Twitter has emerged as a monster presence in the social networking sphere.  Who would have thought that Twitter’s “microblogging” would have become such a major internet force in such a short amount of time?  Originally seen as an amusing little distraction, Twitter usage has become almost mandatory, with every site, blog, and web user trying to gain followers and constantly updating at practically at the speed of light.  You can scarcely visit any site which does not exhort you to “Follow us on Twitter!”, and some Twitter users have friends list larger than the phone book of a major city.  Originally, Twitter did not count on search engines such as Google, but recently Google began indexing tweets, so Twitter pages and individual tweets began appearing on the search results pages.  So how can one use such an incredibly popular medium for better SEO value?

Choosing a good username is first on the journey for Twitter optimization.  Your username should be easy to remember and search for, and it also becomes part of your customized Twitter URL.  Twitter is all about short and sharp, though, so part of the challenge is going to be choosing something which represents your company and stands apart from the rest while keeping things succinct.

Try to pack in keywords into each tweet without becoming ridiculous.  No one wants to read nothing but a string of keywords, but each tweet can only be 140 characters, so don’t waste any on irrelevant rambling.

Of course, redirect followers back to your content.  Since you have such a limited space in which to write, use URL shorteners such as TinyURL or Bit.ly.  The latter is especially good for tweets because it tracks click-throughs.  Of course, when providing links to content, be sure they are to something people might actually want to read.  Rich content will result in more “retweets” and people passing along the word.

By using Twitter wisely and well, you can use this simple little medium for major SEO.