Twitter is a social messaging/networking platform that has gained an iconic status in the online community in a very short time. There are new members being added to it, every few hours. Twitter’s appeal lies in its ability to promote communication among its members and visitors. There are some simple ways through which you too can use Twitter to increase the traffic on your site.

Getting Connected

Twitter enlists thousands of members belonging to various fields of interest. Members have the freedom of submitting their respective URLs, which are highlighted under their usernames. Whenever, something significant or interesting happens, one Twitter member communicates it to the other via the usual web interface or IMs and SMS. You too can do the same. When you do this, some of the members searching for that piece of information are bound to click on your listed URL — ensuring that your website’s theme gets circulated.

Making Followers

Twitter has been hailed as a breakthrough social media site for one particular reason — it promotes healthy interaction among people and the most commonly-used tool for this purpose is creating tweets (posts).
   

• Make your posts interesting and most importantly — make them relevant and give them a personal perspective. Make sure that your don’t just copy paste content from the web.  Once you have gained the reputation of posting tweets that always invite responses, your fan base will gradually increase.
• Twitter members are connected in such a way that even if you have an above-average reputation, you will be highlighted. This directly adds to your website’s traffic. Sometimes you will have to reciprocate the favor. So don’t turn down opportunities for visiting sites/blogs of other members, try promoting them too. This is how Twitter works — reciprocating isn’t a choice.
• Developing a network on Twitter isn’t an overnight exercise. It takes time but the benefits surpass the efforts. Ensure that you develop a sense of bonding with your followers and keep in touch with them. Remember — every Twitter member is likely to promote your site/blog to at least five other browsers.

Using Twitterfeed

You can use unique tools like the ‘Twitterfeed’ that is capable of automatically posting small snippets of information related to the theme of your website or even ‘teasers’ from recently updated content or reviews/blogs posted on your site to Twitter every few hours. This means that every few hours, you are guaranteed of engaging the attention of at least a few hundred people and some of them are bound to visit your site.

Staying Updated (feedreader)

You have the choice of enlisting yourself for following various online publications that provide their content for free. There is a Twitter option (feedreader) wherein — every time there is some addition on these sites, Twitter will send a small RSS feed. This can be used for continuously getting new ideas for creating contemporary content on your site/blog. The RSS feeds can be personalized in your Twitter ‘feedreader’ and you can seek reference from as many websites you want.

Invite Traffic With Tweet-Out

Once you start networking with people with similar mindsets and begin making some online friends, try asking for some personal favors. Let us assume that your site is sports-centric and you have a fellow Twitter member who deals in sports-based nutrition. Now, you can request him/her to insert a link of your website in his/her tweets, which will bring in some online visitors towards you without compromising on his/her web traffic.

Additional Benefits

Twitter can even help you to improve your website. There many experts related to website promotion and designing that are a part of the Twitter family (some of them are permanently listed in ‘twittersphere’). You can request them to review your site and send their recommendations. This way you can benefit for free!