The most recent evolution?
The rollout of the new Twitter profile.
Only initially available to a select few, Twitter has now offered the update to all users.
With the click of a button, your Twitter profile is shifted from the layout you’ve come to know, to an all-too familiar looking adaptation of Facebook’s current look and feel.
Not only does it bring a fresh new appearance, but many exciting opportunities.
With the new Twitter profile, you have the chance to brand your business, and give your content a longer shelf life.
So, how can you use it to market your business and best position your personal brand?
Below are three quick tips to optimize your new Twitter profile!
3 Tips to Quickly Optimize New Twitter Profile
1. Optimize Your Bio
Your bio is searchable. Ensure that anyone looking for your product or service can find you.
When was the last time you read through yours? Take a moment to clean it up and optimize your bio for humans as well as the search engines.
Think about what makes you unique and what problems you solve. Now determine how to best translate those details into a bite-sized, easy to consumer 160 character bio.
Whether it’s your industry, niche, passion, or hobby, keep your bio focused, but don’t be afraid to have a little fun. No one wants to read a dry, boring and lifeless Twitter bio.
Let it reflect who you are both professionally and personally.
Twitter Bio Tips:
- You have 160 characters to share who you are and what you do in a way that immediately compels anyone landing on your profile to follow you.
- People want a human connection. They want to know you’re approachable and real, not a bot. Share what interests you and what topics they can expect you to tweet about.
- Let potential followers gain a better understanding of you who are. Share skills, success stories, passions and peculiarities that make you unique.
- Since the words in your bio are searchable, stick with one or two keywords. Keep them specific to your product, service or location so you’re easy to find and identify.
Having trouble creating your Twitter bio?
Not feeling overly creative? Try this fun Twitter Bio Generator for a good laugh!
2. Brand Your Twitter Cover Image
Your Twitter cover image is your business or brands personal billboard. It offers an immediate visual connection to your brand both offline and online.
Let this space tell your story!
The new Twitter profile cover image dimensions are 1500 x 500. Use a tool like Canva to create a stunning graphic in a matter of minutes.
While they don’t currently have one pre-created, you can make a custom template.
Steps to Create a Custom Twitter Profile Cover Image Template:
- Log into your Canva account
- Click “use custom dimensions” to the right of “Start a New Design”
- Add your custom dimensions of 1500 x 500
- Click “design”
- Drag and drop one of the pre-designed templates into your graphic to begin adding your own images.
Peg Fitzpatrick, Head of Social Strategy for Canva offers this important tip:
“Be aware of how you use this opportunity. If you’re a professional, use the space in a professional manner. Don’t simply add a huge picture of your face. Create a professional image that defines who you are.”
3. Share Fresh Content and Pin it to the Top
Similar to Facebook’s pinned posts, Twitter now lets you choose a tweet to pin to the top of your profile.
What does this mean to you as a business owner or entrepreneur?
The tweet of your choice can be pinned, making it the first tweet anyone will see when landing on your profile.
The perfect tweet recipe is now:
- Write great content
- Tweet it with a great call-to-action
- Pin that great content to the top
Whether it’s your latest blog post or product, pinned tweets can up your marketing game!
How to Pin a Tweet:
- Go to your profile page.
- Find the Tweet you’d like to pin and click the ellipsis icon (•••).
- Select Pin to your profile page.
- Click Pin.
How to Unpin a Tweet:
- Go to your profile page.
- On the Tweet that you have pinned, click the ellipsis icon (•••).
- Click Unpin from profile page.
- Click Unpin.
Twitter can be an phenomenal addition to your social media marketing strategy. Use the new Twitter profile to raise awareness about your business and create a seamless extension of your personal brand.
On Twitter? Let’s connect!
Saswata Nandi says
July 18, 2014 at 11:35 pmHi Rebekah,
This is very useful info,Thanks for sharing with us.I want to share this Article.
Thanks Again 🙂
Bill Gassett says
May 11, 2014 at 2:23 pmI have not done this yet and in fact I am still trying to figure out if I even like the new look better or not. I am guessing I will eventually get around to doing it. I do like the fact you can imbed a top post of the top of your profile.
