. Many customers look for these badges and avoid websites and online stores that do not have these credibility badges. These badges can help you avoid cart abandonment in your online store.

6. Always ask for an email address in the first step in the check-out process. Email addresses are useful for validation, special offers if they request it, and providing them with helpful information such as a confirmation order. Inform your customers that their email address will only be used for order purposes only. For instance, if there is a problem with their order or to notify customers when their order has been shipped.

7. Place a link to the privacy policy in plain view. It is a good idea to place this link near where the customer must enter their personal information. If the customer wishes to view the privacy policy, use pop-up windows so the customer does not have to leave the check-out process. If a customer has to start all over again after clicking a link, they will most likely abandon their cart instead of having to deal with starting the process all over again.

In addition, it is important that consumers have access to the privacy policy. The privacy policy will tell them everything they need to know about returns, information about your company, and other important, useful information.

Your privacy policy should be clear, concise, and compact. A consumer should be able to read your privacy policy and clearly understand what your terms are.

8. Provide a toll-free 1-800/877 number on each page. Place the number within easy view so customers can easily contact you or a company representative if need be. In addition, it can be helpful to provide a unique number that is tied to the cart. This makes it easier to keep track of how many calls were made concerning the cart process. Mongoose Metrics is one site that provides unique 1-800 numbers and tracks conversions with Google Analytics.

9. Never ask for more information than you need. Consumers do not want to fill out more information than they need to. In addition, requesting unnecessary information can make your business appear sketchy and your online store will be avoided.

Mark only the required fields with asterisks so customers can check-out faster. Make all other requested information optional. Customers can easily become frustrated if their form will not process because there is an empty field. Make the check-out process less frustrating by making only necessary information required for the check-out process. You do not want to make your customers frustrated or angry.

Also, make it an option for customers to sign up for discounts or the newsletter during their check-out. Inform them of the benefits of signing up for either, but not push it. You want their decision to be voluntary and not forced. If you sound too sale-like or aggressive, customers are going to abandon their carts rather than choose to do business with you.

10. Remember that customers will use online shopping carts to bookmark items of interest and come back to purchase the times later. Not all customers are going to buy their items right away. You may want to consider cookie length and using a shopping cart that is persistent. Persistent shopping carts can save the items in the cart for a number of days. Let customers know on the online shopping cart summary page how long their items and the cart details will be saved in the cart. Provide any other important information about the shopping cart on the cart summary page as well.

Many people have the misconception that you have to link everywhere in order for people to visit your links and buy your products on the Internet. While this was once the action to take in order to drive in traffic, it is not that way anymore. The Internet has evolved over the years and web browsers are not going to click every link that comes up on a page. Placing links on off-target sites is not going to help you much.

Search engines have evolved as well. Nowadays links and websites are ranked by the quality and the content. Sites that use link farms create web pages that are off-target, or use another useless method to drive in more traffic are penalized by search engines and are generally regarded as spam.
What are the Best Links?
The best links are links that are on-target with the content of the website and “earn merit.” Choosing just any link is not going to help your website.
Read on to discover the top ten tips to getting high-quality links and visitors.

1. Create link bait. Link bait is links that people have to click because they are compelling. For instance, it can be a link that is informative, catchy, controversial, humorous, or interesting. Links that are compelling drive in more traffic and keep the attention of web browsers.

2. Create content browsers can share. There are many different options out there that allow web browsers to share content. For instance, there are widgets, bookmarks, and buttons to name a few. These allow your visitors to spread information across the Internet, including popular social-networking and blog websites.

Keep in mind that not everyone is going to want to “share” your content, but make sure it is an option in case someone does want to share. Get into the social-media world so others can find you. If web browsers have an awareness of you, you have a better chance of driving in more traffic along with your links.

3. Use Social Media to drive in traffic and to spread word of your site. While posting content on your site can bring in some traffic, do not stop there. Also use networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to link post content from your site.

Twitter is a popular social-networking site that can drive in a lot of traffic; however, do not make driving in traffic your only goal when you use networks. Make the effort to become part of the network. Driving in traffic to your website should be an advantage or benefit, not the only reason you join a network. Join a network because you want to, not for the sole purpose of getting more page views or link hits.

