The SEO Value of Twitter

So everyone is on Twitter these days (even Oprah!) happily Tweeting about the odds and ends of their lives, and for better or ill we shouldn’t expect the social networking phenomenon to dissipate anytime soon. And while everyone is entitled to their own individual opinions on whether Twitter offers any social benefits to them personally, it’s become quickly apparent that it could have tremendous implications for the future of the SEO industry.

It’s no secret that iconic websites carry greater weight in search engines because of the heightened credibility of a top PageRank. But what has long eluded many search engine optimization professionals is how to harness the power of these mega websites for the benefit of clients. Well, recent discoveries about Twitter might offer some valuable insight into how the social networking giant can be utilized for basic SEO strategies.

Few will openly admit to entering their own name into Google’s search box for fear of being labeled vain or conceited, however, we’ll reserve all judgments for the sake of this blog post. Assuming you do happen to Google yourself, and also assuming you have been somewhat active on Twitter, you may find that your Twitter profile holds a first page or possibly even a number one ranking.

Well, as prolific as this might seem, it begs the question how exactly does this relate to increasing traffic to a small business website if only friends and family members would ever think to search an individual’s name? In all honesty, it probably doesn’t. Not unless you are willing to expand the boundaries and conduct some innovative thinking. For instance, if you now realize Twitter is such a force in search engines, why not optimize your Twitter profile for keywords and phrases related to your business?

If your startup business sells designer t shirts, why not talk about designer t shirts in your Twitter profile and place your company’s URL right by it? Then when consumers search for “designer t shirts” your Twitter profile might rank in the top search results and many will be curious about just what it is you know about the subject. If they are interested enough to click through to your Twitter profile, it only makes sense that many would go the extra step and click the link to your company website. Thus you can increase visitor traffic to your website via your Twitter profile and maybe even score a few new followers while you are at it.

This is a pivotal discovery from an SEO standpoint because it’s a new means for increasing traffic to clients’ websites, without necessarily helping their sites rank better for targeted keywords and phrases. Even so, the majority of clients are predominately concerned with increasing visitor traffic numbers and not necessarily whether they rank number 13 or 15 for whatever product or service they might offer. Therefore, although it might wound a few egos in the SEO industry, it will bring smiles to the faces of clients seeing the nice influx of traffic.

In many competitive industries and where professional search engine optimizers have done their duty, it is unlikely that a simple change to your Twitter profile will forge you to the top of the SERPs. Another useful change that can help is to update your Twitter “Name”, provided you can do so in 20 characters or less. As an example, a Twitter account with the Name “Hybrid Cars SUVs” ranks #1 on Google for the searches “ hybrid cars on twitter “ and “ hybrid suvs on twitter”, no quote marks needed.

And, as Seth Godin and Shoemoney recently discussed and blogged you can also build your brand around a less popular phrase that you own, not only on Twitter but in all your marketing efforts. For example, a search for HybridGuy on Google currently reveals the same Twitter account!