Link building is one of the essential goals of any SEO plan. Leveraging social media has become one of the main targets for any website looking to boost their traffic and engage their community. Twitter has seen a skyrocketing growth since being introduced, however many websites still aren’t jumping on board. If you feel like Twitter isn’t for you, you have another thing coming. Twitter may come across as a platform for people just to post mundane information about their day, but it’s rapidly becoming the go to service to connect with communities and build strong link building. If you have ever thought about starting your own Twitter account to promote your business, now is the perfect time to do so.

The following are 8 Twitter tips to help increase visitors and build links to your website.

1. First, you need to sign up!

Before you can even begin to start Tweeting, you need to sign up! Sign up is simple and fast, so go over to https://twitter.com/signup and create your account. Choose a great name people will be able to recognize you by, this could be simply your website name.

2. Fill out your profile

On your Profile page, you are able to fill in a Bio of yourself. Use this Bio to add interest about who you are or what you do. The great thing about the Bio page is the ability to include a link. When people find others particularly interesting, they love to check out their bios which may persuade them to take a look at your website through your links, instantly more visitors!

3. Find and follow interesting people

There are millions of interesting people on Twitter, however, simply adding all of them isn’t the correct path you should take. You should be using Twitter to find people interesting in the specific topics you write about on your website. Because you are able to identify with these people more easily, they will find value from the links you post, increasing your visitors and helping you in SEO.

4. Answer questions

Answering questions is a great way to have people follow you and build trust. Being helpful with questions and including a helpful link will make people fall in love with you. If you happen to have the answer already on your website, feel free to answer the persons question and give them your link.

5 Add Twitter widget/Follow me link to your website

Because you already have a website, go ahead and add a Twitter counter to it. Additionally, adding Twitter buttons for people to easily retweet articles and posts you’ve made will send them out across the net at lightning speeds. When people retweet your links, people come to your site obviously, which helps your rank and benefits your Search Engine Optimization.

6. Post interesting links people will view

Nobody on Twitter wants click on something that seems uninteresting. Remember, Twitter isn’t all about you. You are trying to share great information with people that they may find interesting or entertaining. Try creating a helpful post on your website and tweet it, include a bit of humor or opinion with each tweet and you should see additional click through.

7. Hold a contest

One of the phenomena of Twitter is the ability to spread information at such a rapid pace. If you were to hold a contest, wither locally or online, use Twitter to help spread the word and allow people to be included in the contest from simply retweeting. Because people are more than willing to participate in a contest through a simple retweet, your contest will reach far more people than you may ever expect.

8. Follow up with Direct Messages

Once you begin to gain more followers or want to talk privately with a person, use ‘DM’. DMing is direct messaging, which allows you to talk to people without it showing up in the public stream. As long as you are sincere with what you say, people may be inclined to take a look at your link and information.

Twitter doesn’t have to be this giant 800lb Gorilla in the room for you; it can be a very great friend. These are only but 8 tips to help use Twitter for link building and SEO, there are many more you will learn as you use Twitter. Twitter isn’t going away any time soon, your competitors may already be on it, so jumping in now is the best choice for you and your link building plan.