ByAre you setting up a new Twitter profile? Would you like some help choosing the perfect Twitter name?
One of the key components of your Twitter profile is your name and by that, I mean the handle which has the name after the “@”. You need to pick a good Twitter name that can help promote your brand and make it easy for you to be found on Twitter. You shouldn’t just look for your favourite option and then, if that’s not available, simply choose the one that Twitter suggests.
Along with getting the Twitter header size right and posting the appropriate tweets, a good Twitter name can help you promote your brand, make it easy for you to be found, and will make you appear more genuine.
So if you want to learn how to choose the perfect Twitter name, take all six points below into consideration:-
1. Use a relevant name:
Your Twitter name should be relevant to your name or your company’s name. This way people can find your profile easily, not only because this name will be displayed on your profile, but also on your Twitter URL. Your Twitter URL is usually http://twitter.com/yourtwittername. So the next time someone searches for your company or for you they will easily find your Twitter profile. If your Twitter name is something completely different from your real name it could make it hard for people to find you.
An example of a good Twitter name is HubSpot’s Twitter name. It’s @HubSpot – exactly the same name as their company.
It appears in their URL and is also the username of the account. They also mention their name in the description and their website address “www.hubspot.com” can be found under it. All these factors make the profile easy to find with a simple search.
So keep the name as relevant to your company name as you can if you want to be recognized and found with ease.
2. Don’t use numbers:
Usually when I see a number on a Twitter name, especially at the end, the first thing that pops into my mind is that it could be spam. Having a number doesn’t look good and makes the name seem odd. Maybe you want your handle to have your name, but having a number at the end will make your profile lose its originality and be harder to find. Usually you pick a name with a random number after it when Twitter suggests it. However, this means that when people look that name up on Twitter they will first go through the person with the name only and then at least several others with that name and a number before finding you. How hard and time consuming would that be?
There are only two reasons why you should use a number in your Twitter name; either because you want it to match your email ID or you want to do something creative like Matt Brian, the editor of The Next Web. His Twitter name is @m4tt. Even though four is a number it fits in really well in the name as it resembles the letter A slightly and it looks a lot like mAtt.
This is a very creative Twitter name.
Other options would be to add underscores between names, or add initials like in Sean Work’s name.
Sean Work of Kissmetrics has the Twitter name @seanvwork. This looks really good as he got his name in the username and he also has the letter V in the middle which probably stands for a middle name.
3. Get in there early:
In his book Trust Agents, Chris Brogan points how advantageous getting in early can be.
He writes about how the book’s co-author got the Twitter name @julien because he got in early. This gives him an edge over the other Juilens on Twitter. Next time someone types in the name “Julien” in the Twitter search bar @julien will be the first name that turns up.
So try and get in there early and try your best to find the best Twitter name you can. If you’re thinking about a new Twitter name for you or your company – stop thinking about it and start acting. Each day 460,000 people sign up for a new account. This means about 319 people sign up for an account every minute. So your favourite name could be gone any second now – visit Twitter and find and reserve your favourite Twitter name as soon as you can.
4. Keep it short:
Your Twitter name should also be short. The shorter it is the easier it would be for someone to mention you in their Tweets because of the word limit. The word limit on Twitter restricts you to keep your Tweets to a length of 140 characters. If someone Tweets something from your website and if the Tweet is too long to be shared, they will start cutting it down. They will get rid of hashtags, the message and eventually your name to help it fit in. Also remember that people might try to keep it as short as 120 characters to make it more retweetable. So try and choose a Twitter name that’s as short as possible.
A great short Twitter name is that of Read Write Web. Their Twitter user name is @RWW. They have condensed their long name into a three letter word here which makes it easy to mention them even if the Tweet you’re sharing is quite long.
Another good example is the Twitter name of Social Media Examiner. It’s @smexaminer. This name is shorter than using the full name and it’s easier to remember. So the next time I share something from their website, it will be easy for me to include it in the Tweet.
5. Be unique:
Being unique is another way to get your account to standout. The more unique your Twitter name is the easier it will be to find it. Usually the best thing to do would be to use your company if you’ve already got a unique name.
As long you have a company name that’s already original choosing a unique Twitter name should be easy. All you need to do is to use your company name as your Twitter name. Just like Bufferapp’s name.
Their Twitter name is @Bufferapp and it’s unique as they have just chosen their company name. This makes it easy to find them and it also promotes their company and their brand.
6. Easy to remember:
You also want your Twitter name to be easy to remember. The next time someone Tweets something from your website, you need to encourage them to mention you as this will help you get more followers and will also help you build your Twitter presence. So if your name is easy to remember they can just add it to their Tweets. If it’s hard to remember they will need to go through your website or through search engines to find your name every time. Do you think someone would want to do this regularly? If you follow the above points and keep it short and relevant your Twitter name should be quite easy to remember.
A great example is that of Wall Street Journal. They have the Twitter name @WSJ. It’s only three letters and their logo also has these letters. It’s also unique. All these factors make it easy to remember. As these letters are in their logo which can be found both on their website and their Twitter profile, it promotes their brand. The next time someone Tweets something from their website or Tweets something about them it should be extremely easy to remember those three letters and mention them in the Tweet. Therefore they will get more mentions and followers in the process.
So keep all the above tips in mind while choosing your Twitter name and try and get it as soon as possible before all the best names are taken.
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Are there any other points one needs to consider while choosing a Twitter name? Have I missed out any important points? I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
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Mitt Ray is the Founder of Social Marketing Writing and the Director of Imittcopy. He is also the author of the book White Paper Marketing. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.
