Twitter Traffic and 5 Bad Habits that Won’t Help You Get it

July 30, 2012 by Daniel Sharkov|

With over 140 million users and growing by the day, there is no chance not to come across spammers on Twitter.

Spammers are there, nothing you can do about it really. The problem is that many newbies seem to be following some rather spammy techniques and they don’t even notice it.

Today I am taking a closer look at five suspicious Twitter tactics that instead of getting you followers, are scaring people away. Avoiding them can easily prove your ticket to more Twitter traffic:

Retweet the Same Blogs Over and Over

Probably everyone has a blog that he enjoys reading on daily basis. If you have one, share it, but don’t make it your only source of content.

Twitter traffic relies on diversity. It is kind of boring seeing similar articles from the same blog, especially if it is a popular one like Problogger or Copyblogger.

If your stream does not include more than a couple of different blogs, make it your goal to expand that base. I have currently subscribed to over 60 blogs and as of now the feedback is more than positive. What I do is simple. I subscribe by email, check for new posts and share the best.

More on the topic: “ 7 Effective Ways to Keep Your Twitter Stream Alive and Get People Clicking“

Make Your Messages Unreadable

Twitter’s limitations on character count can prove problematic. Some of the more creative tweeps out there are coming up with all kinds of different ways to say a lot in just 140 characters. Some hashtags here, a couple of strange abbreviations there and some fancy symbols… but does that actually work?

The chances are that a combination of the above won’t help people understand you.
Hashtags can be useful for search within Twitter or for making something clear. They are also a great way to increase engagement. All of this however is as long as you don’t abuse them.

If you really have something important to say that doesn’t fit in 140 characters, just use TweetDeck to create a longer message or tweet twice.

Shoutout to Every Single New Follower You Get

It’s nice to see someone recommending you on Twitter and saying something positive.

When recommending people however, I’d strongly advice you to think about your followers first. Think how you’ll react if you see a stream full of “shoutout to @someone for following” and not much other quality information.

If you want Twitter traffic you must not get carried away. Shoutouts are for when you actually have a good reason to present someone. If you enjoyed someone’s content, feel free to mention that person. The value will be lost if you are doing it just because someone follows you.

Spam, Spam and Keep Spamming the Same Link

Posting the same tweet on Twitter is not always a bad idea.

Buffer ( see “ 5 Top Twitter Tools“ ), a great tweet scheduling service, offers an interesting referral program. You get one extra scheduling spot for every referral you get.

What I did sometime ago to get more referrals was to tweet the same message, encouraging folks to join the service, once every four-five days. That isn’t a problem, since tweets don’t last too long.

However automatically tweeting the same message non-stop is not how you do it. No need for examples. Everyone has come across someone doing it.

In short – if you want additional Twitter traffic, don’t hesitate to send the same link 2-3 times throughout the week. Aggressive tweeting every hour on the other hand will rather have the opposite effect.

Ask for a Followback

There are a ton of people who will follow everyone who follows them. That is probably a good way for some rather suspicious tweeps to increase their followers and try to make an additional sale or two. Those folks aren’t much of a problem though.

The more annoying breed are the ones who constantly mention you in their tweets and ask you to follow them back. Being followed without having to follow the person in the first place is what makes Twitter what it is.

So if you follow someone and you don’t get followed back don’t take it personally. There is no need to ask people to follow you.
When they don’t, they aren’t interested. When they aren’t interested, you don’t need them.

Now It’s Your Turn!

The above might seem like an easy way to success. The reality is different though. Doing them is a surefire way not to build trust, not to get people to listen to you and thus not to get Twitter traffic.

What are your thoughts on the topic? What other bad Twitter habits have you come across?
Don’t hesitate to share your two cents in the comments section!

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