Willena Flewelling says
May 5, 2014 at 8:30 amSo many changes!! I’ve taken the opportunity to look at some of your commenters’ new profiles, and I have to agree, they have eye appeal! Thank you for the step-by-step instructions on how to do it.
Chery Schmidt says
May 4, 2014 at 7:43 pmHello Rebekah! What an informative post. I am working on getting everything set up so this was a timely post for me to find tonight. Sweet I am now going to go and finish things up now that I read your tips here. Thanks for sharing.. Chery :))
Sarupa Shah says
May 4, 2014 at 2:22 pmRebekah – I updated my profile, Canva now have a twitter profile custom shape to choose from and of course I had to rejig it to make it work – not sure why the measurements are skewy… but I am pleased with the end result and thought I would mention Canva took a step forward too 🙂
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 6:58 pmThat’s wonderful Sarupa! I’m so glad to hear you’re loving Canva!
Justin Stanford says
May 4, 2014 at 7:09 amThis is a wonderful checklist, I went through and did all of them 🙂
I’m still not sure how I feel about the layout. On the plus side it does give me bigger branding space and I am sure to take advantage of the Pinning feature.
Keep up the great work!
– Justin
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 6:58 pmWoo hoo Justin – that’s great! Glad it made it easy for you!
TheFoodCurator says
May 4, 2014 at 4:13 amRebekah, Love this post! Halfway through reading it I activated my new twitter profile and it looks fab! Thank you! 🙂
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 6:59 pmThat’s fantastic! I really love the new layout. So glad you’re making the most of it!
Sarupa Shah says
May 4, 2014 at 3:45 amSuper BIG THANKS…the other week I tried to play with the new profile but the image size wasn’t working and TBH I couldn’t find what size it had to be…until I got here…and all the other tips are great! Thanks 🙂
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 6:59 pmI’m thrilled that you stuck with it and got it all figured out Sarupa!
Yorinda Wanner says
May 3, 2014 at 2:52 pmHi Rebekah,
this is answering a lot of question I had.
I have seen twitter profiles look different and wondered how to do what they did.
You have given such a great tutorial!
Will bookmark this to come back to!
Thank you for sharing these great tips!
Love and Light
Yorinda
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 7:00 pmIt is nice that they didn’t just flip the switch on everyone Yorinda. It’s always helpful to ease into change, especially when it’s a big one!
Leanne Chesser says
May 1, 2014 at 9:37 amI’m really enjoying the new Twitter look. And, yes, my first thought was that it was just like Facebook :). I like the fact that we can now pin posts to the top and highlight things in that way.
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 7:01 pmI really love it too Leanne and the pin a post option is fantastic! There are so many different ways to use it.
Gina Valley ( says
April 29, 2014 at 12:29 amGreat tips, as always, Rebekah.
I really need to get a quality, applicable image for my twitter header. Good reminder. Thanks!
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 7:02 pmIt’s pretty simple to do with Canva Gina. Let me know if you run into any trouble.
David Merrill 101 says
April 27, 2014 at 6:40 pmTwitter is certainly a powerful social media platform to connect your content to, Rebekah.
You give us some great ideas here, for branding and content sharing. Thanks for the tips about the new profile features.
I’m also glad you remind us to deliver “great calls to action”. When used sparingly but clearly, this is the essence of using Twitter.
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 7:04 pmGreat point about the calls to action David. Sparingly, but effectively really is the key!
Leslie Denning says
April 26, 2014 at 5:26 pmHi Rebekah. Thanks for a terrific post. I haven’t made the switch yet, but this will be a great help when I do. It looks like you’ve covered everything!
All the best,
Leslie
Rebekah Radice says
April 27, 2014 at 6:07 pmI really like the new look as well as the options for business professionals Leslie. Have fun with it once you make the switch!
