When you get a new follower on Twitter or perhaps are looking for new users to follow, what’s one of the first things you do when you go to a profile?
You read their Twitter bio.
Sure, it only takes a few seconds to skim through the allotted 160 characters, but when you are done you’ll have a pretty good idea of what that person is about.
Or at least you should.
But unfortunately, one of the most overlooked parts when setting up a Twitter account is the Twitter bio section. For most, they haphazardly throw something together and call it a day. In fact, I doubt it’s sitting really high on the list of your social media strategy.
But, did you know that your Twitter bio is important for several reasons?
For example, if you are using Twitter for influencer outreach, chances are people are going to take a peek at your Twitter profile.
And if you don’t seriously take consideration in what goes into your bio, you won’t be getting the most out of it.
In today’s post, I’m going to show you:
- Why your Twitter bio is important
- What elements make up the best Twitter bios
- Examples of good Twitter bios
- What you shouldn’t have in your bio for Twitter
- How to write the best Twitter bios
Ready to rock your Twitter bio? Let’s go!
[yellowbox]Grab your free Twitter bio checklist. Click here to download it. [/yellowbox]
Why Your Twitter Bio is Important
As I mentioned, your Twitter bio is one of the first things a user will notice when looking at your profile. Therefore, you need to get it right.
But how do you “get it right”?
And what does that even mean?
For starters, you’ll need to set a goal for what you want to accomplish with your Twitter bio.
Is it to:
- Have a funny Twitter bio?
- Display your key skill sets?
- Tell a little bit about yourself (be personal)?
- Cram a ton of hashtags to get picked up in search?
I don’t think you need just one goal for your bio. And it makes sense to have multiple goals for your Twitter bio.
Up until recently, I have used the same bio for Twitter. It looked like this:
Was it perfect? Far from it.
But it did accomplish several goals for me:
- It said who I was and what I am good at
- My bio added some personal interests about me
- Used several hashtags for my core skills (and an interest)
- Provided an odd thing that I can do that most others can’t (or even care about) – but it was primarily used to make people question it
And it has worked great as you can see from the above screen shot. My clever Twitter bio worked well at striking up conversations (pun intended) as seen from the reference to being an “Ambidextrous Bowler.”
I have been using this awesome Twitter bio for a few years.
But it’s time for a refresh.
So I took a step back to decide what I hope to accomplish with my bio as well as the key points I need to make with it.
What Elements Make up the Best Twitter Bios?
In the previous section, I touched on what I felt were things I needed to have in my bio.
And for the most part, they all still hold true.
However, I want these to be “must-have” elements of my Twitter bio:
- Overall description aligns with the content that I share on Twitter
- Highlights at least 3 core skill sets
- Utilize hashtags/keywords where it makes sense
- Cross promote one of my other Twitter accounts
- A personal interest
- Add a graphical element to my bio (emoji)
So let’s break down each of these and why I feel they are important.
Aligning Twitter Bio Description with the Content You Share
I look at this as setting expectations of what someone can expect most of my tweets to be around topically. With this alignment, new or potential Twitter followers won’t be misled or disappointed in what you share. And if you use social media automation to share content, it’s best to set forth the type of content you will be sharing.
If they don’t have the same or similar interests, then they more than likely won’t connect with your account (which is fine).
Highlighting Areas of Expertise in Your Twitter Bio
This is somewhat similar to to the first point. However, by specifically calling out what you are good at your followers will know what areas they can turn to you for help and insight.
Using Hashtags in Your Twitter Bio
Like the first two points, this further emphasizes your areas and skills of interest. By turning select skills and interests into hashtags, your account can take advantage of potential searches for particular topics.
Cross Promote Other Twitter Accounts In Your Bio
For me, this one is key in that I want to start being more active in promoting Bulkly as I get closer to launch. For you, perhaps you manage additional Twitter accounts or have your own side-hustle project you are working on. Cross promoting it in your Twitter bio is a great way to introduce it to your followers.
Include a Personal Interest In Your Bio For Twitter
We aren’t all about work, are we? With that said, I wanted to be sure to add something that has nothing to do with my work so that followers can get a small glimpse into what interests (or talents) I have outside of work.
Add an Emoji To Your Twitter Bio
Twitter recently announced that emojis could be used in your Twitter bio.
ICYMI: You can now use the full range of emoji to spice up your name and bio on your Twitter profile! 📝 🙌
— Support (@Support) August 22, 2016
While, I haven’t fully jumped on the emoji train; I definitely take notice when I see them being used on Twitter since it is still “new” and not everyone is taking advantage of it. And I’m all about leveraging what is needed to make something get seen.
Looking for emojis? Emojibase has quite a few to choose from.
