How do you find people to follow on Twitter?

For me, I’ve found that one of the best ways is to search Twitter using keywords I’m interested in — words and phrases such as “PR measurement,” “social media measurement,” “digital PR,” “content marketing,” etc. I’m interested in these terms and want to connect with folks who share that interest. I’ll pick through the search results and look at different profiles and related Tweets and add people I think can add to the conversation. I’ve found it to be pretty effective, connecting with some great people.

This tactic works in reverse. If I’m searching for like-minded Tweeps using these terms, wouldn’t it behoove me to pepper in some of these terms in my own Tweets so people can easily find me as well? Yes and no. It makes no sense to throw certain certain terms in your Tweets in the name of optimization – you may show up in search results, but if it’s not meaty, people won’t care (or add you). However, it makes a lot of sense to think about your keywords if you’re delivering a substantive Tweet or engaged in a real conversation.

For example, a Tweet about measuring PR would be best served to use the phrase “PR measurement” than “PR metrics” or “measuring PR effectiveness” because that’s the term people are using by a wide margin. Likewise, the phrase “digital PR” seems to turn up better results on Twitter search than “online PR“.  More than once I’ve seen Twitter users promote a link to a story on “social media,” when the post is actually about social media monitoring or social media measurement. The point is, be specific.

Gaining followers is about engaging in conversation and having something new and interesting to say. It’s also about optimizing your exposure, including getting re-Tweeted, and increasingly, using the right keywords or phrase. Some of this may seem obvious to those with online marketing experience, but to others, maybe not.

By the way, I think I’ve just found a new keyword phrase to search for: “twitter keywords.”

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