by Lou Belcher

Created on: June 08, 2010   Last Updated: November 22, 2010

There are many ways to get started on Twitter. You can sign up and just start tweeting. That’s one way, but probably not the most efficient way. You see, no one will see your tweets if you don’t have any followers. So, it’s best to get your Twitter page set up and to go about getting started systematically. Here’s one way to do that:

Sign onto Twitter. Go to Twitter.com and click on Sign up and follow the directions. During the sign in process there are frequent cues to let Twitter into your email to find people for you to follow or to choose from a list of famous people. My advice is to click on the skip button. Why? Because it’s best to set up your twitter page with your profile and a link to your blog or website before you start sending people to it. After you sign in, look around.  Learn the pages. There are basically two that you’ll use most often. One is Home. This is where you will see all the tweets of those you are following and you will see your tweets as well.  The second page is Profile. This is the page where just your tweets will go. This is the page that people will land on your Twitter page will see. Based on this page, people will decide whether to follow you or not. Click on the word Settings in the menu across the top of any page. There are several tabs on the Settings page. The first page you land on is the Account page. Fill in the information on this page. Then go to the Profile tab and fill in this information. First upload a picture that will represent you. This is called an avatar. On this profile form be sure to fill in a website or blog if you have one. Use the complete URL in this spot. This will show up in the upper right=hand corner of your Profile page and people will be able to click to your website or blog there.  Next fill in a bio that will tell people a little of who you are and why you are on Twitter. You have a limited number of words so it is okay to use a list. Now that you have your page set up, write and send out three or four tweets. The first tweet should be something like, “I’m new to Twitter and am anxious to get started.”  After you tweet several times start looking for followers. Do this by clicking on the Find People button in the menu at the top of the page. A word of caution is to stay away from spammers. These are people who promise to get you 400 followers in an hour. You don’t want just anyone following you. For your time on Twitter to be meaningful, choose your friends carefully.

To find success on Twitter, be sure to write tweets that are entertaining, meaningful or informative.  And, don’t just tweet about yourself. Interact with others to get the most out of your time on Twitter.

Learn more about this author, Lou Belcher.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.