Twitter Retweet (or RT) is a type of message posted (or in proper Twitter terminology tweeted) on micro blogging sevice, Twitter, that shares information previously tweeted by another user. The person posting the Retweet is a Retweeter.

Retweeting is an effective way of sharing information you like on Twitter.  When you come across interesting content, such as a link, video, photo, etc. shared by one of the people (or tweeps) you follow, do not forget to RT it for your followers. This will add value to your followers, as well as give recognition to the original person who tweeted the content.  A major benefit to retweeting is my network of contacts will often vary from your contacts enough that the act of Retweeting what you say has extended value to a greater group of people.  This is the power behind Twitter – helping people find other interesting people to learn from.

If your content is retweeted it will have much better chance of reaching new and interesting people for you to connect with so it is important you take an extra second and think about what you tweet and ask yourself if people would find it interesting.  If boring content, such as Guy Kawasaki (big Twitter celeb) favorite don’t tweet “my cat rolled over” tip, not only will it not get retweeted good chance you could lose followers.  If you have a large follower count as Guy does losing some people is not a big deal but for smaller businesses or those newer to Twitter ideally you avoid reducing Twitter followers (as that is an important element of Twitter reach).

To Retweet content you want to share with your Twitter followers there are 2 ways to do this:

1. Click the Retweet link below a tweet you want to share.  To find the retweet link roll over with your mouse a tweet you want to share and on the right corner of the tweet a retweet link will show up.  Click on that retweet link and a retweet to your followers link will show up.  Click yes and the retweet will now show in your profile and your followers timeline. Retweets in Timelines are distinguished by the retweet icon next to the author’s picture.  This is shown below:
2. You can manually Retweet a post you want to share on Twitter.com or one of many Twitter tools such as TweetDeck which is awesome and works on desktop, iPhone or iPad. The proper way to Retweet a tweet is to type RT @username “of person you are retweeting” and their exact tweet without changing any content.  If you have an opinion on why you are sharing the tweet and there are characters left within the 140 Twitter character limit go ahead and do that before RT, such as:  Fav #3 RT @iClickSolutions WordPress SEO made easy w/ 5 awesome WordPress SEO plugins that help increase search traffic http://bit.ly/aSjUxr.  This is shown below:

My preference is the 2nd manual option as you are able to add (if space is available) why you are sharing the content and better control how the tweet shows up. Now that you understand how to retweet, do you ever wonder why some tweets get retweeted more often than others?

Here are 5 Ways To Get More People To Retweet (RT) Your Tweets:

1. Incorporate Pictures & Links -Your topic doesn’t have to be check out my new cat (please don’t do that) but pictures do tell an amazing story so if you are at a restaurant and the food looks great snap a picture and tweet it out with a tool such as TwitPic.  Much more interesting to see what you want to share especially if it is hot news.  Remember in January 2009 when the US Airways flight went into the Hudson River.  Janis Krums picture of the Hudson plane crash was the image used in all major media and definitely helped increase followers.  People seem to be more inclined to RT your tweet if there is a link included. You can only say so much with a tweet that contains 140 characters. So having a link to a web site or a blog, where someone can find more detailed information that they are interested in works well.
2. Include words “You” or “Your” and Reference Other Twitter Users – People who read your tweets will have more interest in them if the tweet is about them. If the tweet targets the reader then they will be more likely to RT your tweet if they thing the information is valuable.  Make sure you double check the person you are referencing Twitter username so you spell it correctly.  If you posted a tweet such as @iClickSolutions blog post on Google Places was helpful, since we monitor what people say about our business through TweetDeck we would definitely RT that kind of post which would include your Twitter username.
3. Leave Enough Extra Characters – Just because there is a 140 character limit does not mean you need to max it out.  And if you do it makes it very hard to properly RT your tweet.  To give yourself the best possible chance of retweet, you need to make sure you leave enough extra free characters. The number of characters to leave is unique to each person based on how long your Twitter username is.  To calculate your unique number follow this formula: your Twitter username + five characters.  I have seen a trend where people who manually RT like to add context such as via or by before a RT such as RT via @iClickSolutions which adds a few characters.  To play it safe you might want to use this formula:  Length of your Twitter username + eight characters.  Best way to understand this is to find a tweet you like and RT it. If its a tweet with too many characters (132 or more characters) than good chance important content, such as a link, could get cut off.
4. Numbered List – Use a numbered list or use specific numbers such as 10 Email Marketing Tips That Every Marketer Should Follow or 5 Ways to Create Blog Topic Ideas as these do get RT’d more often as people really do love lists.
5. Install a Twitter button on your blog—Placing a TweetMeme button on your blog makes it easy for your readers to instantly share your content on Twitter with only a single click. Make sure the button is placed so readers can easily see it.

So there you have it.  You now know what a Twitter Retweet is and how best to post content on Twitter to increase your chances of getting retweeted.  Hopefully you liked this post that you are going to retweet it using the TweetMeme button above.

Share below any other tips you have on how best to write engaging content that others will want to retweet and what success you have found with Twitter.

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