When you use sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter, know and understand the rules and the social expectations. Generally, people will not respond well if you drop links everywhere. Become part of the community before you begin to advertise your site. Otherwise, people will want to avoid you and you will have ruined your chance of making a name for yourself on a network. Connect with people using these network sites and do not just connect in a business way. While it is important to use Twitter or LinkedIn for site traffic, do not make it your only goal. Comment on statuses and links that not only relate to your site, but also have nothing to do with your website. You will drive in more traffic and people will check out your site.

4. Network: Build relationships or connection with bloggers. Bloggers are an effective way in which people can gain awareness of your site and bring in site traffic. However, it will take a little effort and social connecting in order to get your name in a blog, particularly one as important as a highly regarded industry blog.
Many people think of bloggers as journalist, but they are not journalists and therefore do not want to be treated like journalists. Do not just pitch to them, interact and read their blog before you drop links.

5. Target sites that are relevant to your site or business. In order to gain rank on search engines, you not only need to link high-quality sites, but also link sites that are useful to your site visitors.

To find the appropriate blogs and sites, start by using search tools such as Google Blog Search and Technorati. Also, try targeting sites and social-media sites that your target market frequent.

6. Donate to charities. Instead of purchasing links on community sites, donate to charities which most often have high-quality domains. In addition, many charity sites will include the links to their donors somewhere on the site.

7. Start a Blog.  Blogs can be extremely successful at driving in traffic and getting the word out of your site and business. Bloggers generally link to other blogs and bloggers, rather than e-commerce sites and other websites.

Other bloggers will want to see good quality content and etiquette before they decide to link your blog. Make it a priority to write relevant, informative content rather than just try to sell your site or products.

8. Include respected websites and blogs in your blog posts. Many bloggers or parties will appreciate being quoted or featured. They may return the favor or provide a link to your content.

9. Include a RSS feed to your blog. In order to have a listing in Google Blog Search you need to have a RSS feed. This will help your blog gain rank among the search results and boost blended searches.

An RSS feed also allows your headlines, accompanied with direct links to your site or blog, to be combined with other websites. This allows you to reach a larger audience that would not have been exposed to your content otherwise.

10. Write a guest post. If you don’t have enough bandwidth to start your own blog, write for someone else. Ensure the content you write is informative and helpful to the blog and its content.

I’d appreciate your thoughts on the post.

The verdict is out – Linked In is probably the unchallenged competitor as far as trying to get a new job is concerned. You could also use this site to build a lot of laser-focused business leads to your business. Basically, you could use Linked In for any of your purposes, but a certain amount of diligence may be required on your part.

The Internet seems to be full of some success stories on how some guys have made it big because they have been able to use Linked In effectively well. Based on my experience, I recommend you to follow these 13 class tips, which could help you utilize the power of Linked In to the best possible effect.

1. Your profile has to be 100% complete – Google has changed a lot and nowadays, even employers are using Google as a tool to find their prospective employees. To cut a long story short, the point is – Your profile in Linked In has to be complete in all respects. Only 100% completeness would do and nothing less.

If you don’t have any recommendations to show for in your Linked In profile, or if your work experience is incomplete, the chances of you using this site to get a job, is going to be minimal.

1. The headline works – Often, more than your name, it is your headline on Linked In that catches the attention of people who wish to hire you. As they say – First impressions matters, the headline is probably considered to be the most important two lines of your resume on Linked In.
2. Add all work positions – Here is one reason why you shouldn’t under-fake the positions you have worked for. There are chances that a hiring manager may like Skill A as opposed to Skill B in your resume. Importantly, the hiring manager could also have worked in your previous organizations and may be keen on hiring you.

That’s probably one reason why you should quote all the facts in your resume.

1. Recommendations are important – The importance of having recommendations from people can just not be undermined. Merely having couple of recommendations from people may not really work, the reason being there are so many people inactive on this network. Your hiring manager would be checking your resume for recommendations, if any.

If he isn’t going to find any recommendations, the chances are he wouldn’t believe you? Why should he anyways, when some other people wouldn’t vouch for you?

