As Twitter usage continues to increase in the UK, I thought to shed some light on how you can increase your exposure and build on your growing Twitter community.
There are numerous ways to find Twitter users who share the same interests as you by using Twitter search engines, Twitter directories and refining results by category or location. Meanwhile Location targeted Twitter directories are pretty handy if you want advice on “real time local information” i.e. jobs, weather or perhaps sending or receiving a restaurant recommendation.
Which directories should I choose ?
In truth there is no definitive answer to this - we are not the holders of the definitive list of all the Twitter directories, but very few people probably are as new ways of managing contacts are popping up daily – and, at this rate, possibly one every minute.
Should you be in every directory? While it’s desirable, the reality is that this isn’t really possible: given the time it takes to list, it’s unlikely that the admin time would be worth it.
At Rocktime, we find time is more effectively spent listing our company and ourselves on a select few directories, which enables us to spend a much higher percentage of our time communicating with those we chose to follow or find out more about those following us.
Let me share with you a list of a few Twitter directories we use at Rocktime – but first, while we’re talking Twitter Directories, late last year Twitter introduced Twitter lists into public beta.
Twitter promoted these lists as being “A great way to organise the people you follow and discover new interesting accounts”. What this means to Twitter user is that they can create their own lists, or people may list them and display details to their followers. It is quite interesting to see in what lists you reside, as it gives an indication how people perceive you and what you have to say: perhaps you are a blogger listed by a few as a “comedy genius”, but you never knew !
But let’s get back to directories. There are two ways to feature in list directories: either by adding your own lists or by being on lists that have been added. selection of directories looking after these lists are also presented below.
Twitter User Directories
WeFollow – A really easy sign-up and connects to your Twitter account. Login to Twitter, enter your location and choose 5 interests which describe your business or personal brand.
NB: Check the fine print as you don’t need to accept the offer to have your Twitter profile page link to your WeFollow profile page (final box).
Twellow - Register by providing your Twitter email and password. Twellow will then pull relevant information of your twitter profile page to create your profile, making some suggestions on where you should be placed. After validating your email, you then need to decide whether you agree to their suggestions or add other categories (10). You can add more links within Twellow to other social media profiles within the extended bio section, which is pretty handy to spread your reach further.
Just Tweet It – This directory takes a little more time to sign up to than Wefollow or Twellow, as you are required to register before you are sent a password and a link to the profile editor page. Once your profile is complete return to the Just Tweet IT home page, pick 5 categories and enter a short bio on each.
List Directories
Listorious - Go to the Listorious directory and click add list. If you are signed into Twitter, Listorious will automatically connect to your Twitter account and show a form asking for a list URL, a one line description and some descriptive tags. Once your list is added you will be entered into the Listorious ranking table (calculated by number of followers)
TweetDeck - If you work your twitter Account from TweetDeck, then just create a list from there. Once it starts getting followers then it will be automatically included in the directory. Simple.
Location based directories
An easy way to find people geographically close to you is to use the advanced page on Twitter’s search engine which has the option “Near this place”. Results for this are are based on the location field in the twitter BIO, which can be pretty accurate with geo-location from people tweeting from their phones. Some people prefer to use Nearby Tweet for local tweeters www.nearbytweets.com, but be warned - it is pretty distracting when new posts arrive.
Geofollow – The main concept behind this directory is that instead of people being organised by category you are organised by location, but you can still use 3 tags to differentiate yourself from the masses.
Even more directories !
Mashable have compared 15 twitter directories here and have assigned them into four categories: applications, people, politics and strictly business. Soon I think we will need a Twitter directory for the Twitter directories. Hmm...now that’s an idea....
Twitter advice
If you would like any advice on using Twitter to build your community feel free to contact me or talk to a member of the Rocktime Sales team.
Author: Sarah Griffiths
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment