Is 140 characters enough?

 twitter

Whether you use it for personal or work reasons Twitter has probably become a daily activity for you. But are you frustrated by having to tell a story in 140 characters?
I personally quite like that people can’t rant for more than a sentence but I wonder if Twitter will ever give in and increase their character limits. For many Twitter users it may be an ongoing frustration but if used correctly it really shouldn’t be about the length.
Making the most of the character count is somewhat an art form and fitting in all the relevant hash tags can be quite a challenge so I have come up with a few little tips to help you make your character count go that little bit further.
 

5 Tips to take full advantage of the 140 characters

 

1. Use link shorteners

This may seem obvious but I do still see the odd person pasting a whole URL into a tweet. Using a link shortener like bit.ly or ow.ly can help you save tens of characters and will offer analytics on your links too.
 

2. #Hashtag your way through

Most tweeters will hashtag their keywords at the end of the tweet but you could save yourself a whole lot of characters by hashtagging them in the body. For example Read my #TopTips on making your #Twitter character limit go further.
 

3. Use a helping hand like Buffer

Buffer is a great tool that is perfect for the lazy tweeter. By installing a Buffer tool on your desktop you can stop on a story you like or a re-tweet you want to share and with one click of a button a tweet is created for you, to the word count you need, with a shortened URL already included. Granted it won’t be personal but it will definitely be within 140 characters and you can amend it if you wish.
 

4. Keep to the point

There is nothing worse than a tweet that rambles on. Pick your key theme and say it in as little words as possible.
 

5. Use abbreviations wherever you can

This will come naturally to some tweeters but for others who are used to a formal type of writing with probably find this difficult. But simply using & instead of and and @ instead of at can free up a whole lot of valuable characters.
For some more Twitter tips and guides for best practice check out jeffbullas.com or the 30 days of Twitter tips and hints. But the best way to really make the most of Twitter and improve your Klout score is by having a go. Practice makes perfect.
 

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 See also: How To Use Twitter For Your Business (Infographic)