Jan Orsula says
April 26, 2014 at 1:47 pmHello Rebekah, thank you for this post.. I just hit 44K followers, but still using the old twitter theme.. Simply because I’m really lazy when I have to do stuff like this 🙂
You’ve right that is definitely time to rewrite ‘old’ bio and mainly.. create cool cover image.. I will try to do this tomorrow.. Love the new option pin a tweet..
So thanks for your tips and inspiration..
Rebekah Radice says
April 27, 2014 at 6:08 pmI think a lot of people are taking their time to make the switch Jan. It’s always a challenge when something like this takes place. There’s a lot to update, but it’s always a fun opportunity to clean some things up as you said. 🙂
Mimi says
April 26, 2014 at 12:55 pmRebekah, You always have such doable tips. I just signed up for Canva which will be a great help for a novice like me. Your blog and all that you do is always so fun. I’ve got a lot to learn from you.
Rebekah Radice says
May 4, 2014 at 7:03 pmThank you so much for that Mimi – I really appreciate your kind words!
Mary Green says
April 26, 2014 at 8:36 amGreat post Rebekah, I was wondering about using Canva because that seems to be the easiest tool for graphics like these, thank you for the tutorial on that.
Rebekah Radice says
April 27, 2014 at 6:09 pmYou will really like it Mary! It’s easy to use and their templates are beautiful!
Marquita Herald says
April 26, 2014 at 6:09 amLove the twitter bio generator 🙂 AND I love the new Twitter look. Took me awhile to come up with the right banner but I really like it and your tips are right on as usual Rebekah. Thanks for the inspiration!
Julieanne vanZyl says
April 25, 2014 at 10:10 pmOops, I have to write my comment again, because I had too many words in my name, annoying error I come across every now and again, you would think everyone knows that some people have 2 or even 3 words in their surname LOL.
Thanks for inspiring me to update my Twitter profile Rebekah!
Rebekah Radice says
April 27, 2014 at 6:10 pmI’ll have to look into the Julieanne, I hadn’t had anyone else run into that and never want to make commenting difficult. Enjoy the new Twitter changes!
Cindy Eidahl says
April 25, 2014 at 9:26 pmGreat Tips. I followed your tips.. Thank you for sharing
Julie Jamison says
April 25, 2014 at 6:29 pmAwesome post! Just implemented your tips! Thanks a bunch!
Rebekah Radice says
April 27, 2014 at 6:10 pmThat’s great Julie – have fun with it!
Nirmala says
April 25, 2014 at 9:54 amThanks for your tips to optimize the new twitter profile Rebekha 🙂
I have a twitter post where I listed some new twitter features. I wanna include these new profile details to it and hence I didn’t switched to new Twitter as I need to take screen shots.
I read all your tips and will implement them when I switch over to new twitter profile 🙂
Rebekah Radice says
April 25, 2014 at 2:35 pmHi Nirmala! It does take a little bit to get branding in place to make the switch. It’s nice that Twitter gave us the option to “turn it on” rather than just flipping the switch for us!
Harleena Singh says
April 25, 2014 at 6:04 amHi Rebekah,
Informative post indeed 🙂
Yes, Twitter has become more visual now and I’m just loving the changes that it’s come up with, especially the pinning feature. Makes it more like Pinterest, though with a twist. Lots for me to catch up with this weekend!
Thanks for sharing all of this information with us – I’m bookmarking this page to get back on the weekend and take care of my profile. Have a nice weekend 🙂
Rebekah Radice says
April 25, 2014 at 3:43 pmHi Harleena – it’s great to see you!
I agree on the changes. They’re exciting to see and definitely attractive to anyone using Twitter to market their business.
There’s always so much to keep up with!
Pankaj says
April 25, 2014 at 5:08 amTwitter really did a great work by introducing new facebook like features. 😉 I guess pin tweet option will let you promote your desired and best content all the time. I also feel this new layout is the part of adding some space for twitter ads. 😉 Let’s wait and watch.
Rebekah Radice says
April 25, 2014 at 3:44 pmIt is interesting to see the shift towards a “facebook-like” layout. I’m eager to see how it plays out.