Fried Logic

11:40 am on May 28, 2010 by kburke

Twitter: Optimize your search

A recent article in Mashable, projected Twitter has around 18 million users. With users tweeting several times a day, the Twitterverse is getting pretty crowded. In all of the chaos, it can be difficult to find the information you are looking for.

Quick to respond to this problem, the HubSpot Internet Marketing Blog offers 6 Quick Tips to Search Twitter Like an Expert. I have listed the tips below with my thoughts about each.

1.  Switch to advanced search

This function allows you to look for specific tweets using keywords or tweets near a specific location. The ability to target certain tweets is an extremely useful tool for organizations. For instance, organizations can find what consumers are saying about them by typing in a keyword about a product or program. The advanced search button is located right next to the general search button on the top of the page.

2.  Use exact match

The exact match function is found in the advanced search. This tool is slightly more specific because it allows a user to search a phrase. Make sure you put quotes around the specific phrase in order to avoid irrelevant results.

3. Subtract words that muck up results

I love this function! This tool allows you to put a minus sign in front of words that you do not want to show up in results. For instance, if you search PetCo, you know the search will pull up tweets about everything PetCo. If you just want to search for tweets about the dog food you would type: PetCo –cat food –fish –toys…etc.

4. Examine sentiment

This is another interesting tool that allows you to search specifically for positive or negative tweets. All you have to do is type in what you are looking for and include a :) or :( after it.

5. Filter for only links

6. Put everything together (i.e. a phrase, a :) or :( and filter for links).

Interested in learning more about Twitter SEO? Here are some articles to get you started:

Ezine @rticles: Optimize Your Twitter Search by Using Hashtags

Search Engine Journal: How to Search Twitter the Advanced Guide

Mashable: Twitter Advanced Search