When it comes down to social networks with “personality,” Twitter is definitely one of them. With over 302 million users worldwide, the site is still growing rapidly. And that’s because of it’s always refreshing proposal: invite users to share their real-time news through just 140 characters. It’s ideal for communicating updates for your website or brand. Which is why, in today’s blog post, I’m going to tell you exactly how to optimize your tweets to make them more attractive and clickable using Twitter Cards. I’ll show you what Twitter Cards are, what their benefits are, and how to use them, step by step.
Along the same lines, Twitter is an important source of traffic that can help significantly increase visits to your website. But for that to happen, it’s necessary to be prepared and have the necessary tools to help you take full advantage of this social network. Luckily, a very effective way to do this is to start using Twitter Cards.
What are Twitter Cards?
To help users make more enticing posts, Twitter has developed Twitter Cards, which are a type of Tweet that allows you display more information than a standard Tweet. That way you can display an image, a title, a link, in a much more visible way. So, when you share a post from your page, if you’ve activated Twitter Cards, users will see a picture of your article and a Call to Action button.
Using Twitter Cards has a lot of advantages. Check out some of the main ones:
- They help you get more visibility on Twitter
- They allow you to increase web traffic to your site
- They make your Tweets more attractive and visual
- Increase interaction with the public
- Promote your brand image
- They help you get more followers on Twitter
Once you implement Twitter Cards, whenever you share links with your followers your Tweets will become more attractive and “clickable“. The opposite happens when you share a link on a regular tweet, since users only see text. To understand this point, take a look at the image below:
As you might have noted, using Twitter Cards completely changes the appearance of a Tweet and it becomes much more attractive visually. That’s why they’re so effective in attracting users to click on your links. Below, I’ll go over the different types of Twitter Cards so you can choose the one that best suits your digital marketing needs.
Types of Twitter Cards
Twitter offers four types of Twitter Cards you can choose from according to your specific objectives. There are Summary Cards, Summary Cards with Large Image, App Cards, and Player Cards. Below I’ll tell you what each one of them is for and show you how each one looks on a Tweet.
In addition to the cards mentioned above, there are Gallery Cards and Photo Cards, but Twitter has announced that from July 3, 2015 and on, they will be declared obsolete and will become part of the Summary Cards With Large Image. For that reason I have omitted them from this article.
1. Summary Card
Summary Cards allow you to show users a thumbnail of the linked content in your Tweet before they click on your site. They are ideal for promoting blog posts, news, and articles in general. This is how they look:
2. Summary Card With Large Image
Summary Cards With Large Image function in the same way as the above, but in this case they let you include a large image. Making it much more attractive. In addition, when users click on the picture they are automatically redirected to your site. Therefore, you can take advantage of the attractiveness of an image to attract users to your website. For these reasons, I strongly recommend that you incorporate them into your posts. Here’s an example of how they look:
3. App Card
App Cards are ideal for representing and promoting mobile apps on Twitter. They also serve to persuade users to install your app. They let you display the name, the description, and the icon of the app. You can also show interesting things like the price and rating. Therefore, if you have a website dedicated to an application, I strongly advise you to start using App Cards in your Twitter posts. Here, you can see an example:
4. Player Card
Player Cards are perfect for showing videos and sharing audio transmissions on Twitter. With its help, users can preview and play content with just a single click. These cards are especially attractive to the audience because of its rich multimedia and because it allows users to view or hear content without leaving Twitter. Here’s how they look:
Now that you know what Twitter Cards are, and what they’re for, and have probably decided which one is suits your marketing objectives best, we’re going to show you how to install them on your page so you can use them in your future Tweets. You’ll see that the process is quick and uncomplicated. Here we go!
How to activate a Twitter Card
Now I’ll show you the steps you need to take to activate and start using Twitter Cards. Also, if you’re using Postcron you should know that the Twitter Cards integrate seamlessly with our application.
- Choose the type of Twitter Card you want to implement.
- Add the corresponding meta tag to your page.
- Test your URL with the validator tool to see whether your Twitter Card functions properly or not. You can also preview your card by pressing the blue button labeled Preview card. If you’re trying to activate a Player Card, you need to request approval for whitelisting. All the other cards don’t require whitelisting.
- After testing validation of your Twitter Card, Tweet your URL and watch your card appear in your Tweet below.
- Use Twitter Analytics to measure the results of integrating Cards.
As you’ve probably noticed, implementing Twitter Cards is really simple, and doing so will give you great results in terms of web traffic and interaction with your followers (and yeah, remember to share relevant and compelling content for your audience!).
Also, improving the appearance of your tweets really makes a difference that users will notice quickly on your timeline. In the next picture you’ll see what I mean:
To sum up, adding images, videos, or thumbnails to your Tweets views will increase the chances that people click on your links. And all you have to do is just start using Twitter Cards. Doing so not only beautifies your tweets but also, favors the arrival of new visitors to your site, increase the chances of interacting with your followers, and the chances that they share your content with their friends.
Had you already heard about Twitter Cards? Which one do you find most useful? Tell us about your experience and stay tuned, because we’ll be back soon with new exclusive tips to apply to your social networks.