How to Successfully Audit Your Twitter Account

When was the last time you audited your Twitter presence?

Odds are, it’s been a while! However, if you aren’t seeing the results you want on the platform, an audit could be what’s needed to get things back on track. After all, don’t you want to make sure your efforts on Twitter are getting noticed by the right people?

A quick review of your account will ensure your Twitter profile communicates your mission, while also helping you to get aligned with your goals for the platform.

So, how exactly do you audit your Twitter account?

How to Successfully Audit Your Twitter Account

There are a few things you can do to give your Twitter profile a much-needed refresh, both on the back-end and what people see publicly. These tips are great to implement every quarter or every six months to keep things running smoothly.

1. Clean Up Your Following List

It’s so easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing online. That can either be a good thing or a bad thing. If there’s ever a time when someone’s content is bringing you down, it’s time to hit that unfollow button or at least mute them for a little while. (Learn how in this post.)

Another step you can take is to organize those you are following into Twitter Lists, which will make it easier to find tweets from the people you’re most interested in. You could create a list that features all of your favorite accounts or organize them by niche. Then whenever you open Twitter, you can select a list and see content that just those people have posted or shared.

At the end of the day, Twitter is more fun when you’re following people you love.

2. Give Your Profile an Update

If someone were to stumble upon your Twitter profile for the first time, what do you think their initial impression would be? Would they gain a clear understanding of who you are and what you do based on your bio and the content you’re sharing? If not, then it’s time to make a change because it might be the only chance you have to get someone to follow you.

You want your bio to communicate what your brand is all about. Are you a coach working with other entrepreneurs? A virtual assistant that also specializes in social media? Whatever you do, let people know through your bio. And since you only have limited space, you’ll need to get creative. The good news is, you can add extra details in your profile header and by linking to your website.

I have a post that shares 11 tips to make your Twitter profile stand out. Give it a read if you want to give your profile a refresh!

3. Update Your Pinned Tweet

Seriously, how long ago did you pin that tweet to your Twitter profile? Because this is pretty valuable real estate that people will likely see when visiting your profile, it’s an important thing to consider as you audit your Twitter account. The pinned tweet is your opportunity to share something that will get your target audience’s attention and even inspire them to take action.

Use this space to share your latest blog post or a piece of evergreen content, or link to your email freebie to generate more subscribers for your list. Update it every so often so it always has fresh copy and graphics.

4. Set New Goals for Yourself

You won’t know if you’re on the right track if you don’t know what you’re working toward. That’s why you need to set goals. What do you want to get out of your Twitter presence? This will tell you which metrics are most important to track. It’ll also shape your content strategy, which we’ll get into in the next tip. Don’t be afraid to change up your goals as you audit your Twitter account because sometimes priorities change.

5. Review Your Content Strategy

Another sign that something needs to change? You aren’t receiving engagement on the content you’re sharing on Twitter. If your tweets aren’t getting impressions, replies, and click-throughs, it can be pretty frustrating. After all, if you’re going to put all this time and effort into creating Twitter content, you want it to get noticed. You want it to resonate with the right people.

The best thing you can do is dive into your Twitter analytics. The built-in analytics that can be accessed through your account will show you what kind of content is performing the best. From there, you can create more of that content, generating better results overall. You’ll also be able to see what’s not performing as well so you can either tweak it or eliminate it from your content strategy. It takes some time to get your content right, but your analytics will get you on the right track!

These are some things to note as you audit your Twitter content:

• What kind of copy is working for you? We all know that Twitter has character limits, but does something short and sweet perform better or do your longer tweets get more engagement? Does your audience prefer something informational or do they love your witty, humorous tweets the most?
• Is there anything in particular about the graphics you share that seem to perform better? For instance, do tweets that have graphics with people perform the best or graphics with stats?
• Do you notice that tweets with certain hashtags get the best engagement? If so, you’ll want to make sure you’re using them more often.

6. Take a Moment to Review Your Settings & Privacy

One thing that many people don’t think to review when it comes to their Twitter account is whether or not it’s secure. The last thing anyone wants is for their account to be hacked, especially since this could be really damaging for brands.

To review your settings, click on “More” in the navigation column on the left side of the Twitter home feed. Then, select “Settings and Privacy.” The screenshot above shows the various options you’ll see. This is a good time to update your password under “Your Account.” And you can turn on two-factor authentication under “Security and Account Access” if you haven’t already. That extra layer of security makes a huge difference in keeping your account safe.

We also wind up giving a lot of apps permission to access our accounts over the years. Any time you link a third-party scheduling tool or something similar to your Twitter, you give it read and write permissions. Some even have access to your direct messages. As you audit your Twitter account, it’s smart to see which apps are connected to your account and revoke the ones you’re not actively using.

To check, follow the same steps as outlined above. Under “Security and Account Access,” click on “Apps and Sessions.” Here, you’ll see “Connected Apps,” showing which apps have access to your account. You can even check active Twitter sessions and which devices are currently logged into your account.

Want Help as You Audit Your Twitter Account?

I’m hosting a free Twitter audit every Saturday at 1 PM Eastern over on Twitter Spaces. All you have to do is join us live and you’ll have a chance for me to review your Twitter account. I’ll offer suggestions of what you can do to improve your account that’ll help generate more followers and engagement. Those who have joined are already loving it, so I hope to see you there!