When I first started using Twitter I thought it was like visiting a foreign country where you don’t understand the language or the culture.

But then luckily a great friend gave me some tips that made the world of difference to how I use Twitter.  Here are some of the big winners!

1. Don’t stay an egg! Add a profile pic and some information to your bio

Your bio gives people a snap shot of who you are and what you tweet about. By leaving it blank, you’re missing an opportunity to engage with people, and after all, that’s the whole point of being on Twitter.

2. Follow People Back

If you’re a well known player or tennis media person it’s a different story but generally speaking if you want to increase your number of followers, aim to follow people back if they follow you.

Otherwise, unless you’ve made a big impression, people can easily use tools like Just Unfollow to stop following people who aren’t following them back.

3. Be appreciative

Check your @mentions regularly and thank people when they Retweet your tweets.

Also check under “Retweets” and then “Your tweets, retweeted” to see who has Retweeted you using Twitter’s automatic Retweet button.

Note – If you’re using Tweet Meme or another sharing plug-in on your blog, make sure it’s connected to your Twitter user name so that you’ll see who is re-tweeting your articles.

4. Use Lists to Keep your Incoming Tweets organised

Once you’re following a lot of people it can be hard to keep up with all the tweets in your incoming feed.

By creating lists you can separate the tweets you’d like to see into different topics.

For example, I have lists for Tennis Players and Tennis Media. I can click on the list to see the recent tweets from everyone that I’ve added to that list.

You can follow other people’s lists too, if you don’t want to create your own.

My favourite list is Tennis Tweeters. It lets me see the tweets of everyone I follow who tweets mainly about tennis. To keep my lists up to date, as soon as I follow someone, I decide if they should be added to a list and add them straight away.

Find out How to use Twitter Lists

5. Direct people to a specific Twitter landing page

If you’re promoting a blog or website via your Twitter account, instead of linking your profile to your Home Page, direct people to a specific Twitter landing page that gives the key information they need about you, in one place.

Here are 10 Tips for How to Create a Great Twitter Landing Page

What are your best tips for getting full value out of Twitter?  Do you follow people back, or do you have a different policy?

Let us know in the comments below.

Grand Slam Gal

P.S. Need more help with Twitter? Get the free info you need on How to Use Twitter Like a Pro.