Twitter Optimization Part 4: 10 Tools You Need for Business
Last time I promised a post about the 10 Twitter tools you need for using Twitter for business and in a professional manner.
I used Twitter just for fun, testing and finding out what it is about for a while and decided to professionalize it myself. You can’t even follow tweets about you right unless you use some special tools. You will miss opportunities due to overlooking important tweets in a mess of info overload.
In the Twitter optimization series overview post I wrote about 5 tools you’ll need, this time I’ll add another 5:
1. A Twitter client for the device you mostly use to access Twitter
2. A tool that helps you track the mentions of your name, brand or most important keywords
3. A way to gain quick overview on what’s going on, on Twitter
4. Some WordPress blog integration to connect your online presence to the Twitter community
5. A favorite short URL service with analytics, proper redirects etc.
6. A groupware tool for business accounts for Twitter, those that represent a whole company or brand
7. A tool to find and sort out bad apples among your followers, those who waste your time and are too selfish
8. A way to measure your Twitter activity, some kind metrics that go beyond measuring the number of followers
9. A way to find people on Twitter you might be interested in or do want to do business with
10. Tools to enhance Twitter beyond the simple 140 characters and simple social networking,.
You will notice that I mention several tools for each issue you’ll face on Twitter. Also some tools work for more than one of those.
1. Try these Adobe AIR powered desktop apps: TweetDeck, Twhirl, Destroy Twitter, a Firefox extension like Twitterfox, Twitbin or this Firefox Twitter enhancement: Power Twitter. The AA apps and TwitterFox all allow one click retweets which is very important. Power Twitter lets you retweet the URL only. Power Twitter has some killer features I do not want to miss though. Search a user’s tweets. Decipher short URL links. On hover above avatar display of last few tweets by a person. More Twitter clients in our last list and here.
2. Use Twilert and TweetBeep to get notified whenever you’re the talk of Twitter town.
3. These 5 tools give you an immediate overview on what’s hot on Twitter. Also consider these trend tracking tools.
4. I’d recommend TweetSuite and TwitterCounter. You may also add some gracious Twitter buttons, try the less flashy ones though.
5. Cli.gs, Zi.ma are popular among SEO specialists. bit.ly is one of the most popular other than TinyURL short URL services. I also like tr.im and poprl.com – All of them have stats. Cli.gs even has an API. bit.ly also tracks retweets and poprl.com sports a Digg-like interface for the most popular links.
6. BrightKit allows to use a Twitter account by a team, ideal for businesses. It’s Twitter groupware or more aptly described a Twitter CMS.
7. While TweetStats shows you, among others, who you real friends are, those that you converse mostly with Power Twitter mentioned above lets you search a particular user’s tweets. This way you can find out whether s/he ever addressed you, just search for your name.
8. Yoast is offering a unique hack to analyze your Twitter traffic. All the short URL services mentioned above give you a basic overview on where your visitors came from. There is also the issue of Twitter influence, you can measure that without relying solely on the simplistic and often misleading “number of followers”. Hubspot has created Twitter Grader for that. I have an amazing 98.8 out of 100 there. The above mentioned TweetStats is useful here too.
9. While Twellow will allow you to find people who present themselves as members of an industry a service Who Should i Follow really matches the people you’re most likely should follow based on your interests. It works astonishingly well, I get only top notch SEO experts suggested. Twellow in contrast offers some SEO experts and other tweeple I have never heard of. Also check out lists compiled by bloggers from each industry, like this one for SEO.
10. The simplicity of Twitter is it’s greatest advantage but at the same time also it’s biggest drawback. You can enhance Twitter to share pics, use audio, video and create groups too.
So as you see this post contains far more than 10 Twitter tools for business but you don’t have to use all of them. You should check them out and pick your favorites. I tested most of these tools myself so it’s not just a simple link list of all those I could find, it’s based on my experiences.
February 2nd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Thx for the link! You’ve got a couple of broken images, check out the screenshot: http://snapplr.com/zme8
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Hi,
Thanks for mentioning Cligs!
Just to elaborate, Cligs also tracks social media mentions (Twitter, Friendfeed), blog links, blog comments for both the short URL and the destination. It really gives you a full view of the performance of the short URL in social media.
Also, a lot of these services offer APIs with various features. It’s by no means unique to Cligs.
Thanks again :)
Pierre
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:19 am
Hey Joost, you’re welcome. Thanks for the feedback.
Pierre: Yeah, you’re right, just noticed today that the others offer APIs too. That’s why you have to brag and not hide your features. Will change that after I find out who else offers them. Also thanks for the additional info, I couldn’t fit everything in here in the short post.
February 5th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Very useful info, Tad. I use both TweetDeck and Power Twitter, and find them both to be invaluable for may of the reasons you mentioned above. I also use a variety of the other tools you mentioned, but must admit that some you note I hadn’t heard of (like BrightKit) – I must now check that out.
Good stuff! Thanks!
Oh, and before I forget, just a couple of suggested plugins for your blog: Social Profiles and Comment Luv. There are others I’d recommend, too…but I don’t want to litter my comment with links. ;) You can check out my “…I’m Addicted to WordPress Plugins” post if you’re interested in any others.
February 5th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I’m not a big techie but love twitter. Thanks for more tips and ideas. Your SEO ideas are also spot on. There may be a new profession in the offing: Twitter coach. :-) Wonder when universities will offer sweet tweet degrees.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Don’t know which universities will be first on the band wagon, but I wouldn’t mind being on a course where essays and projects couldn’t be more than 140 characters
February 6th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Hey Alysson: Thanks for the feedback! Indeed I knew Social Profiles to quickly forget about them due to info overflow. Comment Luv is too much bribing people to comment if you ask me though.
Susan: Yeah, exactly, the simpler a tool, the more non-techie, the better, the bigger potential and reach it has. I call that mass appeal.
Richard: Maybe you should approach Oxford university and propose a Twitter course?
February 9th, 2009 at 7:25 am
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February 9th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
It really is important these days to apply all those points. Just launching a Twitter account really doesn’t cut it anymore. It requires as much as possible in order to stay visible otherwise you just get lost in the crowd.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:44 am
thanks for sharing, social networking does help with seo but i think webmasters really need to invest time into making a website that users want to visit and stay there for longer.
February 13th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
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February 16th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
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February 17th, 2009 at 5:38 am
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future. Feel free to check out my blog on the 36 Best WordPress plugins for 2009.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
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Twitter Optimization Part 4: 10 Tools You Need for Business | SEOptimise