Get Retweeted! Are Your Tweets Retweetable?

Do you ever wonder why some tweets get noticed and retweeted dozens or hundreds of times while others get lots in the noise?

Here are some tips to help you post retweetable tweets that get noticed.

Make your tweet short enough to be retweeted

You’ve got 140 characters to send out a tweet. But if I retweet that tweet, I’ve got to have room to add RT @yourusername.

For example, if I see this 47 character tweet:

RandomTweeter: “Cool motivational quote I like.” -Attribution

Then when I retweet it, it will become 66 characters:

MyTwitterID: RT @RandomTweeter: “Cool motivational quote I like.” -Attribution

So if your tweets are all 120-140 characters, it will be difficult for people to retweet you. Count how many characters are in your Twitter ID and add 4 (for RT @). That’s how many characters under the 140 tweet limit you need to stay to allow people to retweet you easily.

How can you shorten your tweets?

Tip #1: Use a link shortener. If you tweet through HootSuite, there’s a built in link shortener. You can also go to one of the many link shortener sites like TinyURL, Bit.ly, and Ow.ly.

Tip #2: Abbreviate. Use 2 instead of to, 4 instead of for or four, etc. Tweets don’t have to be grammatically correct.

Tip #3: Only include what’s necessary. Instead of “There’s a new post on my blog: Title, Link” try something like “New post: Title, Link” or just “Title, Link” and save space.

Is there a best time of the day or day of the week to tweet if you’re hoping to be retweeted? Dan Zarrella has the answer to that question. In his report, “Science of ReTweets” the best time of the day is 3pm to midnight and the best day of the week is Friday. That’s when the most retweets were happening on Twitter. For even more fascinating retweet statistics get your copy of his free report at http://danzarrella.com.

What else can you do to help your tweets get retweeted?

Tweet things worthy of being retweeted. Share helpful tips and information. Link to great resources on your site and other websites. Share jokes or puns. Tweet inspirational quotes.

Use #hashtags that relate to your tweet, like #quote or #football or #smallbiz You can find popular #hashtags at What the Trend.

Add TweetMeMe Retweet Button to your blog. If you’re a blogger and want to get your posts retweeted, add this plugin to make it easier for readers to retweet you.

Retweet others. Yes, the golden rule applies even on Twitter. If you want tweeters to retweet you, then retweet them.

Prefer video?  Here’s one I made for the Ultimate Blog Challenge showing how to make your tweets easy to retweet:

Credit: Cute Twitter bird from http://sixcrayons.com/2009/09/15/free-custom-retweet-icons/