[yellowbox]Grab your free Twitter bio checklist. Click here to download it. [/yellowbox]
Examples of Good Twitter Bios
Now before I run off and create my new Twitter bio, let’s see if we can dig ups some really awesome Twitter bio ideas for some inspiration.
Here’s some of the cool Twitter bios I have come across:
@MadalynSklar
[one_half]
[/one_half][one_half_last]
Here’s what’s great about Madalyn’s Twitter bio:
- Mentions her skills
- Highlights her recognition
- Mentions her weekly Twitter chat (as well as day/time)
- Links to her podcast
- Uses emoji in name[/one_half_last]
@AdeldMeyer
[one_half]
[/one_half][one_half_last]Here’s what’s great about Adel’s Twitter bio:
- Mentions her areas of expertise
- Hashtags for brands and interests
- Mentions her love for coffee
- Uses an emoji to further highlight her love for coffee[/one_half_last]
@LarryKim
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[/one_half][one_half_last]Here’s what’s great about Larry’s Twitter bio:
- Mentions the company he founded (cross promoting)
- Where he writes
- Mentions his loves for entrepreneurship, start-ups, Adwords, and Facebook advertising
- Uses an emoji to further highlight his loves[/one_half_last]
A few takeaways from looking at not only these bios, but others:
- Use all 160 characters of available bio space if possible
- Emoji’s definitely draw your eye into the bio
- Find a balance of hashtags, @names, and links to use
What You Shouldn’t Have in Your Bio for Twitter
While I have seen many things done right for Twitter bios, I have also seen quite a few things you shouldn’t have in your bio.
The first thing you shouldn’t have is nothing but hashtags. This isn’t Instagram where you can cram in 30 hashtags and be ok. It comes across a bit spammy in my opinion.
So, should you decide to use hashtags its best to limit their use and not over do it. For example, this profile has nothing but hashtags.
And perhaps the worst part of it is that a handful of those hashtags no one is ever going to search for. So what good does it do to use them?
Another thing you don’t want to include in your Twitter bio is that you are a guru, ninja, rockstar, or wizard. Of course, unless you are really one of those things. But 99% of the time you are not. So don’t pretend.
This profile definitely hits on a couple of those “don’ts”…
And if you are claiming to be something this extraordinary, you better be able to prove it.
One final thought about what not to include. Don’t include “nothing”.
What I mean is that you shouldn’t have an empty Twitter bio.
Without your bio filled out, how will people learn anything about you?
They won’t. And more than likely they will bounce from your profile and move on to others who they can relate to.
How to Write the Best Twitter Bios
You’ve probably just learned more about Twitter bios than you ever wanted to. But you know what?
It’s important.
You need the ins and outs of what it takes to create the best Twitter bio that you can.
So here’s what I have come up with based on my research and analysis of what you need (or don’t) for an awesome Twitter bio.
I’ve attempted incorporate all the items that I mentioned were important to cover:
- Overall description aligns with the content that I share on Twitter
- Highlights at least 3 core skill sets
- Utilize hashtags/keywords where it makes sense
- Cross promote one of my other Twitter accounts
- A personal interest
- Add a graphical element to my bio (emoji)
If you refer to my previous bio, I already had most of these elements already. It just needed to be updated with some new items.
And here it is:
You’ll notice I dropped the “Interactive Marketing” text and just focused on using “Digital Marketing Strategist” instead. I’ve worked in the Twitter handle for Bulkly as well as dropped in the URL to it.
I wanted to keep the “Ambidextrous bowler” text in that it has been a great conversation starter.
From there, I move into 4 of my core skill sets and round it all off with some emojis.
The first is for “Shave Ice” – and no, it’s not the same thing as a “snow-cone”. Trust me, they are much more awesome. If you are ever in Oahu, my go-to is Matsumoto’s.
The second emoji is to reiterate the bowling background I have and the last is because I watch a TON of football.
Oh, and I added an alien emoji next to my name…well, because you know:
Thoughts on how my new Twitter bio compares to my previous one?
Does Your Twitter Bio Need a Refresh?
Look, maybe you have already crushed it with a really clever Twitter bio that can’t possibly be any better. Perhaps, you even have “rockstar” or “guru” status proudly displayed in your bio. Congrats!
For the rest of us, it doesn’t hurt to take a few minutes and evaluate what our Twitter bio says and does it accomplish the goals we want it to.
As with anything in the digital marketing world, you should always be testing and looking to make improvements on what you are doing.
Compounded incremental improvements of your goals can lead to stellar results.
So it doesn’t hurt to tweak or take a different approach with your Twitter bio to see if it helps to move the needle for you.
How often do you update your Twitter bio?
Have you ever really gave much thought about what to put into it?
Drop me a line in the comments to let me know how you are using your Twitter bio to your advantage.
[yellowbox]Grab your free Twitter bio checklist. Click here to download it. [/yellowbox]