Since Twitter limits messages to characters, users have quickly come to depend on "URL shorteners. Some shortening tools even allow you track the performance i. But all shorteners aren't alike; as I'll show you, some offer more advanced features.
Even if you don't use URL shorteners yet, you've no doubt seen them on Twitter. For instance, last week, the link to my explanation of the new Google Wave app appeared like this on CIO. Using bit. Ideally, the shorter URL made it easier for the people who follow me on Twitter to share the link with their followers.
The shorter URL also gives people more character space to make a comment about the link in their tweets, explaining what they liked or disliked it happens! Like many URL shorteners, bit. But URL shorteners have some drawbacks, too. For one, they are becoming weapons for spam attacks , because shortened URLs appear very generic. Spammers can easily hide harmful links behind these addresses. They entice people to click on malware links by purporting that the link will lead to something useful and legitimate.
This is more of a problem in e-mail, but it could occur on Twitter as you begin to follow random people you've never met. Shortened URLs can be bad for the web ecosystem as well. Because Twitter has become a place we rely on to share the items we read, and ideally be able to search and find them again later, relying on these services could have its costs in the future.
What if, for instance, a shortened URL service suffered an outage? If you wanted to access a link, and didn't have the original long URL, you might be in trouble. What if, more significantly, the service went out of business? But even given those dangers, URL shortening services will remain prevalent, so long as Twitter doesn't provide such a service itself or adjust the character limit, both of which scenarios seem unlikely.
So here are some tips for what features you can utilize on these tools. Conventional social media wisdom tells us that a captivating image is required to get attention. Same goes for hashtags. People need to be searching it up for them to work, and personally, I don't follow too many hashtags unless it's for a Twitter chat.
You know? Hot takes, one-liners, morale boosts, and pithy statements are what the Twitter community excels at. So, how to explain the ROI of hot takes in your next social media report? Social media can be weird and wonderful and awful. For the most part, social marketers have the whims of the algorithms and the people to thank for that. But when you take a step away from the data, it just makes sense that tweets without a sales agenda do better than those with one.
So consider adding a little personality and community-building to your Twitter strategy. Manage your Twitter presence alongside your other social channels and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, engage your audience, and measure performance. Try it free today. Get Started.
All your social media analytics in one place. We could have SWORN you were someone who wanted to blow your competition out of the water on social media. Our bad. Skip to content Our social team had a hunch that linkless Tweets were favored by the Twitter algorithm. Get the free guide right now! Try it for Free. In , Twitter live-streamed more than events to a global audience. As customers continue to flock to video content, a Player Card is your chance to take advantage of this exciting format.
Player Cards offer plenty of exciting ways to interact with your customers. However, setting up a Player Card can be a little complex, so be sure your media matches the specifications. Video : H. Check out some highlights from our debate on Tuesday about how companies should think about their employees' use of social media.
Featuring holly , JemimaG and Ankaman How to add this Twitter Card to your site With multiple types of media supported, your best option to add a Player Card to your site is to follow the instructions on the Twitter Developer page. Unlike LinkedIn and Facebook, where you can edit what the post pulls from your website before publishing, Twitter cards are controlled by html placed on the backend of your website.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways that to access and test Twitter Cards for your campaigns. On a self-hosted WordPress site, the easiest option is to install a plugin that allows you to add code to your site more easily. Here, you can set up all the individual aspects of your card and get your embed code to add to your site. Since the appearance of your Twitter Cards is crucial to your brand reputation, we recommend using Sprout Social to see your Twitter card content before you publish it.
You can click Preview in the Compose window when posting a URL with markup for a Twitter Card, an ensure your post looks just as you expect. Once your tags are live, use the Twitter Card Validator to make sure everything is working as it should be. All you need to do is copy the URL of your page into the validator application. The insights available include:.
Sprout Social can also help you take your analytics to the next level on Twitter. For companies trying to drive attention and conversions to their website, Twitter Cards are still one of the best ways to stand out on your social feed. One way to do this is to pin your latest card to the top of your timeline. For instance, look at this short but persuasive tweet from Etsy, featuring an image that speaks for itself:. Use stunning images Speaking of impressive images, Twitter is great at adjusting your images to fit your post.
However, if you let Twitter do all the formatting for you, then you risk your pictures appearing pixelated or stretched. Treat your Twitter cards more like your Instagram feed and make sure that your pictures are compelling enough to drive people to your site.
Twitter is famous for making the hashtag a crucial component of social media. What can five years and 1, data points tell you about the future of social media?
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