Using Twitter for Business - Set Your Search Engine Ranking aTwitter | Charlie Wollborg

Curve Detroit - an integrated advertising, marketing, packaging and design firm in oakland county, michigan.


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Twitter for Business

from the desk of the Chief Troublemaker

Twitter is the next big thing -- but most companies don't know what it is or how to take advantage of it.

First things first. What the heck is Twitter?
The geek answer: Twitter is a social networking and microblogging platform that enables users to send and receive text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length via the web, sms or third party application.

The human answer: Twitter is like an online cocktail party - a mishmash of conversations about work, life and the news of the day with folks you know and need to meet. Sure, there's plenty of navel gazing on Twitter (is it any different than your office water cooler?). But it's also a powerful tool for sharing knowledge, spreading ideas and building businesses. This quick video from Common Craft describes its basic function quite well in plain English:

Yippie. Why should I care?
Because Twitter users are early adopters and influencers. They blog. They recommend new sites. They download new applications. And they love to try new products. If you're a fan of The Tipping Point you understand the benefit of having the mavens enamored with your brand. Twitter users are cool hunters, opinion leaders. They hunger for what's now, what's new and what's next. If your business relies on reaching new customers to meet its sales goals, you need to take a second look at Twitter.

The other big reason?
Twitter posts (called tweets) are showing up in the top of the stack on Google. Here's why: Google loves fresh content. There isn't much fresher than what's happening right now. News breaks on twitter before it makes CNN. Important blog posts, photos and videos first see the light of day on twitter. Your best customers are having conversations right now on twitter. If garnering higher search engine rankings is good for your business, get tweeting.

You can follow my Tweets at http://twitter.com/CharlieCurve or learn how to make twitter work overtime for your business at a Curve Connect Social Media Seminar.

Need some help making Twitter work for your brand and your search engine optimization strategy? I just happen to read about a cool little advertising, marketing and design firm in Pontiac on Twitter the other day...

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