1. The whole network is yours, so connect with them – I don’t think LinkedIn imposes a penalty on how many people you connect with. Neither does it charge you. In that scenario, why would you want to limit your connections to only a few people? LinkedIn now is one huge repository of people, so use this chance to connect with people whom you even vaguely know.

After all, you just don’t know from where the next recommendation would come from.

1. Your message should be crisp and clear – One thing is for sure – The conciseness of your message would convey to the readers of the network on how professional you are. Basically, this means one thing – The message you deliver is directly proportional to the chances of you being hired.
2. Stay active – This is probably one of the must-dos if you join LinkedIn. Please note that this is more than just a social networking site. Since joining LinkedIn is free of charge, it gives people the license of just uploading their resume and keeping quiet for months together. That wouldn’t help your cause in any way.

On the other hand, if you are active on your profile, the chances of people taking note of you would be high.

1. Niche groups work for you – The benefit of joining niche groups is that they have customized job boards, but most importantly they also have jobs that match your skill set, assuming you joined the group because it was relevant to your skills.
2. Create a group so others could join in – If you are able to create a laser-focused group and invite other members to join your group, you would be in business sooner than later. By doing so, you would be seen as a thought oriented leader and not someone who merely follows.
3. Mention your awards and recognition – The point of mentioning your awards is critical for your success in LinkedIn. After all, this is one way of telling your prospective employers on what is attractive about you.
4. Answering questions helps you hog limelight – By answering questions that get frequently posted on the job boards, you get to show your expertise in select topics. Indeed – This could prove to be a wonderful marketing strategy, as your prospective employers get a first hand feel of your expertise on select topics.
5. By importing your Twitter and Facebook updates, you get to be on constant touch with the social media. Social media networking is the best possible tool for you to connect with a lot of people at one go, so it is definitely worth a try.
6. Connect and always connect – Irrespective of whether people are of immediate help to you or not, connect with them. This would enable you to have a good list of people, which may come in handy in the future when the situation arises.

The point is – Linked In can be used in the most effective way for you to get noted. Prospective employers use this medium proactively to find out more about the candidates they wish to hire, so don’t be left out there.

I will appreciate your feedback or comments:

Facebook(FB) has probably changed our lives – Who would disagree to this statement? Even the most loner kind of a person finds himself swarmed with hundreds of friends. Conceptually, FB was supposed to be a social networking site, and it still is one but businesses are increasingly looking at FB to provide them with a launch pad for a lot of their products.

Why not – FB allows businesses to promote their products directly to their prospective customers, isn’t it? That said, there is a long way to go before you optimize your business for FB and start using FB constructively for your business.

Here are 7 tips for you to use Facebook for your business

1. Separate your personal account from your business account. Your business account in FB should only have your target customers and no one else.
2. Offer something for free – It could be anything, a newsletter, a whitepaper or something of that sorts. People would read information available for free.
3. Setup a brand identity for your business account. This means you should work on your business description, logo, and all of that. Who said using FB for your business is a child’s play?
4. Now, invite people to join your business group.  A good place to start would be to have couple of your friends who are interested in your products.
5. Enclose your FB profile link in your email signatures. This way your clients would know your business is on FB. And hey – It also helps in Viral marketing, doesn’t it?
6. Did I forget – From time to time, you should keep offering something or the other for free. This allows the interest in your group members to be sustained, when they know that they would get a free offering. Don’t do this too often else you would lose the value of your product.
7. Last but not the least – Keep revisiting your contacts. Keep adding new contacts and delete the ones who you think don’t really participate or the ones who don’t really enquire about your product. Eventually, you would want to make FB a profit making entity for your business and towards that any decision you take, is welcome.

One thing is clear – FB can definitely be used to boost the sales for your business, provided some care and diligence is exercised in building your business on FB. It may sound and look lucrative, but one mistake could also prove costly. It doesn’t take long for your business identity to lose its credibility on the Internet (At least, some businesses have definitely discovered this by now).

But, if you can follow these 7 simple tips, it is my guarantee you would be able to generate more leads for your business. It would only be matter of days that you see the sales of your business increasing.

