If recent news is to be believed, Twitter has removed the "nofollow" attribute from tweets.
This means you can build "dofollow" backlinks from Twitter directly to your site for the first time.
The implications for SEOs or businesses looking to expand their backlink profile are enormous.
Using this handy guide, you'll find out what this development means for backlink builders and how to merge your link building, thought leadership, and social media marketing presence through Twitter.
Let's get started.
What Are Twitter Backlinks?
Twitter backlinks used to be nofollow.
In the past, Twitter backlinks were links to your website from Twitter in the form of tweets that included a URL.
While Twitter has always been great for getting your site backlinks, they haven't always been the best type of backlink because they were "nofollow."
While "nofollow" links are still valuable for SEO and should be implemented as part of a varied link-building strategy, they are not as good as "dofollow" links.
However, just last week, it was reported by credible sources that Twitter had removed the "nofollow" link attribute from tweet source codes.
This means that you can now build high-caliber dofollow links from the relative ease of Twitter.
Are New Twitter Backlinks Worth It?
The truth is that no one knows if search engines like Google or Bing will value "dofollow" links from Twitter.
Moreover, news broke because a prominent Internet strategist realized that Twitter had changed its backlink code from "nofollow" to "dofollow."
This is significant because Twitter links have been nofollow since 2008.
However, that's only applied to the bio section on Twitter.
In 2009, Twitter added the nofollow attribute to all links contained within tweets.
This is why it's tough to know whether Google or Bing will count links found in bios or tweets.
What's more, Google finds it hard to trust posts from social media sites.
So, Google treats links that do not have a nofollow attribute as if it does have a nofollow attribute if they come from social media sites.
This is why experts predict that this change may be short-lived or even worthless.
The news is a big deal because it may open the door to spammy backlinks, which may start to rank websites that are no good or even spammy higher up the search engine results page.
Five-Step Twitter Link Building and SEO Improvement Guide:
As you already know, Twitter is an excellent tool for SEO.
Even if links are nofollow, it's still a worthwhile pursuit to build your social media marketing presence and thought leadership, as well as build nofollow links to your website, which Google does value.
Step #1: Create A Profile And Add A Link To Your Site In the Bio:
To get a backlink fast, open a Twitter account, follow the setup instructions and add your website link to the bio section of your profile.
Step #2: Place a Backlink In The Website URL Field:
The second best link-building strategy is to put a link to your website in the website URL field on your profile page.
Step #3: Include Links In Your Tweets:
Twitter backlinks can be built for SEO purposes by simply including links to your website in your tweets. To save space, you can shorten the URL to meet the 140-character limit. Tools like Bitly.com enable you to shorten long URLs for free.
Step #4: Post Links And Reply To Tweets:
Another great way to build links to your website is to reply to people using a link to your site.
Step #5: Build Thought Leadership:
Building thought leadership means regularly posting insightful content that you think your target audience will find interesting. Another good tactic is to follow and reply to high-performing tweets within your niche.
Learn More Or Start Your SEO Journey Today?
If you're interested in learning more about SEO, check out our step-by-step SEO guide to rank number one on Google in 2022. Alternatively, if you are looking for an expert SEO agency, get in touch with us today.
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