Twitter & Local Search
Twitter’s value just went up ever so slighty – I just installed their widget on the right-hand column. After much encouragement by Brian Wallace I have decided to try and make Twitter a regular part of my routine. I have been trying to think about how Twitter could be of use to local businesses and I am not 100% convinced that it’s a big thing for them but here are some initial thoughts:
- Services like Summize can help you find all of the Twitter users in your area, although it seems like you can do this by just searching Twitter for your city. I did this a few weeks ago when I “followed” everybody on Twitter in Pleasanton.
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The protocol of Twitter seems to be “if you follow me I’ll follow you” so you may be able to quickly build up a network of locals.
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You may want to consider branding your Twitter name with whatever kind of service you provide – like “local search engine optimization guy” or something like that. This is an easy way to get across what you do without having to talk about it in every Tweet (a Tweet is a post on Twitter for those of you not in the know).
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Find a way to talk about what you do without it sounding too salesy. And don’t only talk about what you do. For example if you are realtor in Pleasanton you may want to Tweet about current market conditions, new homes on the market, etc. But you also may want to talk about a great new restaurant (which would be a miracle in Pleasanton) or the results of the Livermore Rubber Duck Races. Here’s a good way to break it down your Tweets:
Related to your business: 10%
Local info: 20%
Comments on important issues of the day such as Angelina Jolie’s twins: 20%
Conversations with other Twitsters about what they want to talk about: 50% (at least)
Now a lot of the Twitsters in my area seem to be high schoolers so you may also want to supply info about the location of the next keg party.
And of course how about following me on Twitter? I promise it will be fascinating for you.
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