If this is so lucrative, what’s stopping you from taking on to FB networking? After all, it is not a place where you could only make friends, but also make some moolah too!

Share and Enjoy:

]]> http://www.sonnyahuja.com/personal/7-tips-to-use-facebook-productively-for-your-business/feed/ 0 http://www.sonnyahuja.com/social-media/how-effectively-use-social-media/ http://www.sonnyahuja.com/social-media/how-effectively-use-social-media/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 05:28:34 +0000 Sonny http://sonnyahuja.com/?p=830

Social media is so much spoken about today. The benefits and importance of social media are so stressed upon that every person worth his name or every business worth its money is trying to make the most of it.  Social media has taken communication and sharing stuff over the internet to a new level. With social media particularly social networking websites, you are able to reach millions of people together and this kind of farfetched reach is not possible with any other kind of advertisement or promotion.

If you want to spread awareness about your business or if you want to find and reach your target audiences in the least time possible then you have to register yourself on one of the hugely popular social networking websites like Face book, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. Just registering (which is free) with them and creating a general profile page and leaving it there is not enough. To make the social networking website work for you, to spread awareness about you or your business you have to follow certain etiquette of social networking. Given below are some of the things you can do to be well known on social networking circles and to promote yourself.

• Create an interesting profile page- your profile page says a lot about you or your company. Make your profile page as interesting or eye catching as possible. Today social networking websites provide many options to customize their profile pages so that it reflects them or their companies. You can use pictures, video clips and even audio files to enhance your profile page and to speak volumes about your organization.
• Keep your profile updated- just creating a profile page and leaving it there is not sufficient if you want to be successful with social media. You have to keep it updated constantly with the latest happenings the buzz around your company or products. You can inform your contacts and friends about the latest developments and features your product has been fitted with to make it better than the competition. You can use the events page provided by social networking websites like Face Book to describe to your contacts an upcoming event, the how, where and when of it and also make it more interesting by exchanging comments with others who were present at the event.
• Create fan pages for your product- this is a great option provided by social networking websites. Any user can create a fan page for any product by describing all about it and giving the many attractive features of the product. Then you will see the popularity of your product growing by leaps and bounds as more and more users become fans.
• Join interested communities- like minded people who have common interests create groups or communities and exchange ideas and views about things related to their interest. Joining such communities which best reflect your business interests make it easier for you to reach out to target audiences.

Using social media effectively can guarantee increased awareness about your product and also an increase in revenue.

Social networking has stormed the online world and has changed forever the way people communicate over the internet. Social networking is the meeting of, getting together of people from various backgrounds and cultures to share one common platform. Through social networking people can make new friends, they can get in touch with their old friends; keep in touch with family members and childhood friends and more. Just like living in a society and being part with it is important in the real world, being part of social networking gives you immense opportunity in the virtual world.

Through social networking people can exchange information, share thoughts, express themselves and speak their minds on any topic. Also like minded people can come together and form a community of their interest and share ideas related to the topic. Social networking can give you a lot of information. You can get to meet so many different people, learn about them, about what they specialize in and maybe an opportunity can come out it for you. Social networking is so amazing that people have found homes, jobs, spouses and much more through it.

There are so many social networking websites today and each provides the user so many options that it becomes almost an addiction to be on them. Face book, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn are some of the immensely popular social networking websites which have millions of users registered with them. The profile page can be referred to as the personality of the users as the users design and create them as per their tastes and preferences. The social networking websites offer many options to the users to create smart and snazzy profile pages.

Another integral aspect of social networking is that of blogging. Here the blogger has the freedom of expression to say anything and everything. He can express his opinions and views on almost any subject and when creative people communicate through expression of opinion then even a breakthrough in dialogue can be achieved. Social networking is the ‘in trend’ way of communicating and keeping in touch over the internet. Social networking lets you know about so many different things through your friends and contacts that your sphere of knowledge improves drastically.

Social networking can also be used to promote a business you may be running. Having access to millions of people every day is a marketing advantage only social networking can provide. Social networking puts you on the map. If you are a member on a social networking website then you are known to so many other people. And if you mention your business or skill on your profile page then so many people will come to know of your skill or business for that matter. Your business will find awareness like never before and your friends and friends of friends will make it a point to try your product or give you business.

