Tricks to Get the Right Twitter Handle

In a world stuffed full of social media, Twitter is still in lane of its own. It limits users to 140 character updates, mentions, and retweets. This gives the platform a fast paced feel that other platforms like Facebook and Google+ can’t really emulate. It feels younger and fresher effortlessly.

Twitter handles are also limited. You only have 20 characters to tell the Twitterverse who you are. Choosing the right handle can expand your social media footprint. Choosing the wrong one can have you tweeting to yourself in the corner. Avoid the latter with these Twitter handle tips.

Answer the Most Asked Questions

Twitter is all about meeting new people and interacting with them. And the first things you usually get out of the way with a new person are who you are and what you do. Since Twitter moves as the speed of 140 characters, it’s smart to get that part out of the way right up front.

Let’s say you run an ecommerce website that sells promotional products, like GoPromotional. You’re active in the industry and you like to tweet about it. Oh and your name is Pete. Well, PromoPete is a perfect Twitter name for you. PetePromo could also work. Other options might be a shortening of your business’ name, your full name, or a combo of the two.

Less is More

Twitter idolizes the short, the brief, and the pithy. It’s serious about that 140 word character limit. So the longer your handle is, the more space it takes up in the tweet. So try not to make long Twitter handles. If you can find one that fits in 10 characters, there’s no need to use the whole 20 characters allotted to you.

Don’t Look Like a Spammer

Twitter spam is rampant. Spambots will spam you with links based on your hashtags or keywords in your tweets. They will also follow you and unfollow you over and over again, in hopes you will follow them back. In short, real Twitter users hate Twitter spammers. And if your handle makes you seem like one, they won’t want to interact with you. So avoid handles that have a bunch of random numbers in them. Avoid spammy names like FreeIPhones or WinTVNow.

Don’t Give Up

So what if you come up with the perfect Twitter handle, put into the username field, and Twitter tells you it’s taken? Well that’s a bummer. But there are ways around it. Consider adding “the,” “just,” or “thereal” in front of it. Perhaps you can add a qualifier after it. Such as “app” or “writer.” Look into underscores, hyphens, or numbers as letters. Be creative. There are often ways to say the same thing with just a few substitutions.

Remember You Can Change It

Don’t forget that if all else fails, Twitter handles aren’t set in stone. All you have to do to change your handle is head over to settings and put a new handle in the username field. None of your followers, profile, or settings will change at all. And you do that for as many times as it takes to get the right one .

 

 

 

[image error]