Describing yourself in 160 characters or less isn’t easy. It’s not a lot of characters. But a strong Twitter bio should draw your potential followers in by letting them know who you are, what you do and where they can find out more. Here are my dos and don’ts for creating a strong bio on Twitter:
1. Don’t leave your bio blank!
Don’t presume you’re interesting enough for people to click on your profile and check out your tweets without a bio. Entice them with a clear bio. And please don’t be an egg. Include a profile picture.
2. Do include a call to action for them to find more info.
Where can they get more information about you, your company or your product? Your website address is ideal for this.
3. Don’t just list a load of meaningless hashtags.
Proper use of hashtags can be great for your bio, but use them wisely. Whilst it may help with searches, a list of words with no context is not enticing to humans.
4. Do select four or so relevant hashtags.
Try to say what you do in short sentences and use hashtags for your key words. If you operate in your local area, make sure one of these is your location. @CottFarm is a good example of this.
5. Don’t repeat your name or business name in your bio.
You’ve only got 160 characters. Don’t waste them. If your name is already in your profile and twitter name, you don’t need to say it again.
6. Do make it personal
If it’s your business profile, add a couple of your personal interests. What do you enjoy doing? What makes you interesting? My favourite example of this is @Eliza_Do_Lots . This writer’s bio includes the line “Will write for gin”.
7. Don’t include irrelevant company info
For example ‘a limited liability company’ is a waste of precious characters and is not going to make the difference between whether people follow you or not.
8. Do include relevant company info
For example, if you have a personal and a business account, link each account to the other.
9. Don’t just state your job title and company
Don’t assume your job title and/or company name is enough info to draw people in.
10. Do expand on your specialisms
For example, if you’re a photographer, tell people what you specialise in photographing. If you’re a ‘designer’, what do you design?