If you are not making use of the full scope of social networking then you will stand to lose out on a major part of awareness whether personally or for your business.

Marketing for any business is essential and the cost of marketing is probably the most integral and one of the highest costs for the business. In this day and age of the ‘survival of the fittest’ and cut throat competition, marketing the business and its products effectively is the primary goal for any business organization. Social media is a large phenomenon in the online world and this social media has a very wide reach more than probably the regular means of promotion.

Social networking websites such as Face Book, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter are one of the best forms of promotion and marketing for your business. These are websites through which users share information, thoughts, ideas and strategies on a single platform. Here any kind of information can be shared and exchanged and users get the opportunity to express themselves clearly. These social networking websites are ideal promotional tools which have to be utilized sensibly. These websites provide access to millions of people and this kind of audience reach is much more than that provided by other means of advertising and promotion.

The best thing about social media is that it is free of cost. You can register and create a profile with any social networking website free of cost. In any business the cost paid for the promotion of the business and its products through any means of advertisement is never free and the cost is thousands of dollars. When you have access to such a forceful means of promotion and while there are no charges for using it then why not market your business through it?

Any entrepreneur should keep in mind a few factors when using social media to promote his business and to spread awareness about his brand. These include being forthright and practical about the claims of the business they make. They must give a very realistic picture of their business, products and the achievements or highlights of their business. They should refrain from exaggerating facts about the business or the products as this will put people off from visiting your business webpage and trying their product.

Keeping yourself active on the social networking websites will immensely help you to increase awareness and try to convert potential customers into actual ones. Make sure you keep on updating your company profile or your personal profile with the latest buzz about your products or events. You can even use the events page provided by most social networking websites to promote an upcoming business event and even to post comments about it.

Joining communities which best reflect your business interest is another social media marketing strategy which you can employ to help your business. Always be active in the community or group page and make sure you reply to comments and enquiries.

You have to employ a keenly thought out marketing plan if you want to utilize the full scope of promotion through social media. You also need to be abreast with the latest trends in social media to apply it to your business.

If you want your online business to be a resounding success then you have a strategy up your sleeve, a technique to make the strategy work and finally patience. There are so many online businesses today which fail to see the light of the day. It isn’t easy to survive as the competition out there is quite intense and cut throat. So what can you do to make your online business successful today? Answer: use Social Media to full advantage.

You are lucky to have launched your online business in an age where social media is at its all time high in the online world. Social networking websites have stormed the internet and they seem to be turning into gold everything they touch. So why not use this profound impact leaving medium to promote your business and to establish credibility?

There are many social networking websites like Twitter, Face Book and MySpace which offer individuals and corporate houses space to meet and share ideas and opinions over a network. Twitter is a fairly new social networking website but it has a vast and ever growing reach none the less. You can register with Twitter and create a profile. While creating a profile you have to be as interesting and innovative as possible. In your profile you can include a link to your business website or blog.  You want as many people to know about your business as possible. Make sure you join and stay active in interested communities. Make sure each tweet that you send out reflects the developments and updates of your business and products. Keep in mind that the tweets should not be tools of blatant sales promotion, but subtle updates and interesting facts about the products you offer.

Face Book is another hugely popular social networking website which is free access to millions of people. Being on face book is an excellent way to promote your online business because the reach of this very popular social networking website is very far. You can even create ads to promote your business and products. Here also you can join communities which best reflect the interests of your business. Make sure to give all the interesting facts and latest updates about your products so that the interest in them remains. You can even promote various social networking games and contests on your profile page so that people are enticed to play and share. Rather than blatantly promoting your products, try to give tips and advice on information related to the products you deal in.

Using social networking sites to promote your online business takes time and skill. You should know which communities to join, what kind of profile to create, what kind of fan pages to create and what kinds of ads to display. Once you get the hang of all this, then using these websites to promote your business will be like a cake walk. After a while you will not even have to do the hard work. The social networking website will be doing its job of spreading awareness about your business while you are just a part of it.

