This article is about a small experiment: testing whether it is easier to be searched for by adding keywords to Twitter usernames. The answer is yes, but keywords are not the only factor that affects Twitter search rankings.
I've been using a GlassAlmanac account lately, trying to experiment with SEO search results visibility, and enjoying it.
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In my most recent experiments, I have focused on the visibility of search results on the Twitter website. I don't have a very deep insight, but I do want to convey the point that usernames are heavily weighted in search results on Twitter, but there are other factors at play.
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background:The @GlassAlmanac account uses "Glass Almanac" as its display name, searched for "Glass Almanac" the first two months, and it exists. But when searching for "google glass" on Twitter, it doesn't exist.
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"google glass" is obviously a keyword, and I want my username to be searched for when someone searches on twitter.
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what I did:Tried again, still to no avail. As you can see in the image above, I just changed the display name to "Google Glass Almanac" and I sat and waited for the results.
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result:After about 10 days or so, the @GlassAlmanac account started appearing in the 10-15th position on the first page when searching for "google glass", and then moved up to the top 10. When I'm logged in, it's pretty much solid at #6, but when I'm not logged in, it's at #8.
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I think the higher ranking when I log in to my account is due to its personalization. Twitter knows I follow @GlassAlmanac account from @MattMcGee account. (But this begs the real question: shouldn't Twitter accounts with no followers be prioritized to enable new user recommendations?)
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In any case, the most important thing is the keywords in the username, which can improve its search results on Twitter. I believe this is not guided by other data as the @GlassAlmanac account only has 130 followers and it is not very active on Twitter.
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Other Twitter Ranking Factors
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What interests me is that the @GlassAlmanac account is still no higher than the "gossip" accounts like Google Developers, Google Students and Google Cloud Platform, regardless of whether the account is logged in or not. None of these accounts are associated with Google Glass. Nobody mentioned Glass in their usernames or descriptions. However, these three accounts have so far been unable to be surpassed.
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When searching on Twitter, the glass section already includes these accounts, is Twitter focusing on my query "google" and ignoring "glass"? If so, why these three accounts? Why not @GoogleChrome or @GoogleMaps accounts? Don't they have more Twitter followers?
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This is a mystery to me.
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Based on my little experiments, I think that adding keywords to usernames does help, but there are other factors at play, and new keywords appear to replace the original ones.
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Google SEO Test
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When I first started using Google for a similar test, when I wasn't logged into my account, I googled "google glass" and the GlassAlmanac.com account didn't show up on the first 10 pages.
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So, last night I changed the header element of the homepage of the site. Previously used "Glass Almanac...", now "Google Glass Almanac...."
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Now just wait to move from Twitter search results to
google search resultsup.