We are now living in an era where social networking websites, such as Facebook, Plurk and Twitter, play a vital role in spreading your thoughts and your websites. Not only that you will be able to acquire referrals through the use of these social networking websites, you can also gain avid readers, excellent comments and more online friends. Among the social networking sites, most web specialists prefer Twitter as the best vehicle to propagate attention-worthy stuffs. In the real world, the word of mouth is possibly the best form of advertising, likewise over the internet, Twitter is the closest thing you can refer to as ‘word of mouth’.

This only means that you need to get your target audience to tweet about your website. Here are some things you can do to do just that.

1) Learn to express your website concept 140 characters or even less.

Make sure you allot space for the URL so be brief with your website concept, possibly, 100 characters. The next thing you should focus your attention to are the things that happened after the launch – who is tweeting and how they are tweeting. Make sure that your message gets through to your readers. To give you an idea on which sections of your website are most useful, it is essential to get feedbacks from your readers and act on matters you need to improve if they view your website different from what you want.

2) Sketch an image that describes your website the best.

Your primary goal is to give twitterers a reason to click on your link and find more interest about it.

3) Even if your target viewers are not on Twitter, their most favorite bloggers are.

More than just referral links, Twitter credits its users a great deal directing huge amounts of traffics to websites. Since people are tweeting about a certain entry in your website, you can establish traffic without much effort in advertising. Bear in mind that the ones you need to reach are the most internet-savvy people which can be found mostly in Twitter.

4) Make sure that your Twitter ID can be recalled from the name of your website.

This will help you establish a brand on the online world. This strengthens your web presence and gives you some authority upon responding to certain user issues.

5) Place a Follow Me on Twitter Badge on your website directing to your Twitter page.

Since you are trying to get more people to come more often to your website, you can gain loyalty through Twitter. Putting a badge or a follow me link at a prominent place at your website will be an easier way for your visitors to track on the recent posts in your blog when you tweet them and eventually go check it if your tweet has caught their attention. It is better than RSS for the simple fact that it is a lot more personal – that is also why you should try to convert your RSS Feed followers to Twitter followers as well.

6) Make sure that your Twitter homepage resembles the design of your website.

It would be great if your readers recall your website when they see your Twitter page. Using the same color scheme as well as background makes your followers feel fluid while viewing your accounts and matching them with your website. Try adding extra details on your websites when designing the background image to offer the readers more of your insights.

7) Be Responsive – Turn your “Show me all @ Replies” mode on.

The primary reason for this is for the Twitter followers to be able to contact you – whether it is for praise or for clarifications and questions. Also, try sorting your personal Twitter account with the one you are using for your website. Twitter has always been a great help in addressing user concerns fast.

Establish your Brand. Try using Custom Alias feature in TinyURL.

This is very helpful in lengthy Twitter messages as sometimes it could limit you in including your entire URL on your tweet. That is why it is important for your to try this cool TinyURL feature for you to be able to shorten your link and be able to spread it along with a brief and concise message about your website using Twitter.

9) Monitor the status of your website using search.twitter.com

Try searching your website name just to see how many people are tweeting your website and using URL shortening applications. If you are not getting the results you wanted, try to append the filter:link to your search. Mainly, the reason for this is to see who’s connecting to you and as well as to search for new clients and attend to other people’s concerns.

Now the next thing for you to do is to subscribe these in your RSS readers. This is a great way for you to be able to address issues concerning the readers at the moment. It is also somehow flattering to be able to find people who are actually discussing about your website.

10) Keep your Twitter account personable and avoid spam.

A lot of followers unfollow Twitter accounts for this specific reason. No one wants to follow someone who is just busy promoting himself or his creations 24/7. The fact that they are following you means they are interested and are already a part of your users, hence they do not need to be pimped at. One of the wonders of Twitter is that it enables people to somehow get an overview of other people’s lives especially those who are not close to them.

To nurture your followers, tell your users about the relevant changes and recent updates to your website. Let them join your celebration if you win an award for blogging or if you get featured at a high-traffic, and popular website. However, do not focus your tweeting to just that. The key to getting more followers is to capture their interest – interest that serves their concerns.